Playing in the garden

A dive at Roma is a far cry for the deeper-darker technical scene with which rebreathers were long associated. Here, you are immersed in a cloud of sea life as you fin through a coral garden bursting with colors. Which is all the more reason to bring the closed-circuit equipment. “The reef teems with life, and there is so much to watch when you aren’t blowing bubbles and making noise,” says Dr. Meyer. “You can hang out at a cleaning station for 20 minutes, or have that extra time needed to move a bit slower and approach or swim amongst schools of snappers or other wildlife with less disturbance. It is hard to get the smile off your face after you surface.” The site’s signature feature is a small plateau that rises close to the surface, attracting large schools of blackfin barracuda and black snappers. But as spectacular as the upper portions of the plateau can be, many divers consider the region between 15 and 20 meters to be equally enthralling.

Make the trip aboard a boat dedicated to rebreather divers and you might not have to schedule a return visit to get your fill, as you could devote the better part of a morning or an entire afternoon in one memorable dive.

A common closed-circuit profile at Roma would allow you to spend well over an hour at this depth range, then work your way upwards to spend as much or more time closer to the surface, perhaps searching for the banded sea snakes, ribbon eels and scorpion leaf fish that are typically spotted on this pinnacle. One of the most frequent comments divers make after diving Roma is that they’d like to do it again. “This is possibly my favorite all time dive site,” said guest Steve Moore. Make the trip aboard a boat dedicated to rebreather divers and you might not have to schedule a return visit to get your fill, as you could devote the better part of a morning or an entire afternoon in one memorable dive.

Seen here from above, Blade’s expansive, near vertical contours and shallows covered in sponges, brilliant hard and soft corals, and fish life, provides more generous profiles and extended, multi-level dives for those with rebreathers. Photo by Walt Stearns

The cutting edge

One of the most intriguing and dramatic dive sites at Wakatobi is known as Blade. It consists of a series of precipitously narrow seamounts that rise from the depths, connected by a lower ridge that gives the entire structure the appearance of a serrated knife blade. Blade is amazing when seen from above, and the steep slopes are covered in giant sponges and sea fans. The average open-circuit dive profile here allows you to take in three or possibly four of the sequential seamounts, and to possibly drop to the lower ridge for a few minutes. Bring a rebreather and Blade can become an underwater playground. When sharing a boat with a group of open-circuit divers, the more generous profiles of a rebreather provide the flexibility needed to explore the lower ridge sections. Come aboard a boat dedicated to rebreather diving and you can break new ground. Most dives at Blade take in three or possibly four of the individual teeth. Blade actually has a total of five individual seamounts, and after thoroughly exploring both sides of these structures, CCR divers could continue on to explore a formation known as Coral Hill, or northwards to Independence Reef, where they will find yet another set of seamounts. Parallel to Blade there is a deep ridge, separated by a 45 – 60m (147-200 ft) deep plateau with sea pens. Large stingrays can often be seen cruising around that deep ridge. On a rebreather, no two dives at Blade would be the same.

“Diving a rebreather takes you to the next level at Wakatobi,” says Dr. Claus Meyer. Photo by Marco Fierli

What lies below

“Diving a rebreather takes you to the next level at Wakatobi,” says Dr. Meyer. “I am a big fan of steep walls, and with a rebreather I can have a smooth 90 minutes dive, spending plenty of time at depths down to 50 meters, staying a bit longer in the 35 meter range, and avoiding decompression by ending the dive on the shallower reef, all while enjoying a optimum oxygen mix that enhances my safety.” Wakatobi’s dive center not only supports special nitrox decompression mixes for Extended Range Open Circuit divers, but can also provide rebreather divers with trimix diluents for Advanced Mixed Gas dives. And as wonderful as the upper portions of Wakatobi’s reefs can be, there are also rewards awaiting those who go deeper. One site that is ideal for extended range profiles is Magnifica. Here, divers can follow a steep slope to the standard limits of recreational diving, but only have a few minutes before they must begin their ascent. Rebreather divers equipped with the right breathing mix don’t have to stop here, and can instead continue on to explore a ledge in the 40 to 45 meter range, or plunge over the edge of a second, deeper wall where marble rays glide among giant sea fans. Afterwards, decompression stops become a joy rather than an obligation, as they are performed on the shallow upper portions of the reef, which is alive with schooling fish and home to a plethora of small creatures hiding amid the table corals.

No matter whether you go deep, stay shallow, spend all day or just take advantage of the minimally-invasive qualities closed-circuit diving provides, there are plenty of reasons to bring a rebreather to Wakatobi. But even with all these advantages, there’s still one thing you will have in common with those who use traditional scuba: at the end of your trip, no matter how much bottom time you logged, you’ll want to come back for more.

Are you a CCR diver? Then what are you waiting for? It’s time to experience all that Wakatobi has to offer. Contact us at office@wakatobi.com, or complete a quick trip inquiry at wakatobi.com.

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