About Prana by Atzaro
We keep her bows into the current just off Dampier Strait as the first light hits the karst towers. At 55 metres, Prana by Atzaro isn’t the largest vessel here, but her draft and stabilisers let us hold position quietly while guests slip into water already alive with wobbegong sharks and blue-ringed octopus. I’ve navigated these channels for 18 seasons, and this boat answers the helm like a longline fishing boat – precise, no lag, even when we’re pivoting for a drift dive at Cape Kri. Her size means we don’t crowd the sites. We anchor off Mioskon one evening, just three other boats in sight, and the water stays ours.
She runs on a 3D2N rhythm through Raja Ampat’s core – Misool to the south, Wayag if the weather opens up, but more often we work the narrow channels between Gam and Batanta where the nutrient surge draws mantas almost daily. On day one, we board at Sorong, load gear on the aft dive deck, and by 14:00 we’re floating above the coral carpets of Arborek Jetty. The guide taps his tank, points – a pair of pygmy seahorses curled in the gorgonian. No rush. We surface, dry off on the upper sundeck, pass around fresh papaya and lime juice. The chef’s from Manado. He knows how to balance chilli with coconut in a way that sticks to your ribs after six dives a day.
Each of the nine cabins wraps around a central corridor, all ensuite with rainfall showers and individually controlled AC – important when the humidity climbs past 85% and you’ve been hauling cylinders all morning. We keep the dive deck stocked with 12L aluminium tanks, low-pressure inflators, rinse bins with running hoses. Two compressors run in tandem, so we’re never waiting. Prana by Atzaro carries two tenders, not just for shore drops but for night cruises along the mangroves where guests spot flying fish skimming the bioluminescence. On day two, we wake at 05:30 for a current-sweep drift through Yiliet, then spend the afternoon at Sagof Passage, where the hard corals climb the wall like stained glass.
By the third morning, we’re weaving through the limestone fingers near Wayag’s famous viewpoint. We don’t land at the top unless guests insist – the climb’s steep, and the real show is underwater. Instead, we drop anchor near a sand cay, launch the kayaks, and let people paddle while the crew fires up the barbecue. The spa cabin stays open until 18:00 – ninety-minute massages with frangipani oil, booked at breakfast. No one’s in a hurry. We time our return to Sorong for early afternoon, tide permitting, so guests make evening flights without stress.
We don’t run trips to Komodo. This boat is built for Raja Ampat’s maze – the tight turns, the sudden swells, the anchoring spots that demand local knowledge. Our crew knows every sandbar from Mioskon to Kri. They’ll adjust the gangway angle so you don’t stumble getting back on after a surge. We carry EPIRBs, satellite phones, full oxygen kits – standard here, but we check them daily. When the monsoon edges in, we re-route. Last November, we swapped a Misool leg for a sheltered loop around Arborek and Wayil, and the coral coverage was thicker than I’ve seen in five years.
