Wakatobi Dive Resort

This was our first visit to Wakatobi and our first vacation focused on scuba diving. We are glad we made the leap, and fear Wakatobi has spoiled us for all other dive resorts. The accommodations are lovely, with space between each bungalow, privately walled outdoor showers, lounge chairs, a lanai, and hammock. There are plenty of chairs and lounges all over the resort for sitting to watch the ocean and relax. The stargazing from the beach is unbeatable. The restaurant serves a buffet which is not an ordinary mix of blah food. There is a variety of food to meet any dietary need and preference, from pizza through Indonesian specialties. The food is very good and the warm environment of the restaurant makes it a pleasure to dine there. The team that works there is wonderful. The dive boats are operated professionally and they take perfect care of you. We were grouped with others with similar diving skills, and our dive master Agus was fantastic. He is knowledgeable, attentive to safety, and seeks to make each dive perfect for you. When you come up, the team helps you out of your gear, hands you hot wet towels and then dry towels, and offers snacks. At the end of your dives they handle all your equipment to clean it and prepare for the next day. The rental equipment was in top-notch condition. They let the dives go 70 minutes if everybody is doing fine and has enough air, which is also a treat. I could go on. We will be back.

A love letter to Wakatobi … our 2nd time and we can’t wait to return. The entire organization is attentive and welcoming. This is our preferred destination and we sincerely appreciate the organizational details and efforts the staff showers each guest with. From the greetings at the Bali airport to the airplane ride to the island , and then the short boat ride over to the resort. And then the greetings from the resort staff on the dock…just a truly overwhelming experience. The entire dive team and boat crew are so careful and can problem-solve most dive gear issues etc… the chefs, servers, and restaurant staff all know your name within seconds of meeting you - it’s truly awe- inspiring… then the housekeeping and butler staff are caring and thoughtful. For a dive resort, the little touches are so well thought out and implemented smoothly and with such care. The delicious food and drinks, and activities offered outside of the water sports are really enjoyable too. The Indonesian culture is truly welcoming and friendly. The conservation efforts are working as the marine park is pristine, the wildlife is abundant and the cooperation between the locals and the resort is admirable. This seems to be a blueprint many other marine parks could consider. There is not enough space here to thanks to all the wonderful people for and the extra touches

Wakatobi resort has worked its magic again !. My sister and I have just returned to Australia after a week snorkelling and staying at the resort. Cannot speak highly enough of the resort, the staff,food,accommodation all superb. Our snorkelling guide Kiara was so informative about the marvellous coral and underwater life and made every outing such a delight. The reef is so healthy and we could have spent days on the house reefs alone. I cannot think of anything ( except a longer stay ) that would have made our stay more enjoyable. Many thanks. Sandra and Lorraine

We saw some coral reefs close to the shore and the landing is very nice. We took a short car ride to the boat where we took about 10 mins to reach the hotel and saw 6 juvenile sweetlips near the shore. Then we went into our nice Two-Bedroom Villa and it had a view of the ocean. It includes a pool and the bedrooms were very nice. It has a outdoor bathtub and shower and also has indoor ones. Then there are a lot of crabs on the beach and the beach is nice and shallow. Snorkeling is beautiful here because of the nice house reef. When it is high tide you can swim under the jettty and at low tide you can be less than 1 meter away from the coral, be careful! you can see turtles (babies also) and octopuses and cuttlefishes and you can be 3 meters away from the coral when snorkeling so it is great for snorkelers. Diving is not bad and you can also see deeper water fish and one of the best sites is the zoo where you see cuttlefishes and octopuses. The place to see turtles are at Turkey Beach and when snorkeling we saw 8 turtles! This is a great place if you like the ocean. -Isabel, 8 We visited Wakatobi in June as a family of four and had the most amazing experience. Accommodations: We stayed in the two-bedroom pool villa—initially it felt like an unnecessary splurge since we’re right by the sea but it was such a great decision! Our family enjoyed the space tremendously. The pool was amazing for a dip after returning from dives and snorkelling trips, followed by a soak in the outdoor bath. The rooms came with very thoughtful and eco-friendly amenities such as toothpaste tablets and balt salts. Food: Our stay came with an all inclusive package (excludes alcohol and specialty drinks). There were always plenty of greens, a mix of different speciality cuisine and international food set up in a buffet style in The Restaurant. The dining area is casual elegant—just the right ambience for an active luxury resort. We enjoyed all the dishes—we don’t have a sweet tooth but found ourselves tempted and trying all the intricate desserts every lunch and dinner! There were snacks provided in our room every afternoon, as well as the Long House, the front office of the resort. Diving/Snorkelling/Beach: Wakatobi has a beautiful white sandy beach, including a turtle beach where turtles nest! We were so lucky to see a baby turtle make its way to the sea one afternoon—we were very grateful that the the staff alerted us quickly so we could catch this very special experience. Diving (for the adults) and snorkelling (for the kids) were excellent! The corals were healthy and teeming with life, and just a short boat ride away. There were calm and shallow areas where the children could spot a lot of marine life (clownfishes, sea snakes, turtles, octopus) easily and safely. They’re now clamouring for the next snorkelling trip! Our dive and snorkelling guides were excellent and made us feel safe. Service: The service was one of the key distinguishing features, and made our stay truly pleasant. From the moment we landed in Bali, we were well taken care of, everyone gave us the feeling that they were truly pleased to make our holiday better, from the villa butler, front office to the restaurant. Everyone knew the names of all the guests and over our week day learnt our habits (my son likes to have a raspberry sorbet after every meal)—an impressive feat! There were thoughtful touches, like providing information (e.g. on schedule for check out) at the right time, beautiful tower art in our room everyday, and two special cakes for our wedding anniversary and achieving our diving certifications. Our villas were labelled beautifully with a wooden carved block with our names, and we got to keep those! Wakatobi is a little harder to get to than say Bali, (though no more than most resorts in Maldives), but absolutely worth the additional hours! We’re already planning our next trip!

Our fourth trip to Wakatobi was a little different than the previous - this time, we brought three generations of family for some quality time together. The youngest was two, the oldest...well, lets call us senior citizens. This review will focus on the young set and what was available for them at Wakatobi. We stayed in Villa 2 and Ocean bungalows 3 and 4. As always, the service was impeccable. When there is a staff to guest ratio of over 5:1, the guest is definitely spoiled. To top it off, the Indonesian culture absolutely loves children and will go out of their way to smile and greet them. We utilized both the kids club and the nanny service for the toddler. This allowed the family to both spend time on the boat as well as time in the resort without the onus of nitty gritty child care. Think "lounging on the beach reading while someone else is repetitively helping Bluey to jump in and out of the waves and sand castles". Think "kid-friendly snacks brought to the beach and adult beverages brought to mom" while sandy and tired from the sun. Think "adult dinners in the restaurant while someone is watching the kids after their room service kid dinner". Family were there for the important parts, but ancillary help is so nice! For the 6 year old, the snorkeling was the highlight of her life so far! We had a private boat for the family, which scheduled dives near snorkel-friendly reefs. While the family dove, the 6 year old snorkeled under the expert guidance of Frendki, who excelled at finding and pointing out flora and fauna while keeping the kid absolutely safe. She had so much fun that some of us ended joining the snorkeling rather than diving because she was seeing so much stuff! Our other dive guides, Ebi and Juliette, were so patient and friendly with the kid that she wanted to spend every day with them. The private boat staff, Alun and others, made sure warm towels and snacks were always at the ready. In short, every detail was covered by the Wakatobi staff, from the new kids club to the many dietary restrictions to the logistics of travel. What a relief it was to this travel planner to have someone else take excellent care of my family. Yes, it was expensive, but it's experiences, not things, that we cherish over the years. Thanks, Wakatobi!