We have been a fair number of places but few have sparked as many questions as our trip to Wakatobi Dive resort, located in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.  It may be that it is a destination many have heard great things about with some taking the step of visiting their excellent website.  There you see that Wakatobi’s rates are at the top end for a resort.  In the end the question boils down to “is Wakatobi worth the money????” The simple answer is, yes. 

From booking to departure Wakatobi proved to be a 1^st class operation and without a doubt has by far the best house reef we have seen in our travels (as limited as they are compared to some).  One note there were only 11 guests at the resort during our visit the max capacity is 52.

Getting There

Getting to this region from the Northern Hemisphere is a hassle and for most takes a minimum of 2 days.  Wakatobi’s Bali office was very helpful in planning flights and hotel stays in Bali.  Once we arrived in Bali we were met by a Wakatobi representative. Passports were collected and we bypassed the standard long line for Customs.   Our bags were collected and brought to a driver who took us to a nearby hotel.  All of this was choreographed in a seamless fashion.

 The next morning the same driver was there to collect us and our 260lbs of gear taking us back to the airport.  Once again, we were met curbside by a Wakatobi representative, bags were put on carts, again helped through security to the Wakatobi desk.  Here we were greeted by Stjin another Wakatboi representative.  Bags were tagged for our flight and we were ushered to the Premium Lounge to wait for the other guest and departure of our flight. 

The flight is 2.5hrs on their privately chartered large twin prop.  The flight was 20% full so everyone had plenty of room.  Snacks were served and naps taken. You arrive at Wakatobi’s “private” airstrip, put into vans, driven down the road, walking 100yrds down to the water where guests are loaded onto one of the dive boats. Its 15-20 minute ride to the resort.  As you pull up to the dock the resort looks even better in person than in the literature. An incredible reef visible just below the surface meets white sand beach, palm trees and well appointed bungalows. 

Given we had such a small group each couple/person had their own personal welcoming staff member.  I think since this was a little different than the standard briefing on arrival we were a little unclear how the boat dives and house reef worked.  As soon as we got our bearings and got over our embarrassment the staff was happy to review the resorts workings with us once more.

The Resort

This is a high quality destination.  The workings are well thought out and executed.  Over the last 30 yrs I have spent a lot of time kicking around Asia.  I have been to many resorts that appeared to be high end on the surface, but after scratching the surface things fell apart.  Our villa and its grounds were beautiful, well maintained and comfortable.  Go to their web site and what you see is what you get.  In fact, the photos really don’t do it credit.  http://www.wakatobi.com

There is a main Long House that is the center of the resort.  The dive center, camera room, front desk are located here.  Like any resort the front desk is manned around the clock.  If you have a problem, question or just want to book a massage there is someone there to help you.  Dive briefings can occur here and water, coffee, tea and snacks are staged there. 

The food at Wakatobi is some of the best we have had anywhere.  It is was served buffet, which we prefer.  This allows you more flexibility in your schedule regarding getting in a dive, massage or just having a drink on the dock.  There was an excellent mix of local and western dishes.  Have sushi, Thai fried rice and roast beef on one plate, if you like.   There is a fairly complete bar right in the hall to provide you with your choice of drink.  We really can’t think of any dive resort or live-aboard that had a better selection or quality of food.   

The Dive Routine

You will be assigned a boat and a bin number for your gear upon arrival.  There are three boat dives per day typically departing around 8am, 10am and 2:20pm.  We returned to the resort between each dive.  Depending on how far you went you had enough time to jump off, change lenses, whatever and hop back on the boat.  Other times you could sit, sun and have a snack.  We only had one day where we went out and stayed on site for two dives.  Sites varied from 15mintues away to 45, with an average of about 20minutes or so. A variety of snacks, from fruit to sandwiches, was available on the dive boat.  There is a basic marine toilet on board.  Two boat night dives were offered during our trip.  In addition they have a “fast boat” that can be chartered if you and some friends want to do your own thing. 

If you are diving nitrox, you will need to analyze your tanks, mark it on a sheet.  Then fill out a tag for your tank with your mix, max depth, PSI and set them in a spot for the crew to move to the dive boats.  Like most resorts, once you set up your gear you never touch it again.  Unless you are shore diving, then you will setup your own gear.  We preferred to analyze all 8 takes before we went to breakfast or after our last dive in the evening. 

The dive boats are large and comfortable taking up to 18 divers each.  Wakatobi has a 4 divers to one dive guide ratio.  This is as close as you can get to having a private dive guide.  The only issue with the boats is there is a small amount of room on the bow for those who love the sun as most of the deck is covered. 

The House Reef

You can dive the house reef anytime you want between 6am and 10pm.  Now one thing we learned was that current played a role in when we chose to dive the house reef.  This is not like Bonaire where you can just jump in at any site, at anytime.  You can dive it on the slack, which if you are lucky will happen twice during your diving hours.  Or it can be done as a drift.  On the slack it took us over 80 minutes to putt along 70% of the house reef.  When we dove it on a “large” exchange, we covered the whole reef in just about 20 minutes.  This is known as the Wakatobi Express. 

You can dive the house reef one of two ways.  Just walk in from the shore, enjoy diving the shallows as you work your way out to the wall, about 100yards.  There is plenty of macro life including, robust ghost pipe fish, blennies, and tons of juvenile reef fish.  If the tide is in, you can exit anytime before you hit the well marked end point.  Someone will be there on the shore to help you with your gear and cameras. 

You can also choose to take the “taxi”, a small 6 person panga, to any point on the reef, roll in and off you go.  This was our preferred method and best if the current is running.  If the current is running and the tide is out there is a sand shoot at the end of the house reef which again is well marked.   That is really the only place you can exit.  A buoy line runs from the reef to the shore and Julie did find this useful to pull herself along when we dove on the large exchange.  I was able to swim along the bottom in about 4ft of water, camera in hand until we got close enough to stand, shed gear and walk the 50yds back to

Flora and Fauna

From the moment we first dropped in we where blown away by how healthy every bit of reef we saw was.  Each square inch is covered in a plethora of corals.  Orange cup corals cover a large percentage of every site.  The best part is these are open and feeding during the day.  Many of the reefs have fantastic cutouts, windows and overhangs to keep you interested.  In addition, every type and color of sponge is present in massive Dr. Seuss -like shapes.  Walls are covered in fans of every color and size. Most of the walls supported massive formations of green tubastrea coral. 

While not a big creature destination, we did see more schools of bumphead parrot fish than we have seen in all our trips combined to date.  We spotted a few sharks and the occasional eagle ray.  If you like turtles, you will love Wakatobi as you see several on every dive, especially Turkey Beach.  We also encountered some of the largest and most friendly puffer fish we have seen. 

Regal, yellow mask, imperator and many other species of angels are present and not as shy as in many areas.  Clouds of anthias. chromis and pyramid butterfly fish are to be found at almost every site.  Like any great destination just about every species of tropical fish you love can be found.  This is not a muck diving location, and you have to look more diligently for the small and bizarre critters.  But there are leafy scorpion fish, blue ringed octopus, pygmy seahorses, frog fish, stone fish, robust pipe fish to be found, just stick close to your guide.

For the Photographer

Wakatobi’s reefs are incredible because they are committed to taking care of them.  They have spent a lot of time and money working with the local people to create no fishing zones and showing them the benefits of this.  Accordingly, they ask their guest to also make an effort to protect this living gem.  That means no tripods and no gloves. They ask you do not rattle off 20 photos in a row of any creature and be conscious of your equipment to minimize contact with the reef. 

They realize you have photos that you want to get and they will tell you up front “use our guides as tripods where needed.”  With a 4 to 1 ratio, it is easy to work with your guide to find specific creatures and the guides make good models. 

The camera rooms are large, well lit, air-conditioned with plenty of 220 and 110 outlets.  But it is always a good idea to bring an extra power strip or Squid if you have a large setup.  There was plenty of storage under the table top to fit even the largest of hard cases.  Towels are provided for drying of cameras.  The area is locked at night and opens about 6am.  We left all our gear in there only bringing CF cards back to the room to download.  As large as the camera rooms are, it would be cramped if you had +40 DSLR and video shooters. 

For me, this was a wide angle destination due to the breathtaking topography and health of the reefs.  I shot the Tokina 10-17mm 75% of the time.  That said, a fellow photog shot his 105mm lens much of the trip finding 12 species of nudibranch and all sorts of other macro subjects. Regardless anything you shoot will have a vibrant and lush background.

The Inevitable Comparisons

People need context to make decisions, so we will try to provide some.  After cost vs. value the most common question that arises is "how does Wakatobi compare with Raja Ampat?" 

In our humble opinion Raja is simply the premier spot for overall tropical diving.  Raja has a wider range of fish and invertebrate life; plus you will have more opportunities to see bigger creatures.  Wakatobi’s reefs are healthier and more vibrant in color.  If you are a 5-dives-a-day person and love live-aboards, then go to Raja.  You will have a great time!  If you are looking for a more relaxed atmosphere at a more luxuriant, land based resort, then Wakatobi is an excellent choice.

Wakatobi vs. Fiji/Thailand.   Both have more soft corals than Wakatobi.  Both have spots like Richelieu Rock that compete with Wakatobi’s reefs.  But think of Richelieu streatched out to mile long reef and that is Wakatobi.   Fiji and Thailand do have more sharks and rays.   A big advantage for Wakatobi is radically fewer divers.  Many times we had the reef to ourselves.  Remember this is the only resort for hundreds of miles around.  stretched out to a mile long reef and that is Wakatobi.

Wakatobi vs.Palau.  Currents can be similar between the two destinations.  But again Wakatobi has more spectacular reefs and is has way more big animals and pelagic schools.more “fishy” in an “aquarium” fashion.

Wakatobi vs. The Caribbean.  Honestly, there is no comparison get your backside on a plane to the South Pacific….

In the End

Yes Wakatobi is worth the time and expense.  When you get to operations and destinations of this caliber it is like picking between Mercedes, Audi and BMW.  You can’t go wrong it is just a matter of taste.  Wakatobi does have something for everyone and it all comes impeccably wrapped and delivered.