WaKaToBi
#1
Posted 19 September 2004 - 04:28 PM
Much more to come when I get over the jet lag.
#2
Posted 19 September 2004 - 04:51 PM
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." C. S. Lewis
#3
Posted 19 September 2004 - 06:46 PM
Great place wth better diving... can't wait to hear the report..
http://www.wakatobi.com/homepage.html
and also Froggies:
http://www.divefroggies.com/index.html
It's on the list...
#4
Posted 19 September 2004 - 07:10 PM
well then.B R I L L I A N T !
Much more to come when I get over the jet lag.
guess that about sums it up, huh.
#5
Posted 19 September 2004 - 09:57 PM
#6
Posted 20 September 2004 - 10:02 AM
p.s. can't wait to hear the rest!
Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
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#7
Posted 20 September 2004 - 11:01 AM
The diving and the resort exceeded my expectations so yes it was worth it. Would I do it again. ABSOLUTELY. In fact I will do it again.The logistics are brutal...I know as I've looked at it for a SD trip....but are you saying it was really worth it? And more importantly...would you do it again???? LOL!! -ww
p.s. can't wait to hear the rest!
#8
Posted 20 September 2004 - 12:18 PM
Edited by chinacat46, 20 September 2004 - 12:28 PM.
#9
Posted 20 September 2004 - 05:24 PM
First off they don't have many rules when it comes to diving except that you are supposed to dive with a buddy but they are pretty lax about that if you are diving the house reef. If you are diving the house reef you put your name on a white board and what time you went in. When you get out you remove it. If you don't they may come looking for you after an hour and half. They offer boat dives in the morning every day and either an afternoon or an evening boat dive. The morning boat dive is a two tank trip to different sites and leaves around 8AM. Dives are limited to 70 mins(if you call that a limitation ) although I had a few where I clocked in at 74 and few at 72. The afternoon dive normally goes off at 3pm and the evening dive normally leaves around 5:30(dusk) but it's night by the time you get to the site and get in. Night boat dives are limited to 60 mins and usually get back in the middle of dinner but there is always tons of food so that isn't a problem. You are assigned to a boat for the trip so you are tied to that boats schedule but they all dive they same sites just different days. We did two night boat dives and the rest were afternoon boat dives. So basically you do 3 boat dives a day. There is also unlimited shore diving and the house reef is not to be believed. Turly one of the best sites around and multiple spots to choose from. If you wanted to push it you could do 7 dives a day here although the most I did on a day was 6. One before breakfast, then the two morning dives off the boat. One right after lunch then the afternoon boat dive and then a shore dive around 5:15 which became a night dive by the time it was over. You can also dive after dinner and I did that a couple of times as well. Right in front of the resort there is a sandy area and then after a few feet there is a bunch of sea grass in fairly shallow water. This sea grass contains all kinds of critters and would also make an excellent snorkel. After you get over the sea grass and get to about 8-9 feet the coral starts and there is a wall that drops off that is just covered in the sweetests soft and hard corals. The soft corals here are just awesome although I think Fiji might have some nicer ones these are incredible and the hard corals are right up there with anyplace you have ever dived. Incredible fans and tunicates abound. The water temp was 79 except for one day when a front moved thru and the water temp got down to a chilly 77. I dove a 3 mm Henderson Gold Core as well as a 3 mm Henderson Hyperstretch hooded vest the whole trip and felt comfortable. Some people wore 5 mm suits and one guy dove a 3 mm shorty the whole trip. The afternoon you get there they have a checkout dive and after that the pool is open. The next 8 days are full days and the 9th day they cut you off at 1pm so you can start to dry out your gear and start off gasing before the trip back to Bali the next day. The viz was good but not great and was normally around 50 to 100 feet. The house reef sometimes can have a strong current and other times it's as calm as can be depending on the tide. When there is a current you can take a taxi way down and then drift back to one of the two gullys. The gullys are also filled with some incredible stuff. All the dive sites have the most pristine coral you will ever experience any where and I don't know how I'll be able to enjoy the Caribbean after this. But the beauty of the coral is just the begining the fish and macro life here are off the scale. I've never seen such quantity and variety of fish in my life. From the tinest of pygmy seahores(barely visible and in a couple of cases with a magnifing glass) to bumphead parrot fish almost big enough to ride and everything in between. I saw more nubibranchs on every dive then I had in all my previous dives combined and the variety, color and size of them will blow your mind. There also tiny shrimp and little crabs hanging out in different corals and all you had to do was just stop and look. I saw so many different types of fish I didn't know it was a clusterf**k on my brain. Numerous types of lion fish(including a few twinspots), butterfly fish, wrasse, angel fish, sea bass, trigger fish, file fish, anemone fish(Nemo was everywhere), gobies, blennies, box fish and more. In the Caribbean I can name 90% of what I saw here it was just the opposite about 90% of the stuff I couldn't name. I could identify what family a fish was from but the fish themselves had to be looked up and every dive I was learning new fish. Saw all different size cuttlefish from babies to some about two feet in size. Even got up close to one and it let me touch it. Saw numerous types of pipefish, mantis shrimps, lobsters, incredible decorator crabs and orangutan crabs(both these kinds of crabs are way cool), squid(including two that were mating and then depositing there eggs) and a few types of sea snakes. I saw eagle rays, devil rays and blue-spotted stingrays. On one dive I saw a nudibranch laying eggs. Saw some incredibly gorgeous scorpion fish of all types and varieties including numerous varities of leaf scorpion fish and some pretty good size stonefish as well as some big and small crocdile fish. On one night boat dive I even saw two mandarin fish mating(same dive where I saw the squid mating). I saw 4 blue ribbon eels and one black ribbon eel(juvenile blue ribbon) numerous types of morays. The quantity of the fish was amazing as well. I saw huge schools(1000's) of Sgt Majors, tons of bluestreak fusiliers and it goes on... The worst part though is how can I ever go back and enjoy the caribbean? Turly a dive experience I will never forget. I may see some places as good but none will be better. You won't see healthy coral anywhere and the variety will blow your mind. The deepest I got the whole trip was 80 feet and some of the best was in 10 feet. This is a photographers heaven but unfortunately I didn't bring a camera so I don't have any pics just memories(although I will be getting a few discs from some of the others on the trip). This isn't the place to go to see pelagics but you'd probably miss them if they were there cuz your head will be focused on the reef. I also saw numerous turtles and octopus but never saw the blue ringed octopus although I heard it hung out in the sea grass. Any way I can't say enough about the beauty of the reef and the fish you would have to see it to believe it.
#10
Posted 20 September 2004 - 10:01 PM
i can't believe you went all that way just for what you described.
jeez.
(i hope by this time everyone knows i'm kidding....)
#11
Posted 21 September 2004 - 05:25 AM
#12
Posted 21 September 2004 - 08:26 AM
what depths are they... 70 min dives would indicate 20-50' dives??
Sulawesi has been on my list, the top one at that, for several years now... so it's good to here, it's just getting better...
thanx for the report.....
#13
Posted 21 September 2004 - 08:39 AM
#14
Posted 21 September 2004 - 10:43 AM
"Love is blind but lust likes lacy panties" -- SanDiegoCarol
"If you're gonna be dumb, you'd better be tough." -- Phillip Manor
"If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly." -- Donald Rumsfeld
#15
Posted 21 September 2004 - 04:03 PM
Kamala if this could be added for August/November, 2005 as an international trip, let me know.
Thanks.
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