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Dive Review of Wakatobi Dive Resort in
Indonesia/SE Sulawesi

Wakatobi Dive Resort, Feb, 2013,

by Jack Bernstein, OH, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 10 reports with 3 Helpful votes). Report 7278.

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 4 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments This is the ultimate dive resort. You must take a charter from Bali to Wakatobi but the second you et to the airport, they are waiting for you and transfer you to a lounge to wait for the flight. The flight, on a prop, takes about 2.5 hours (though I could be off) and lands you at the adjacent island. Then a short boat ride to the resort. The service and food are beyond compare. Even though the resort was not full, the quality and diversity of the food was superb. Everyone is willing to help you and knows your name.

You get a (relatively) dedicated dive master, except when they switch out for days off. He/she will show you where everything is. The diving is off the resort's large, stable boats. Since our wives didn't breath, the two husbands were given larger tanks so that we could stay down for the usual 70-80 minute dive. In general, 3 dives a day but that is still almost 4 hours under water.

Lots of little things. I had a rgeat time doing macro-photography. The advantage for me was that I could find the same subject on multiple dives. I saw numerous Hairy Squat Lobsters, Bubble Coral Shrimp, among others. Given that you saw it more than once, your photographic skills could be adjusted. You didn't have to worry about only seeing it once. Reasonable number of nudis, bit not as many as I saw in the Philippines. Multiple variants of Frog Fish.... and on and on. No really big fish or pelagics bit we were busy enough and didn't really miss them.

Most of our week had intermittent rain and persistent clouds. This din't inte4rfere with the diving but meant that you couldn't see the fantastic night sky (which we saw on our last night there). We only had one day with a nasty squal. We went ding anyway. Interesting to watch the storm from below... They tend to never cancel dives.

Down sides.... It is expensive, but worth it. Some people had private guides but I am not sure that the expense was worth it. It is also a LONG HAUL from the US. We were in the air for 24 hours just to get to Bali (where you have to come 2 days prior to the charter). Our total elapsed time US - Bali was close to 30 hours.

In any case, there are ther places I would like to go (Lembeh, Raja Ampat) but the combination of good-excellent accessible diving with fantastic reefs and excellent service would be hard to beat.
Websites Wakatobi Dive Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Red Sea, Galapagos, Philippines, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Costa Rica, Bonaire, St. Lucia, Florida, SanDiego, Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Kitts, Statia, Cancun, Cozumel
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather rainy, cloudy Seas calm
Water Temp 80-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-80 Ft/ 15-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions This is Wakatobi. In general, you stay down as long as you have air and don't go into deco. On the boat dives, you go with a divemaster. On the house reef, you do whatever you want (within reason).
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments Dedicated camera room with ample plugs and air t blow off your equipment. It was locked at night so that it was secure. There was a fresh water rinse tank in front of the camera room.
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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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