1 island, 2 resorts
Max Ammer, the founder of Papua Diving, first came to the region over 21 year ago following his passion to search for submerged World War II aircraft. After spending so much time in Raja Ampat Max fell in love with the Papuan people and started a number of initiatives to support the local Papuan communities. Papua Diving was one of the projects. It’s mission: to bring much needed money to the local people by enabling divers who had never heard of the region to be amazed by the wonders of the unspoiled aquatic world here.
Unique knowledge and insights about the area
Papua Diving is unique when compared to other land based and liveaboard operators in Raja Ampat. Not only thanks to our outstanding location – Today we may pride ourselves of having an unique knowledge about the area thanks to working so closely together with the Papuan people for many years. Choosing to stay with Papua Diving is more than an amazing tropical island and aquatic world experience. You will also directly contribute to local marine & community conservation activities. Compared to other operators in the area, we still stand by our credentials as:
- the being the pioneering hence the most experienced operator in Raja Ampat
- providing employment to more papuan people than other operators (90% of our staff are papuan)
- donating 10% of profit to conservation initiatives
- in addition to direct donations we invest more money into the local economy and other practical assistance to local communities
- we actively set up and support conservation initiatives and projects
Max Ammer
Many of the today`s famous dive sites were discovered by Max and our team and retain the original names he gave them. The whole of our dive team are Papuan people. Many of them were previously fisherman that used highly destructive methods such as dynamite fishing or shark finning. Now they are amongst some of the most conscientious conservationists in the region helping to clean and monitor the marine park protected zones.
Today, he spends most of his time on the island between international meetings and expeditions into the interior of Papua.
Meet him at Sorido Bay Resort, as his main office is in the Raja Ampat Research and Conservation centre.
Sorido Bay Resort’s managers
Chris Barfoot and Jenn Robb
Chris and Jenn join Papua Diving following their time spent working together in East Africa. More specifically Madagascar, the Seychelles and Zanzibar.
Starting off in South Africa, Jenn worked her way up in the industry making a name for herself as an accomplished chef. Passing on the benefit of her experience to local staff wherever she went, Jenn trained skilled teams of chefs to create beautiful dishes, showcasing local flavours, ingredients and tradition.
Since his open water course in a very murky, green lake in England, Chris has dived all over the world. From the Arctic Circle to the tropics, he loves seeking out special encounters with marine life and sharing that experience with others. “Naturally, Raja Ampat has long been a dream destination for me. I feel extremely privileged to not only be living here, but to be working for the pioneering company that first discovered and named many of the dive sites!”