I've just got home from a terrific 12-night Raja Ampat trip on Emperor Diver's vessel, MV Harmoni.

The itinerary started in Kaimana, covered Triton Bay, Misool and the Dampier Straits - and ended in Sorong.

Others have written about the diving delights of the area so I won't rehash that. Suffice it to say that, my first trip to this part of Indonesia, I found the diving just fabulous. Abundance and variety of marine life was something else. Whale sharks and mantas included.

I've been fortunate to have been on lots of liveaboards over the years. This was, by far, the best I have ever done. Harmoni has a crew of 21 for 24 guests and is spacious,. comfortable and relaxed. Lead by a first class Cruise Director, the entire crew were unfailingly helpful and considerate.

Diving was from a RIB with four guests accompanied by a dive guide. Nitrox was included in the price. Following the usual briefing, divers put on their wetsuits and only had to carry their mask and camera to the RIB. All gear was loaded by the crew with divers being helped into their BCs etc on the RIB immediately before a backward roll onto the divesite. No carrying heavy gear down to the RIB or down to a dive deck. Luxury.

A dive guide was assigned to each group of four and rapidly understood what the group wanted to do in terms of photography, ease of the dive, avoidance of current etc. Dive sites were usually 4-5 minutes (enjoyable) RIB-ride from Harmoni with at least one RIB monitoring the dive with several ready for pick ups at the end of the dive.

At the end of the drive, the crew moved dive gear, except mask and camera, from the RIB to Harmoni so, again, no lugging of gear. They even rinsed wetsuits after each dive.

Food was always excellent and a mix of Asian and European. The system was the classic light breakfast, dive, big breakfast, dive, lunch, dive and dinner. Harmoni had a well-stocked bar complete with barman and espresso machine (yay!)

We used the Aston Hotel in Sorong and the Grand Papua Kaimana in Kaimana. Both were good. We flew KLM to Jakarta and then Garuda to Sorong and Wings Air to Kaimana. No problems with any of the flights and the service was always very good. On one flight there was a tiny charge for excess baggage. We applied for Indonesian visas online and were seriously impressed by the arrival formalities in Jakarta: a quick transit through e-gates.

I celebrated an "x0-birthday" during the trip and cannot think of a better way of marking the occasion. I can recommend Harmoni highly.

Looking forward to see some photos