Return to Wakatobi

[DavidWarshaw]

We made a second trip to Wakatobi (www.wakatobi.com), the wonderful dive resort in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, with our dive club, Blue Water Divers (New Jersey). Accomodations have been expanded somewhat, with "premium" cabins that have bigger porches and a bit more room inside. There is also a new dining room and kitchen, that makes meal times much more pleasant with more space and more food choices. But don't go for the living arrangements. This is diving at its best. We did an 11-day trip, and each day included three 70+ minute boat dives on pristine reefs with so much life you don't know where to look. You can do extra dives in the morning, afternoon or evening. If you are game, five dives a day are possible. And with happy hour at the end of the dock every day as the sun sets around 6:00-6:30, it is a pretty special place. A few photos here; more at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwar/se...7594379238694/

[josedesucre]

It is a beatiful place indeed, and your pictures are great David. Is spearfishing allowed there?

[DavidWarshaw]

Sorry, no. The resort has a strict no touch, no take agreement with the local governments and people. This is one of the reasons the reef is so good. The economy in one of the poorest corners of the world depends mostly on trade... and there was lots of bad fishing practices, including using explosives and acid. By making it economic (through reef leasing and hiring local staffs) to stop those practices, a large area of one of the most productive reef systems in the world is protected. Go and look... shoot with a camera... it's wonderful.

[josedesucre]

That's perfectly fine with me. I like spearfishing but at the same time I am a fanatic-about-conservation-take-only-what-you-are-actually-going-to-it kind of guy, and I love taking pictures! Hopefully I will make it to Wakatobi some day.