Last year we were able to finally complete a long-anticipated, not to mention twice-postponed, survey of the Bomberai peninsula, Fakfak and its surrounding waters.  (Additionally click here to read an article in DAN’s Alert Diver magazine Q4-’22 about the expedition.) Now, after considerable work updating the BHS Maps app, we are ready to share new dive sites and activities from each of 10+ areas surveyed within the region.

We will begin with the area around Sabuda Island in the region better known as the Pisang Islands.  LOBs transiting between southern Raja Ampat (Misool) and Triton Bay have passed this way for years.  Before this survey, however, only a few sites were known in the area.  Now a LOB heading to Triton from Raja, or vice versa, can leisurely spend days making the passage.  When we have finished adding all the sites including topside activities for each area, a LOB will be able to create a stand-alone itinerary in the vast region between the Pisangs and Momon.

To access each area’s dive site info including maps, GPS coordinates, dive directions, surrounding activities and images, open the website, hover over and/or click on Maps in the top tier menu.  Click on Bomberai/Fakfak to bring up the regional map.  This map contains yellow circles for all the areas we surveyed.  Click on the Pisang Islands circle (now yellow with a flashing red halo).  Hover on a dive flag to highlight a dive site.  Then click on the flag to bring up that site’s information.  Or simply click here to go directly to the Pisang Map with the dive site flags.

This will be the first in the series of posts about the new sites.  At the moment The Pisang Islands are the only area we have completed, which is indicated by a flashing red circle on the regional Bomberai/Faklfak map.  As each additional area’s info is uploaded the area’s yellow circle with flash red, indicating that area is now active with dive site information.

At the moment Fakfak is barely on most divers “bucket list”.  Our intent and the reason for this survey is to expand the tourism opportunities in the Bird’s Head Seascape.  More exploratory work needs to be done in his little known and basically unexplored region but this survey provides a huge leap forward.

A huge thanks to our web designers at New Media Soup, Joel and Jennifer Penner and to master map maker, Garry Bevan.  Garry is a renaissance man!  Besides making maps he’s a cruise director, author, content creator, dive tech and a musician.  He is presently working on a series of dive and cruising guides of Indonesia.  The first in the series is “Exploring Komodo National Park“. If you need someone to sort things out, while making you laugh, Garry is your man.