A long timber jetty running out from the treeline over clear shallow water

Silo 3 · Planning

What to Pack for a Misool Charter

Soft bag, not hard case. Regulator in your carry-on. And less clothing than you think — you will be in a swimsuit for six days.

Ask a Specialist The list

water — 3 mm is usually enough: 28-30°C water — 3 mm is usually enough
UV index, most of the year: 11+ UV index, most of the year
reg, computer and mask — always: Carry-on reg, computer and mask — always
type C/F sockets at the resort: 220V type C/F sockets at the resort

The constraint

A Boat Is Not a Hotel Room

Cabin storage is real but finite, and a hard case has nowhere to live once it is empty — bring a soft bag that folds flat. Everything gets salt on it, so anything that cannot take that stays home. The equator does the rest: UV here regularly hits 11 or higher, and the single most useful thing in your bag is a rash guard that saves you reapplying sunscreen four times a day.

Two guests walking a quiet white-sand beach, karst headlands and moored boats behind them

Luggage: Soft bag, folds flat. No hard cases
Exposure: 3 mm full suit or shorty; a rash guard for the surface
Sun: Reef-safe SPF 50, hat, polarised sunglasses
Dry bag: 10-20 L, for tender rides and kayaking
Power: 220V type C/F. Power bank 20,000 mAh+
Non-negotiable: Proof of dive insurance with evacuation cover

The list

Six Things Worth Getting Right

Skipping the obvious. These are the ones people actually get wrong.

Safety and standards

A masted phinisi lying at anchor in still water below the forested cliffs of Raja Ampat

Dive kit in your carry-on

the one rule

Regulator, dive computer and mask travel with you, never in the hold. A misrouted checked bag on a domestic connection is recoverable; arriving in Sorong without a regulator on the morning you leave Sorong is not.

Exposure protection

3 mm, plus a rash guard

Water sits at 28-30°C, so a 3 mm full suit or a shorty covers it. Three or four dives a day adds up though — bring the full suit if you feel the cold at all. A rash guard doubles as sun cover on the deck.

Reef-safe sunscreen

not a preference

The UV index here regularly reaches 11 or higher. Bring a high-SPF, broad-spectrum, reef-safe formula — oxybenzone and octinoxate bleach coral, and you are diving inside a protected reserve.

A dry bag

10-20 litres

For tender rides, kayaking and the crossing. Anything electronic that is not in a dry bag will eventually be wet. A second small one for the camera is worth the space.

Your own torch

for the caverns

Goa Farondi and Yilliet Kecil are cavern dives with real overhead. A primary torch and a small backup are worth carrying even if you rarely night dive.

Something modest for shore

village visits

If the route includes a village stop, cover shoulders and knees. Loose trousers or a long skirt and a t-shirt. It costs you nothing and it matters to the people whose reef this is.

Dive kit in your carry-on

the one rule

Exposure protection

3 mm, plus a rash guard

Reef-safe sunscreen

not a preference

The UV index here regularly reaches 11 or higher. Bring a high-SPF, broad-spectrum, reef-safe formula — oxybenzone and octinoxate bleach coral, and you are diving inside a protected reserve.

A dry bag

10-20 litres

For tender rides, kayaking and the crossing. Anything electronic that is not in a dry bag will eventually be wet. A second small one for the camera is worth the space.

Your own torch

for the caverns

Goa Farondi and Yilliet Kecil are cavern dives with real overhead. A primary torch and a small backup are worth carrying even if you rarely night dive.

Something modest for shore

village visits

If the route includes a village stop, cover shoulders and knees. Loose trousers or a long skirt and a t-shirt. It costs you nothing and it matters to the people whose reef this is.

Leave behind: hard cases, spearguns, single-use plastics and anything with oxybenzone in it. The boat runs a no-single-use-plastic policy and the reserve takes it seriously.

Before you pack

Three Things to Settle First

What goes in the bag depends on these.

Which month you are diving

Water temperature barely moves, but rain does. Shoulder-season trips want a light shell and a second dry bag more than peak-season ones do.

Best time to dive

Whether you are shooting

Wide-angle for the walls and the mantas, macro for the caverns. The camera room has charging and low-humidity storage; bring your own spares and filters.

What lives here

How long the route is