409 Dive Log Australasia December 24

This was a wonderful night dive with a sleeping Turtle, couple of Saron Shrimp and morays. There are many dive sites with huge Sponges, some much larger than a diver. The coral gardens of Wakatobi are in great shape and there are many colourful coral grottoes and caverns to be explored. Once back at the resort, it was time for a warm shower and lunch. The restaurant is a wide-open area capable of seating about fifty guests inside and quite a few more outside in the tropical garden. It really is a beautiful setting with views across the ocean. All meals have several cooked mains as well as soup, a large salad bar and desert bar. You can also order a la carte at every sitting. On day one, my waiter offered me a choice of ice creams with desert at dinner. I found that the choice of flavors was too difficult for me. I really have to find out how they have such high quality ice creams in such a remote spot. Therefore, I asked if I could have two flavors. Then he said, you have to try the so and so flavor. So I ended up having three flavours.

Spine Cheek Anemone Fish

Luckily, active diving burns off a lot of calories. Several hundred of the staff are employed from local villages. In addition, Wakatobi has attracted many extremely experienced hotel staff from all over Indonesia. The service here is second to none. I spoke to Lorenz Máder, the resort's founder. He was quite open about the fact that the diving is just as good in other locations but that Wakatobi aims to provide the best possible service.

Skunk Anemone fish, Amphiprion akallopisos

DIVE LOG Australasia #409 - December ‘24 28