by our Outdoor
Travel Adventures Consultant and Dive Guru
I surfaced from a fantastic night dive on the Wakatobi Dive Resort house
reef to a cloudy sky and occasional bolts of lightning cutting through the
darkness. As I swam to the exit point and began climbing the stairs to the
jetty I heard peals of laughter from the bar a mere 30 feet away. Staff waited
for me at the top of the stairs, helped me shrug out of my gear, and then carried
my gear to the dive center for me. It
was my fourth dive of the day and if I hadn’t been starving I would have done a
fifth dive.
The name “Wakatobi” is an acronym taken from the first two letters of
four nearby islands (Wangiwangi, Kaledupe, Tomia, and Binongko). Wakatobi, a luxury dive resort, is located
just southeast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
My trip has been smooth sailing thanks to the amazing Wakatobi staff
located in Bali, Tomia, and at the resort itself. Upon arrival at the Bali
airport I was met by staff (as are all guests) who proceeded to escort me
effortlessly through immigration and customs. Check-in for the chartered domestic
flight from Bali to Tomia also went smoothly.
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Upon
disembarkation from the shuttle boat more staff greeted the guests by name and
all guests were individually escorted to their bungalows. For the duration
of the trip each staff person greeted us by name and made each of us feel at
home!
Ayo menyelam! Bahasa (the local language) for “let’s go diving!”
The Wakatobi
system for diving is a well-oiled machine. For the 10 divers on my boat there
are three dive guides: two groups of four divers and one group of two divers.
The boat drops each group off at 5-minute intervals along the wall so that we
all feel that we are the only ones at that dive site. In addition, there
are always three to four crew members to help with gear.
Suited up we
take a giant stride into the 82-degree water. I drop down and begin
searching for macro animals while huge schools of pyramid angel fish, black
snappers, giant trevally, and other fish swim around me. At the Wakatobi dive
sites the visibility typically ranges between 75-150 feet with the best diving
no deeper than 60 feet or so. Five minutes into my dive at around 55 feet
deep I spot a pygmy sea horse - on my own and without a magnifying glass! Yes,
people were using magnifying glasses. I was so excited that I missed seeing
another pygmy sea horse just inches away. That dive was particularly amazing in
that our guide found three additional pygmy sea horses along with a minuscule
sea spider, two leaf fish, a tiger flat worm, and so much more. The reefs are
healthy with large schools of fish circling about. The soft coral is
spectacular in various shades of red, purple, and orange. Turtles, sea snakes,
eagle rays, black-tipped reef sharks, and tuna occasionally made an appearance
during my dives.
As I climb up
the ladder after another fantastic the dive crew is always there to help me out
of my gear. Out of the gear I am immediately handed a dry towel and a
warm wash cloth. As our boat motors back to the resort we all share the
highlights of the dive with the other divers and a sense of camaraderie
pervades the air.
If you would like more information on
Wakatobi Dive Resort please contact Outdoor Travel Adventures at 800-554-9059 /
info@otadventures.com.
<3 <3 <3
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