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Just returned from 10 days of the most glorious diving in Wakatobi. Everything you've read? It's true.
Let's talk about getting there first. Fantastic flight out on Singapore Air routing from LAX through Tokyo to Singapore, with a plane change to Denpasar. The first indication that everything was going to work out well started in Denpasar. Even though we hadn't signed up for the concierge service, we were met by Wakatobi representatives who ensured our luggage was handled and we were whisked through customs. After reading a few forums, I did choose to get a visa beforehand using a local Los Angeles agency. Was it worth it? I think so but you will pay for the service. After a 29 hour trip over, I didn't feel like waiting in a line with customs to deal with it. An overnight at the Anaya Resort (glorious), and we were off to Wakatobi the next morning.
The plane ride over was routine. We were lucky enough to be on a jet though I've heard the island is serviced by both a jet and a prop. It was a fairly light flight (20 people maybe?), and comfortable - two hours. No, it was definitely not a first class airline, but having flown Asian Air and a few other carriers overseas, it was typical.
Upon arriving in Wakatobi, we were met by a fleet of air conditioned cars and staff at the airport. From there, it was a quick drive to the boat dock and the dive boat which took us to the resort. You're assigned a guide (dive experience manager), who will be with you the entire trip. This individual will make sure all your needs are taken care of and I must say they do an exceptional job (in our case, Yono who was absolutely a gem). Arriving at the resort, it's laid back very "island" style. Forget wearing shoes, just get comfortable and relax. Our first day was spent doing a checkout dive followed by a nice, easy dive along the house reef wall. For a house reef, the wall was incredible and a tantalizing taste of what was to come.
Yes, it's about the diving. You want walls? You'll get walls. Muck? Yep, there's that, too. Every single dive ended in what could easily be compared to diving in an aquarium. Amazing corals (hard and soft), fish by the thousands, eels, turtles, and just about everything else. The only thing missing were the large pelagic (such as sharks). Though a few divers did see them, they were not as abundant as what you'd find in Palau. But did it matter? Not at all! It was incredible. As a photographer, it was almost impossible to decide what to shoot - wide angle or macro. But the staff was extremely helpful in prepping you by letting you know the dive sites beforehand and what lenses would be best. We did both night and day dives, on average three dives per day. If you wanted a fourth, no problem - dive the house reef. Staff was readily available to help you gear out and explore the reef. By far, my favorite dive site was "Blade" - a group of pinnacles and the furthest dive site we visited (about 25 minutes out). Most dive sites were between 5 and 15 minutes from the resort. Dives, on average, lasted 70+ minutes with the last 15 minutes (safety stop), being spent in glorious coral gardens. Out of the 29 dives I did, none were under 65 minutes. The first two dive of the day goes off at 07:30 and you'll be in the water by 08:00. There's a mandatory 1 hour SI, followed by the second dive. Third dive starts after lunch at 2:15 PM. Our depths were rarely below 70', but with so much life, deep dives were not really called for. We did have a few tech divers with us and they seemed very pleased with all the sites.
The dive facilities are very well thought out. Being concierge diving, don't plan on messing with your gear unless you want to. Nitrox or air - doesn't matter and both AL 80CF / 100CF tanks are available. Rental gear was in good shape, though I elected to bring my own (it's all Aqualung Pro QD BCDs). The dive boats are easy on / easy off - a minimal giant stride (or whatever creative way you want to get in the water). For divers that elect to get in the water without gear, no issues. We had a disabled diver with us who was extremely well taken care of. On average, it was four to six divers to one guide. The guides were constantly asking how to improve the service which was nice, but un-needed in our case. I felt lucky to have a fellow photographer as a guide who was constantly on the lookout for macro subjects (and he delivered!). The boats were comfortable with towels and washcloths between dives (along with tasty snacks). There are facilities aboard as well, and places to store gear and hang up clothing. Camera tanks on the boat are large, but if there are many photographers with larger rigs, it might be pushing it.
The camera room is extremely nice. I kept my gear there overnight and no one bothered it. Each photographer is assigned an area (I was basically alone), and you're able to spread out your gear and charge batteries. Standard is 220V and there are plenty of places to plug things in. I had adapters but only used them in the room. Bonus that it's also nicely air conditioned so dealing with lens fog wasn't a huge issue.
The rooms? Lovely. We had one week in a "select" bungalow with the outdoor shower followed by a second week in Villa #2. The Villa was gorgeous with wireless internet available in the room (villas and the long house only). Beds were comfortable, rooms extremely clean and storage space was plentiful. There were definitely critters so be prepared for lizards, geckos and even a monitor lizard or two. There was a lovely large gecko that called the patio roof home.
As for food, delicious. I was amazed at how they pulled it off considering the logistics of getting things to and from the island. We had buffet style for dinner the first week, followed by Ala Carte the second week. Meals consisted of western style dinners and Balinese traditional. There was no lacking anything and the dining room staff was tremendous in making sure all our needs were taken care of.
And that is what makes Wakatobi so delightful - the people. By day one, everyone knows your name. They have a card on each guest created from the survey you do before you arrive and they've been briefed. Everyone on the staff goes out of their way to ensure your needs are taken care of. I was blown away by how pleasant everyone was. The dive guides go out of their way to make sure you're doing the diving you want to do. The restaurant staff generously allowed us to order off menu (as in making us a hamburger and french fries for lunch). It was a light two weeks when we arrived so we dove with the same folks for the entire time. Getting to know these folks and the staff was fantastic.
As for extras? I did the fluoro dive and was not disappointed. If you have a GoPro or camera, bring a yellow filter and have fun. We dove a place called "The Zoo" and were treated to the amazing variety of corals as well as numerous animals that lit up like a black light poster (lizard fish, shrimp, eels). The other extra was a massage on my last day which was much needed. Truly appreciated that after all the diving.
The only bad part? Leaving. It was hard to leave.
Truly a fantastic trip. There's so much that could be said about this place but just know that if you go, you'll love it.
Let's talk about getting there first. Fantastic flight out on Singapore Air routing from LAX through Tokyo to Singapore, with a plane change to Denpasar. The first indication that everything was going to work out well started in Denpasar. Even though we hadn't signed up for the concierge service, we were met by Wakatobi representatives who ensured our luggage was handled and we were whisked through customs. After reading a few forums, I did choose to get a visa beforehand using a local Los Angeles agency. Was it worth it? I think so but you will pay for the service. After a 29 hour trip over, I didn't feel like waiting in a line with customs to deal with it. An overnight at the Anaya Resort (glorious), and we were off to Wakatobi the next morning.
The plane ride over was routine. We were lucky enough to be on a jet though I've heard the island is serviced by both a jet and a prop. It was a fairly light flight (20 people maybe?), and comfortable - two hours. No, it was definitely not a first class airline, but having flown Asian Air and a few other carriers overseas, it was typical.
Upon arriving in Wakatobi, we were met by a fleet of air conditioned cars and staff at the airport. From there, it was a quick drive to the boat dock and the dive boat which took us to the resort. You're assigned a guide (dive experience manager), who will be with you the entire trip. This individual will make sure all your needs are taken care of and I must say they do an exceptional job (in our case, Yono who was absolutely a gem). Arriving at the resort, it's laid back very "island" style. Forget wearing shoes, just get comfortable and relax. Our first day was spent doing a checkout dive followed by a nice, easy dive along the house reef wall. For a house reef, the wall was incredible and a tantalizing taste of what was to come.
Yes, it's about the diving. You want walls? You'll get walls. Muck? Yep, there's that, too. Every single dive ended in what could easily be compared to diving in an aquarium. Amazing corals (hard and soft), fish by the thousands, eels, turtles, and just about everything else. The only thing missing were the large pelagic (such as sharks). Though a few divers did see them, they were not as abundant as what you'd find in Palau. But did it matter? Not at all! It was incredible. As a photographer, it was almost impossible to decide what to shoot - wide angle or macro. But the staff was extremely helpful in prepping you by letting you know the dive sites beforehand and what lenses would be best. We did both night and day dives, on average three dives per day. If you wanted a fourth, no problem - dive the house reef. Staff was readily available to help you gear out and explore the reef. By far, my favorite dive site was "Blade" - a group of pinnacles and the furthest dive site we visited (about 25 minutes out). Most dive sites were between 5 and 15 minutes from the resort. Dives, on average, lasted 70+ minutes with the last 15 minutes (safety stop), being spent in glorious coral gardens. Out of the 29 dives I did, none were under 65 minutes. The first two dive of the day goes off at 07:30 and you'll be in the water by 08:00. There's a mandatory 1 hour SI, followed by the second dive. Third dive starts after lunch at 2:15 PM. Our depths were rarely below 70', but with so much life, deep dives were not really called for. We did have a few tech divers with us and they seemed very pleased with all the sites.
The dive facilities are very well thought out. Being concierge diving, don't plan on messing with your gear unless you want to. Nitrox or air - doesn't matter and both AL 80CF / 100CF tanks are available. Rental gear was in good shape, though I elected to bring my own (it's all Aqualung Pro QD BCDs). The dive boats are easy on / easy off - a minimal giant stride (or whatever creative way you want to get in the water). For divers that elect to get in the water without gear, no issues. We had a disabled diver with us who was extremely well taken care of. On average, it was four to six divers to one guide. The guides were constantly asking how to improve the service which was nice, but un-needed in our case. I felt lucky to have a fellow photographer as a guide who was constantly on the lookout for macro subjects (and he delivered!). The boats were comfortable with towels and washcloths between dives (along with tasty snacks). There are facilities aboard as well, and places to store gear and hang up clothing. Camera tanks on the boat are large, but if there are many photographers with larger rigs, it might be pushing it.
The camera room is extremely nice. I kept my gear there overnight and no one bothered it. Each photographer is assigned an area (I was basically alone), and you're able to spread out your gear and charge batteries. Standard is 220V and there are plenty of places to plug things in. I had adapters but only used them in the room. Bonus that it's also nicely air conditioned so dealing with lens fog wasn't a huge issue.
The rooms? Lovely. We had one week in a "select" bungalow with the outdoor shower followed by a second week in Villa #2. The Villa was gorgeous with wireless internet available in the room (villas and the long house only). Beds were comfortable, rooms extremely clean and storage space was plentiful. There were definitely critters so be prepared for lizards, geckos and even a monitor lizard or two. There was a lovely large gecko that called the patio roof home.
As for food, delicious. I was amazed at how they pulled it off considering the logistics of getting things to and from the island. We had buffet style for dinner the first week, followed by Ala Carte the second week. Meals consisted of western style dinners and Balinese traditional. There was no lacking anything and the dining room staff was tremendous in making sure all our needs were taken care of.
And that is what makes Wakatobi so delightful - the people. By day one, everyone knows your name. They have a card on each guest created from the survey you do before you arrive and they've been briefed. Everyone on the staff goes out of their way to ensure your needs are taken care of. I was blown away by how pleasant everyone was. The dive guides go out of their way to make sure you're doing the diving you want to do. The restaurant staff generously allowed us to order off menu (as in making us a hamburger and french fries for lunch). It was a light two weeks when we arrived so we dove with the same folks for the entire time. Getting to know these folks and the staff was fantastic.
As for extras? I did the fluoro dive and was not disappointed. If you have a GoPro or camera, bring a yellow filter and have fun. We dove a place called "The Zoo" and were treated to the amazing variety of corals as well as numerous animals that lit up like a black light poster (lizard fish, shrimp, eels). The other extra was a massage on my last day which was much needed. Truly appreciated that after all the diving.
The only bad part? Leaving. It was hard to leave.
Truly a fantastic trip. There's so much that could be said about this place but just know that if you go, you'll love it.
