New Wakatobi trip report

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Palaupete

Registered
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Near Atlanta
# of dives
200 - 499
We visited Wakatobi for the first time Nov. 7th thru 14th - the trip was much anticipated and it lived up to its billing. We have dove in Palau,Cocos,Thailand,Borneo, and most of the Carribbean so I believe we can give a valid assessment of the Wakatobi dive experience.
After a wonderful three day stay in Ubud,Bali we went to Denpasar airport for our charter flight . Let me point out that when we arrived in Bali,though our flight to Wakatobi was not for three days, we were met by a Wakatobi rep who escorted us through Bali customs. We gave her our passports and $50 for visas and we subsequently had no interaction with anyone in the customs processing. We simply retrieved our luggage, were escorted past all the customs officials with no questions asked and went outside to be picked up by our prearranged driver. I have never had such an easy entrance to a country before.
On departure day for Wakatobi we were met at the airport by another Wakatobi rep and escorted into a private lounge complete with buffet snacks and beverages for our short wait on the charter flight. The comfortable flight included lunch and beverages and was very scenic as we followed the equator east a few hundred miles.
We arrived at the private Wakatobi airstrip in Sulawesi where we were met by an armada of local vans organized by Wakatobi and taken to a staging area for a short ride in one of the resort dive boats. After a brief stop to let off a few people on the Pelagian liveaboard (owned by Wakatobi) we arrived at the resort dock and were escorted into the longhouse, the main building at Wakatobi. We were asked to remove our shoes before entering the longhouse and were told that shoes were not permitted in any building. They politely suggested we leave them in our bungalow for the week. First time I've been barefoot for a whole week.
After a briefing about the resort and dive operation we were led to our private beach bungalow where our luggage was already waiting for us. The bungalow is very large, airconditioned, and well furnished with in room coffee service, a refrigerator, with honor bar and an outdoor Balinese style shower area complete with complementary shampoo,body wash,etc. Because of the no shoes policy and everywhere you walk is over sand, you actually walk thru a footbath before you walk up the steps to the porch of the bungalow. The porch is about 10 steps from the edge of the ocean with your own private lounge chairs and beach umbrella.
We were in bungalow #4 which is adjacent to the main longhouse and dive operation which was very convenient. However, the restaurant was about 75 yards on the other side of the longhouse so a little walking was involved. The restaurant served 3 buffet meals a day and you definitely will not go hungry. I would rate the food not necessarily gourmet but very good and varied. Many Indonesian choices along with American style choices. Fruits and vegetables were of excellent quality. Fresh baked breads, homemade desserts and any beverage you would desire. Drinks with alcohol were a little expensive so we had the local Bintang beer and mixed our own drinks in the bungalow with rum we had brought with us and enjoyed them on the porch. A jetty bar is also available on the dock which stayed quite busy until dinner time.
As far as the diving - three boat dives per day are offered at 8 and 10am and another at about 3pm. One night boat dive is offered in lieu of one of the afternoon boat dives. You can also shore dive but it is not like on Bonaire. Because of the unpredictable currents on the house reef they will take you and your buddy by boat a short distance down the reef and you drift back to the resort where you come ashore. Solo diving is not permitted unless you are an instructor which I thought would be a problem but frankly, since the boat dives are an unusually long 70 minutes times three a day, 3 and a half hours diving a day was enough for me. Most people used nitrox because of the long bottom times. I didn't and came very close to the decompression limit a number of times and had to really monitor my computor. I would recommend nitrox at Wakatobi because of the profiles.
The dives were typically drift dives along walls and pinnacles. Wakatobi reefs have to be the most prolific and varied in the world. The colors and health of the corals was stunning. Wakatobi is not known for big stuff and we didn't see any but the abundance and variation of little creatures more than made up for the lack of sharks. Pygmy sea horses were frequently sighted and pointed out by the divemasters. I won't try to list all the creatures we observed but I will say that if you visit the Wakatobi web site and look at the diving description it is very accurate. The main thing I wanted to point out is how easy the dive staff makes it for you at Wakatobi. All you do is put on your mask,weightbelt, and fins and they do the rest. You never carry anything. Your gear is assembled by the dive team and you are assisted in and out of the water in small groups assigned to a divemaster. Our group was four people. Water, towels, and snacks are furnished after every dive. Easiest diving I've ever done.
Apparently November is a great time to dive Wakatobi - the ocean was flat mirror calm and the water was 82 degrees. Its a long journey and on the expensive side but I would have to put Wakatobi on the list of the top 5 places to dive before you die!!!!
 
palaupete,
i was on the m/v pelgian the same week you were at the resort.
my report is in the liveaboard forum.
i agree with everthing you have said.
we got to eat dinner with y'all friday night.
the diving was amazing and all the guest were treated like royalty.
wakatobi should be on everyone's list of places to go.
 
My wife and I will be there in May, with a group of 12.

I loved reading this, you're making it SOOOOOOO hard to wait until then!! :depressed:

Thanks for the report.
 
Great report. I was there in October 07. I thought the food, dive operation was excellent and that must of been a nice service getting thru customs....Nobody met me at the Airport in Bali!!!

Glad you enjoyed the diving when I was there the vis was only about 30' and water temps 78 to 80....wore a shorty...froze my butt off!....I thought Turkey Beach, the Zoo and Magnifica were the best dives.
 
Hey Smoky - I remember briefly meeting you at the Bali airport as we were checking in for the flight to Wakatobi. It was 25 degrees here in Atlanta last night - Bali seems like a distant memory.
TravelNSJ - yea, October seems like it must be a transition month with less optimum conditions. I saw another trip report for October that was similar. That's the main reason we waited until November - it seems to be the best time for diving though topside it was very hot and little breeze. The ocean was like a mirror on 5 out of 6 days diving. My favorite divesite was "Blade" - the only one that was away from the resort area. It was a triple pinnacle by itself out in the middle of the ocean rather than being part of a island reef dropoff.
Rick - waiting to go there is a million times better than sitting back in the cold USA (or Canada) thinking about how fast the week went (so fast you wonder if it was a dream). Relish every moment you are there - it will go by so fast!!
 
TravelNSJ - yea, October seems like it must be a transition month with less optimum conditions. I saw another trip report for October that was similar. That's the main reason we waited until November - it seems to be the best time for diving though topside it was very hot and little breeze. The ocean was like a mirror on 5 out of 6 days diving. My favorite divesite was "Blade" - the only one that was away from the resort area. It was a triple pinnacle by itself out in the middle of the ocean rather than being part of a island reef dropoff.

I did a lot of research also and I could of gone in November. When contacting the resort they said October was there busiest and best month for warm and calm waters.....Oh well....I can talk all day long about how great the operation is....But the diving...not that good for me and many others that were there.

Glad you had a good trip.....and good info to avoid October.
 
I did a lot of research also and I could of gone in November. When contacting the resort they said October was there busiest and best month for warm and calm waters.....Oh well....I can talk all day long about how great the operation is....But the diving...not that good for me and many others that were there.

Glad you had a good trip.....and good info to avoid October.

Scott it may be we just hit a bad time !?. They had just had a full moon and that may explain the strong currents that made it hard to stop examine closely and get good photos. Remember the trip home, very low tide and we had to get off the boat walk across the top of the reef and back on to a boat at the other side of the reef to get to the airport.

If I had known we had to do that I would have got a photograph, all those people walking on water carrying there hand luggage
 
David here is a pic you did not get.
 

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