Rufus Island was one of the highlights of our trip to Raja Ampat. It's located right next to the popular Piaynemo and has some of the best reefs around the island that we've experienced. You can stay on the island, but I don’t recommend it, as I’ve heard the homestays aren't great, especially when it comes to the food, and the transfer to the island can be pricey. We explored it during a day tour from Mansuar, which also included stops at Piaynemo and Melissa's Garden.

You can swim inside the lagoon, which has a beautiful color, but the visibility isn’t very good. When you swim around the island, starting to your right as you exit the lagoon, you’ll find a lot of incredible coral. There was even a small hole we had to swim through to continue our snorkeling. It was one of our top three snorkeling spots in Raja Ampat.