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Dive Review of Wakatobi -- Pelagian in
Indonesia/Wakatobi Atoll

Wakatobi -- Pelagian: "A Top Notch Luxury Dive Liveaboard Operation", Jul, 2018,

by Jeanette Hartshorn, MO, US (Contributor Contributor 19 reports with 17 Helpful votes). Report 10659 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We’d already had fantastic diving at Wakatobi Resort for 2 weeks when we boarded The Pelagian, and we were looking forward to cruising out to some of the other islands. Upon boarding, the crew and staff (who outnumber the guests by far) offered us very warm welcomes and helped us settle into our cabins. We were in a SuperLux Cabin, which is much more like a fine hotel room than a dive liveaboard cabin. This was a very spacious cabin with a king size bed, closets, plenty of storage space, a very modern, clean and attractive en suite bathroom, a “day bed’/ couch, and several porthole windows for some natural light. Fabulous! Menus are varied and you can make special requests if you don’t like the menu items. The food was outstanding! I couldn’t help but wonder how the chef and kitchen could prepare meals like this on a liveaboard, but they seem to have it down to a science!

The dive operation was likewise a well-oiled machine. Up to four dives a day if you want, all valet of course. They bring a new definition to the meaning of valet in fact. Terrific briefings, close dive sites motored to from The Pelagian by fast zodiacs, very small dive groups (3 of us with our divemaster) and the divemasters took their time underwater pointing out different sites and critters. Our main divemaster for the week was Yono, an Indonesian, who had been diving these waters for a very very long time and with the eyes of a hawk. He even found 2 Lembeh sea dragons for us on one dive! He was fabulous! I would say that the dive sites were similar yet unique from the ~35 sites we had dived while at Wakatobi Resort, and we did have an opportunity to see some unique creatures that we didn’t while diving the resort.

Divemasters, Zodiac captains (we had YaYa!!), The Pelagian Captain and all the crew are all very safety conscious, friendly, courteous and always so helpful! Cruising the atoll was beautiful and peaceful, and there is plenty of deck space and main lounge space for relaxing between dives. We had a mix of clouds and sun over the course of the week, with a couple of small squalls that came through. We cruised a couple hundred of miles over the course of the week. During certain times of the year, depending on the winds, the captain doesn’t make one of the crossings over to where they do muck diving and mandarin fish diving. This disappointed a little us since we were looking forward to seeing those beautiful little mandarin fish and to see some of the muck creatures, but they let us know that because of the wind direction, the visibility would have been horrendous and the crossing would have been very rough. It is their policy to keep their guests comfortable and safe and to have a terrific diving experience so they cannot do part of this itinerary some times of year. I understand that captains make the call on the itinerary pending conditions and trust me, I WANT them to; I would much rather be safe than sorry.

What a fabulous week diving while living on a luxury dive yacht; thanks to an amazing crew and the whole operation!
Websites Wakatobi -- Pelagian   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Bahamas, Florida, Atlantic, Lake Champlain, Caribbean, Mexico, Indonesia, Maldives, Hawaii, Cocos Island, Galapagos
Closest Airport Wakatobi Getting There charter flight from Bali, organized by Wakatobi and Pelagian office

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy Seas calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp 79-81°F / 26-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-150 Ft/ 15-46 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments great camera room aboard The Pelagian; staff will help you with loading/ unloading your camera gear to the zodiac for each dive however you like
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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