wakatobi!

It’s taken three years to get here!  My ‘bucket list’ snorkeling trip. I booked this trip way back in 2020, two weeks before the Covid ‘bomb’ dropped. 

The Wakatobi Dive Resort is located in South East Sulawesi, Indonesia. It’s a small resort on an island in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, also known as the Asia-Pacific Coral Triangle. It is the third largest national park in Indonesia and I’ve read that Jacques Cousteau has called this area “underwater nirvana”. Yes, it is a ‘Dive’ resort, but my research tells me it’s a snorkeler’s paradise as well.

The islands here form the largest barrier reef in Indonesia with their surrounding clear waters offering fantastic underwater life. And … the Wakatobi Resort has an amazing house reef! This is one of the reasons I chose this location. While visiting neighbouring reefs by boat was appealing, it was the house reef that really excited me. I can’t wait to get back in to the water and experience Indonesia’s barrier reef.

Here’s a map of Wakatobi’s location and also the Coral Triangle …

So after a week of enjoying some down time in Bali, it is time for Wakaobi.  

The service! We were met at the airport by Wakatobi staff. Our bags were checked in ever so smoothly and then we were provided with a breakfast. ‘Anything’ from the menu we were politely told.

After a comfortable 2 1/2 hour flight we arrived at the Wakatobi airport, located on the nearby Tomia Island (an airport built by the Wakatobi team specifically for Wakatobi guests). We were then transported through the local village by private cars (no buses here!) to a waiting Wakatobi boat. 15 minutes later, we were tying up to the Wakatobi jetty.

We are here at Wakatobi for seven days.  

I know it will not be long enough but I also know we are very lucky to get here at all. Neville is normally my ‘boat boy’ back home as he’s not really a snorkeler, but I am hoping by the end of this week he too will have experienced a wonderful week here at Wakatobi, both in and out of the water.

So … how do I share this wonderful week of photos? There might even be a blog post devoted to each of my seven days.  They won’t appear all at once, nor day after day, only when I can squeeze in some time in front of my laptop.

Watch out for day one!

PS. This is my first post in my ‘new’ blog format. Always tricky negotiating new formats. However, like always, you can click-on each photo for a larger view.