Dive Review of Wakatobi in
Indonesia

Other dive reports on Wakatobi Dive Resort

Other Indonesia reports
Subscriber Content Preview
Active subscribers go here

Wakatobi, Apr, 2004, by Matt Adams, CO, USA . Report 1439.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$	N/A
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Wakatobi was a great experience, but not without challenges. The transfers were seamless, Crispin (the Bali contact) could not have been more helpful, and travel to this outpost went without a hitch. They do a checkout dive including buddy breathing and mask removal (first in a while) and then you go dive the house reef. It's everything they claim; probably better diving steps from the resort than anything in the Carribean. Hunting jacks, octupi, turtles, and amazing corals at the end of the jetty. The currents can rip on the house reef. We had one dive where the current changed three times--we were carried away from the jetty (they have tenders that will come pick you up) about 1/3 mile, then the current reversed and carried us past the resort in the other direction, and then reversed a third time and took us back to the dock. The health and diversity of the corals here cannot be overstated. When shooting a picture and looking for a piece of dead coral to put a finger on, it was normal to not find one. Reefs looked like an idealized fantasy of what a reef should look like. There was small stuff everywhere. We saw over 10 types of nudibranchs, popcorn shrimp, ribbon eels, and many other critters. On the other hand, the largest fish we saw was probably a jack. There were a few turtles, and other than that, no biggies. We're used to the opposite--ailing coral life and some big fish. Not complaining, and I love the search for nudies, but eventually you start to want a surprise. The divemasters were almost naturalists, pointing out things that no one would have thought to look for, and doing excellent dive briefings. However, there was some serious conflict. There was a large group of photographers travelling together, and their skill level ranged from amazing to awful. After the worst offender in the group had repeatedly kicked coral, blown the sea horses off the fans, and pushed other divers off subjects (literally), and had been reprimanded by other members of her group, one of the divemasters was delegated to deal with the problem. Who decided that this new (to the resort) divemaster should address the whole resort at dinner with the issue is unclear, but it confused some people and angered many of the photographers. Although the owner of the resort was on hand, he did not address it himself, or appear to back up his divemasters. This made for a very tense situation for the remainder of the trip. This led to some of the photographers ignoring the dive briefings and confused and crowded dives. We started going in separately from the group and avoinding them. The resort was everthing we expected--relaxed, good food, not too hot (request a bungalow to the right of the main building--windward), plenty of diving. But, there were more people to a boat than one would expect for the price. As has been said before, Wakatobi is great, but...given the cost and the 40 hours of travel to get there, and the lack of big fish, we'll probably keep exploring.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Fiji, Bonaire, Caymans, Belize
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, currents
Water Temp	76-79°F / 24-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	90-150 Ft/ 27-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	No restrictions--everyone was on computer, but no reason to go deep.
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	Unbelievable photographic opportunities--nudibranchs everywhere, octupi, ribbon eels, everything but pelagics and larger reef fish. Amazing profusion of corals. Good camera room, but e-6 was dowm. Caters to photographers.

Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here

Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 1443 dive reviews of Indonesia and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

Other dive reports on Wakatobi Dive Resort

All Indonesia Dive Reviews and Reports
Diving Guide to Indonesia
Diving Reviews for All Dive Destinations

Featured Links from Our Sponsors
Interested in becoming a sponsor?

Reef & Rainforest, Let our experience be your guide -- Reef and Rainforest

Reef & Rainforest is an agency for travelers that scuba dive. Looking for Biodiversity, critters, Komodo, Raja Ampat, temples? We specialize in adventures to Indonesia.

Want to assemble your own collection of Indonesia reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

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.

Undercurrent Home

Page computed and displayed in 0.2 seconds

Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email. And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent
Get a free monthly email and a sample issue!

Dive Review of Wakatobi in Indonesia

Wakatobi, Apr, 2004,

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

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

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

Dive Review of Wakatobi in
Indonesia