Pygmy seahorse

Southern sites. Guide-dependent.

The park stays open and the northern sites are diveable year-round from Labuan Bajo. The 'limited' months reflect the south: Dec-Feb monsoon swell makes the southern sites and the crossing to them unreliable, and liveaboard itineraries shift or shorten. Confusingly, Dec-Feb is also when the southern manta aggregation is strongest, so the best manta window and the worst access window overlap.

Multiple species present. Entirely guide-dependent; the sites are known to specific divemasters rather than published.

The 'limited' case this field exists for. Nothing closes, but from roughly May to September the southern monsoon brings strong winds, high waves and visibility down to 10-15m, and a substantial share of the liveaboard fleet suspends Raja Ampat itineraries or repositions elsewhere in Indonesia. July and August are the worst of it. Resorts stay open and sheltered sites stay diveable, so you can still go, at lower prices, with fewer options and a real chance of blown-out days.

Dec-Mar is the rainy season: visibility drops and some resorts reduce or suspend operations, though there is no formal closure. Apr-Aug is the calm high season with 30-40m+ visibility, best for photographers and first-timers. Sep-Dec is the pelagic season with stronger currents and colder water. The two 'best' windows serve different divers, which is the useful thing to know.

Multiple pygmy species reported around Gato Island and the surrounding sites. Species-level identification in the sources is loose; H. bargibanti is the one consistently named.

No formal closure. Typhoon risk runs roughly May-Oct and sources disagree on how badly it bites: DAN says avoid Jun-Sep, Divernet calls Mar-Sep the most stable window, and one field account calls the Jul-Dec rainy season mild. Encoded 'limited' across the contested span rather than picking a side. See OQ-07. Low operating