Trip report m\v Pelagian Wakatobi

all flights coming and going worked great.
no lost bags.
stayed the night in bali at legian beach resort both ways.

was met on the boat by the 2 divemasters.
no.1 rule is no shoes worn while onboard.
no.2 rule is only divemaster may operate the boat's music system.

many countries/states represented; indonesia, italy, california, estonia, switzerland, germany, holland and virginia.

the food was very good and plentiful.
consisted of diffrent meats fresh vegtables and fruit.
there also were baked goods.

the boat was very clean and well kept up.
the cabins had plenty of storage and private bath rooms.
while we were there the a/c did not operate fully.

there were 4 dives a day for 5 days.
day 6 was 2 dives.
first dive briefing is 6:30am.
then breakfast.
second dive briefing is 10:30am.
then lunch.
third dive briefing is 2:30pm.
dusk dive at 6:00pm.
then dinner.

first day did 4 dives at hoga island.
all dives were allowed 70 mins. with 400 psi on the tender.
dusk dives 60 mins.
hoga island had walls and coral gardens with schools of fish.
for the night dive the coral blooms many colors.

second and third day did buton lagoon.
tied to a mooring close to a commercial pier.
this is where we were introduced to muck diving.
muck diving was done around the pier and close to shore.
there were many chunks of concrete, dozens of old tires, hundreds of glass bottles and jars, miles of fishing lines complete with lures and hooks.
reminded me diving when i was a kid in the potomac river before they invented sewer plants.

fourth day dove wangi wangi.
nice walls and great coral structures with many fish.

fifth day dove binongko and kaledupa.

sixth day dove tomia.
these last 3 days we saw turtles, manta ray, spotted eagle ray, napoleon wrasse, green moray eel, many sea snakes, clown fish, bat fish, trigger fish, moorish idols, schools of black durgon and tons i've never seen before.

there were lots of hard and soft coral everywhere.
this was my first trip to this part of the world and i cannot fully describe what i saw.
i'm an "old man" with poor eyesite and everything looked beautiful.
i shot a dozen rolls of 35 and i'm getting digital copies too.

the people of bali are very nice.
the town is a big mixing bowl of the old and the new.
i had a very nice time and would like to return.
regards,

I thought the Pelagian was a really top drawer live aboard. I do know that it's quite expensive. Kind of sounds "ho hum" from your report. It's a destination my gf & I have been thinking about. Maybe combining live aboard and resort. Nothing spectacular that made the trip worth the cost and distance ?

naibdiver1,
i apologize for my lack of writing skills.
i will try to put more emotion in.

this trip was 2 years in the making with my dive buddy herman from holland.
i consider this an opportunity of a life time.
i've never traveled to this part of the world and i was in store for great adventure.
american and china air were great to travel with.
no lost bags or extra time was needed, eveything was perfect.

was met at the airport by wakatobi employees who walked us thru customs and baggage claim.
took a taxi to a wonderful resort where i caught up with herman for a couple of days.
took the short flight to wakatobi where we were met by a member of the crew.

the diving was wonderful.
saw lots of coral and fish for the first time.
the dm was great for pointing things out and answering all of our questions.
we were doing 70 min dives with 1000 lb back on the boat.
we would go which ever way the current was going and the tender captain would follow our bubbles.

the food was very good.
the crew could not do enough for us.
the boat was squeaky clean and eveything worked,except the a/c was not working 100%.
most of the guest were from europe and would spend 1 week on the boat and 1 week at the wakatobi resort.

i had to take 2 weeks off to take care of the getting there and back home and get my clock right in my head.

everything went better than i thought.
loved seeing all the strange creatures.

if you ever thought of a trip like this..... go do it now!
i had a great time and herman and i are thinking about our next great adventure.
regards,

Smokey
Thanks for the report. We almost went to Wakatobi this fall but chose the Red Sea instead. I am still working on my trip report but sounds like you might have seen more than we did.
I may PM you with some specific questions.

Nonie

Thanks for the report.
Could you tell us more about the currents ? Were they strong ?
Also, it seems that you did quite long dives, what was the average depth of the dives?
Thanks again

Malene

malene,
the currents we saw were not strong.
they would change direction depending what depth you were on the wall.
our depths during the week were from the 80's up to the 50's.
the boat's policy was 70 min with 400 lb on the boat.
however my buddy herman and i dive thirds and we like to have 1000lb on the boat.
the gentle currents provided a means of seeing the wall or reef without moving alot.
this allowed for the 70 min.

ntsilver,
there were mostly europeans as guest on the boat and they said the diving in the red sea was good but too many divers per site.
on the pelagian they broke 12 divers into 2 groups of 6.
we never saw any other divers all week.

smokey braden:

malene,
the currents we saw were not strong.
they would change direction depending what depth you were on the wall.
our depths during the week were from the 80's up to the 50's.
the boat's policy was 70 min with 400 lb on the boat.
however my buddy herman and i dive thirds and we like to have 1000lb on the boat.
the gentle currents provided a means of seeing the wall or reef without moving alot.
this allowed for the 70 min.

Click to expand...

Thanks. It looks like my kind of diving. I just need to break the bank !

Hi Smokey,
Glad to see your positive post about the travel arrangements and Pelagian on Scuba Board... I always like to hear that my clients had a great time!!
Let me know when you are ready to go again!!! I've got loads of great ideas!
Doris Pfister
Caradonna Dive Adventures

diverdoris,
my trip went perfect.
with the airlines, transfers and the boat nothing went wrong.
you did a fine job helping me with this trip of a life time.
i'll need to lay a couple more oak floors to swing the next trip.
regards,

Pelagian Dive Report: Beware is the first thing that comes to mind. What you book and what you get are two entirely different things. Even if you confirm with Wakatobi prior to your trip that what you think you're getting and they agree to it in writing you still won't get it. For example they changed my 10 day charter (which was booked a year in advance) to two 5 day charters but assured me I wouldn't be diving the same sites as the resort even though I shared my concern that my itinerary would be compromised by having to return to the resort half way. Henrik, the vice president told me personally that wouldn't happen and it did, a full day and one half. I also made my booking because of others who told me about two of the best sites over by Buton. I am a videographer and that was my main focus doing those muck diving. I wanted to make sure I was going to dive there and again spoke to the VP and made sure he was aware of my concern - again because of the altering of my contract booking, his reply, I will contact the proper people to make sure you will dive this area. That never happened - even after several requests on board. There were others who were there specifically for the muck diving who shared my disappointment. My master suite was so overridden with mold we had to keep our door open all the time and another couple requested to have them move from their mold infested cabin to another vacant room and they gave them a real hard time and wanted them to pay for the other room. I have other issues as well but the above is the main issue. I should mention I did contact the VP on this issue and after the response "I wish I knew what to say" I have tried to communicate further and received no response. If you have any notion of going on the Pelagian then don't read any of the information they post on their website for you will be disappointed. You don't get all what they say or what you pay for. Beware!

This is the follow up:
Well folks, apparently I'm blinded by the light. According to them it's all a matter of perception. I guess I wasn't promised to dive certain sites? I guess my room didn't have mold and odor. I guess most of what I experienced in a negative way should have been looked at in a positive way like I should have said to myself "Oh so what that I spent well over 10 grand and thought I was getting certain thing and I didn't? They say others would have just been happy to have stayed at their establishment and looked at my short comings with a big happy face. Make what you will from this but I for one won't ever go there and will share with others my experience. There are tons of places to go in the region that are a heck of a lot cheaper and don't think you're getting anything high end from Wakatobi, which is suppose to be there main sell. Safe diving to all.