About Mermaid II
We keep Mermaid II positioned early in the morning off the northern edge of Wayag, where the current runs hard between the mushroom-shaped islets. If you're up at 5:30, you'll see the crew adjusting the stern anchor to keep the bow quarter into the flow — it makes boarding the dive tender easier when the surge starts pushing at 7 a.m. At 33 metres long, she's nimble enough to tuck into Boo Rocks' hidden lagoon, and we do that on day two, after spending first light watching wobbegongs under the house reef at Yenbuba.
All eight cabins sit below deck, each with a real sea-view window — not a porthole, not a fake plastic insert. They're double-glazed, so even when we're idling through the Dampier Strait at night, you won't hear the engine. Every cabin has individual climate control, a freshwater-flush toilet, and a shower with consistent hot water, which matters after a dive in the nutrient-heavy flow off Cape Kri. We run full decompression dives from the rear platform, where twin ladders and a dedicated rinse bin keep things moving.
Our 3D2N route starts from Sorong, not Labuan Bajo — this is Raja Ampat, not Komodo. Day one, we load guests at 12:30, brief them on the saloon chart table, then steam southeast to Arborek Jetty. You can snorkel right off the wooden pier and see pygmy seahorses in the shaded pilings. After dinner, we reposition quietly to Misool’s northern rim, arriving by 9 p.m. so the night dive at Melissa's Garden is done on slack tide.
Day two begins at 6 a.m. with coffee on the foredeck as we anchor in front of Wayag’s famous viewpoint. The climb is steep, but by 7:45 you're looking down over that iconic double-arched lagoon, the turquoise water segmented by sharp coral ridges. We spend the afternoon at Sardine Reef, where fusiliers swirl around your head in the current, then finish at Blue Magic for the resident wobbegong and bumphead parrotfish. The boat is stationary by 6 p.m., lights off near the Wayag islands to avoid disturbing the nesting terns.
On day three, we head west to the Fam Islands. You’ve got two dives scheduled: one at 8 a.m. on the outer wall of Fam’s south side, where gray reef sharks patrol the drop-off, and a second at 11 a.m. at Cape William. After the final safety stop, we surface near the boat, board the tender, and steam back to Sorong, arriving by 3 p.m. for drop-off at the terminal. No rush — you’ve got time to catch the 5 p.m. flight if you need to.
Mermaid II runs with a crew of six: two dive masters, a captain, engineer, chef, and deckhand. Our galley serves Indonesian and Western meals — think papaya salad with lime-chilli dressing, grilled mahi-mahi, and French toast with banana for breakfast. There’s no buffet; meals are plated and served. The top deck has shaded loungers and a single bench seat forward where guests often sit with the captain and talk current patterns. We don’t do mandatory group dinners or enforced schedules. If you want to skip a dive and read in your cabin, the AC runs 24/7.
