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Raja Ampat (Indonesia / West Papua) / Clay Edmund Kraski (GoPro Hero 3 Black)

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• published: 12 Jul 2014
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Diving onboard the Black Manta throughout Raja Ampat (Indonesia and West Papua) by way of Sorong (West Papua). There were so many dives and amazing footage capture that is was impossible to compress it all into a six minute video (I'll be editing more). Nevertheless, some footage is also from other regions such as Bali and Central Java (Borobudur--Mahayana Buddhist temple once thought to be mere legend, only to be rediscovered buried deep beneath volcanic ash and jungle growth.) Interestingly enough,the facts surrounding it's abandonment centuries ago still remain a mystery yet the rise of Hinduism and later Islam, as well as the countless active volcanoes surrounding within close proximity come to mind. And the Prambanan (Hindu Temple) with it's tall and pointed architecture reaching high into the sky in honor of the gods, Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver) and Shiva (The Destroyer). Both truly awe inspiring and I strongly, strongly, strongly recommend that if you travel throughout Indonesia you make the visit. We also managed to get in some surf sessions (Padang-Padang) does it get any better? And once you paddle back in you can be certain to find someone waiting to quench your thirst with a fresh coconut and machete. We also trekked up an active volcano and strongly suggest you make the 2:30 AM wake call for the sunrise climb. You won't be disappointed (Unless it decides to fully erupt or you fall into the caldera) yet considered yourself warned that you'll be contending with the resident monkeys, that'll demand payment in the form of bananas or other personal belongings. Don't worry about looking for them, they'll find you. ;) In addition we also managed to fit in a white water rafting adventure. Good stuff, just watch out for the spiders. Either way, the diving is by far the finest in the world--so remote and teeming with life—a true Eden. Trust me, you've never seen color until you've dove throughout these waters. For us and i'm certain you as well, anything before is like comparing televisions; once you've seen color you never want to go back to black and white. Highly recommend and if you're looking for a live aboard dive boat we throughly enjoyed the Black Manta. Amazing!!!! *All footage shot with GoPro Hero 3 Black (Best Buy), Backscatter red flip filter (Straight from manufacture and in my opinion the best one) and the i-Torch 1600 lumen video pro flood light (Ebay). Everything mounted on a small handheld rig (also Ebay) and can be seen at 2'36" & 3'14". Very small, easy to handle and works brilliantly. I also attached the LCD monitor. It adds a little size to the camera, but then again its always nice to be able to see what you're filming. ;) *The bird vocalizations heard in the beginning are a collection of different species that I was able to gather early one morning after a lengthy trek high into the jungle of West Papua where we were fortunate to observe the elaborate dancing and mating ritual of the Bird of Paradise. Certainly impressive, but frankly it seemed like a lot of work and from what I was able to gather (from a guide who's words were somewhat lost in translation) they perform this routine each and every morning. Nevertheless, they were pretty high up within the canopy and silhouetted by the rising sun so the video didn't come out all that great, but if you close your eyes you'll find the sounds to be brilliant. If you have any questions about diving throughout Ampat you can comment or email @ kraskice@aol.com