What’s the difference between Misool and Raja Ampat? Short answer, nothing. Though it often sounds like—when people or websites talk about Misool—they are talking about two different locations, when in reality Misool is just one of the regions of Raja Ampat. Raja Ampat is made up of four large islands—one of which is Misool—and hundreds-and-hundreds of much smaller islands. I think some of the confusion comes from the fact that Misool is just much further away from the other areas, so much so that it looks and feels like it’s a completely different destination.
If you were going to join a snorkeling safari with a liveaboard you will most likely spend about half the trip exploring and snorkeling around the islands of Misool, then sail north—about 8-12 hours or so—to explore some of the other areas of Raja Ampat, like the Fam Islands or the Dampier Strait. If you were to join a resort based snorkeling safari to Misool, you would take Misool Resort’s speedboat from the main port—Sorong—down to Misool and spend the entirety of the snorkeling safari exploring the Misool area from the comfort of this stunning resort, which also happens to be the only resort in Misool.
So there you have it, mystery solved, Misool is actually just one area of Raja Ampat!
