What’s the perfect dive vacation? How about a week at Wakatobi Resort, with days filled with regular boat dives and plenty of additional shore dives. Or would you rather cruise aboard a luxury dive yacht voyaging through the Wakatobi Islands and beyond, visiting dive sites known only to a few. With either choice, you’ll get the added bonus of impeccable service, world-class dining, and first-class accommodations. So why not do both.

The resort’s charm begins the moment you step onto the jetty. Whether you choose a Villa, an Oceanfront Bungalow, or a Palm Bungalow, relaxed luxury will be the formula for your holiday. Photo by Didi Lotze

On the beach

It is the underwater landscapes that draw most to Wakatobi. With three daily boat dives, night dives and unlimited access to the House Reef, you can rack up hours of bottom time each day with extended multi-level profiles, and add even more water time with mask and snorkel. But unless you sprout gills, you’ll need to come up for air at some point. That’s when the resort’s topside charms take over. The idyllic small island setting and away-from-it-all appeal are enhanced by postcard-perfect waters, a white sand beach and groves of swaying palms that declare “yes, you are in a tropical paradise.”

Wakatobi’s two-bedroom pool villas set a new standard for resort living and offer friends, families, or those seeking extra space during their holiday even more opportunities to indulge. Photo by Didi Lotze

Whether you choose a waterfront Villa overlooking the reefs, an Ocean Bungalow set right on the beach or a Palm Bungalow tucked a few feet back among swaying palms and tropical foliage, you’ll have room to relax and take in the views and the vibe on a private deck or porch.

Soak up a sumptuous spa treatment in the comfort of your Bungalow or Villa. Using our original custom-blended oils and aromatherapies Wakatobi’s skilled therapists will leave you relaxed and rejuvenated. Photo by Marco Fierli, marcof8.com

Turn your surface interval into a relaxation session by scheduling an in-room massage, welcome the sunset with a favorite libation at the Jetty Bar, and say yes to that special dessert at Wakatobi’s oceanfront dining room.

Taking a maximum of ten guests attended by a crew of 12, personal service is a hallmark of the Pelagian experience. Photo by Walt Stearns

Out to sea

What’s the difference between a dive liveaboard and a luxury yacht? Nothing if the vessel in question is the Pelagian. Seen from afar, this gleaming-white 35-meter vessel might seem like one of the private pleasure ships that line the quays of glamorous ports such as San Tropez or Newport. But though it’s spacious cabins and social areas showcase an upscale yacht interior, the Pelagian is very much a dive boat. The dedicated dive live-aboard is outfitted with all the features needed to support daily scuba activities, with a pair of high-speed launches that ferry divers to sites throughout the Wakatobi archipelago, as well as the renowned muck diving destination of Buton Island’s Pasarwajo Bay. With a maximum of ten guests attended by a crew of 12, personal service is a hallmark of the Pelagian experience, whether onboard or in the water. So too are the chef-crafted meals that become a highlight of surface intervals.

Pelagian returns to the Resort each week so connecting land and liveaboard itineraries is easy. Photo by Wakatobi Resort

Making the connection

Because the Pelagian returns to Wakatobi Resort each week, connecting land and sea itineraries is easy. All guests arrive via the twice-weekly charter flights from Bali, which run on Mondays and Fridays. Because Pelagian cruises run from Monday to Monday, the flight schedule creates a number of options. Guests could arrive on Friday, spend a weekend at the resort, then depart on the Pelagian, combine back-to-back weeks on land and sea, or extend their time at the resort to 11-days or more. Flights from Bali typically arrive at the resort before noon, giving resort guests ample time to enjoy lunch, settle in and get in their first dive of the trip before dinner. Guests who are scheduled to go directly aboard Pelagian also have the chance to relax and enjoy lunch while the staff transfers dive gear to the fantail and luggage to the cabins. By early afternoon, all is in place and the Pelagian departs for a nearby reef, where guests perform a check out dive to ensure all is in order. But even this first dive stretches to 70 minutes or more, setting the tone for the week to come.

Sundays are the final diving day of each week-long cruise. Guests who are flying out the following day will usually make two shallower dives in the morning, while guests planning a stay at the resort upon returning to Wakatobi can make three dives, as they will not be flying the following day. When Pelagian arrives at Wakatobi, departing guests take the outgoing flight, which arrives Bali between 2pm and 3:30pm. Guests transferring to the resort can keep racking up bottom time by hopping on a late-morning or afternoon boat or making a dive on the House Reef. For all of these transfers, guests never need bother with luggage or equipment as Wakatobi’s staff handles all the details, removing the hassles of travel and leaving only the relaxation.

Want to create your own Wakatobi Double Dip? To start planning, visit us at wakatobi.com where you can complete a quick trip inquiry, or e-mail our team at office@wakatobi.com.

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