Compare Wakatobi and Raja Ampat--for snorkelers? Please?

[billt4sf]

Keep it coming! Great pictures, Dan! I have seen the Misool video; it looks to be a more interesting island albeit buggier. Wakatobi has a video, too.
Wakatobi was excellent at accommodating my medical/dietary issues.
My husband probably has the cost numbers, but my impression is Misool is more expensive itself per stay and in airfar and much longer to get to for us.
For Wakatobi, you get to Denpasar then their charter flight gets you to Wakatobi in under 3 hours, then back the same way. Misool, you get to Jakarta, then fly to Sorong overnight with a connection, then a 5 ish hourboat ride...returning seems you have to overnite in Sorong...

Yes, more or less.

And Dan is likely correct about the food.

I have never been to Wakatobi, but I have been to Misool twice. I would go again in a heartbeat, even given the length of the trip and the possibility of average food. I especially recommend it for snorkelers -- baby (and not-so-baby) sharks in the house lagoon! It is an AWESOME place. If it helps any, they do put a significant amount of the monies they receive into their environmental work. The place is built in a former shark finning location. And they bought up thousands of square kms of area for protection -- and they do protect it!

We're going back for a third visit in April.

- Bill

 

[Dan]

Crappy pictures Dan. Is that all you could get?

- Bill

Pictures can't be as good as the real things, especially to someone who has been there more than once.

How about this one. I made a pit stop on my way to the restaurant and took the picture of those juvenile blacktips with my iPhone. That was 4 years ago. They are big ones by now.

Here is the type of limestone islands there that you won't see in Wakatobi.

Don't miss snorkeling in Tomolol Cave

And the Petroglyph

 

[scorpiofish]

I have been to Wakatobi 3 times (once on Pelagian) and Raja 6-10 times. We have had snorkelers on the Raja trip. While you can have some great experiences in Raja, snorkeling can present some more difficult issues than at Wakatobi. There will be sites where people will dive and you cannot snorkel due to surface currents. Sometimes the tender can keep picking you up and dropping you, but that doesn't make for a great experience. If you are willing to accept there will be dives or even days with less than stellar snorkeling, then it can still be very rewarding. The boats we have been on have been very accommodating when it came to snorkelers, whereas I can see where it might be difficult for boats with more divers.

It is difficult to compare costs because there are many choices in Raja that cover a broad dollar range. Getting there is royal pain in the butt, unlike the no brainer of Wakatobi. We are kind of use to it now, having spent countless days or hours in Makassar and the old Sorong airport.

On a Komodo trip on Damai I, the captain was an avid snorkeler and he and the snorkelers would go off together. I haven't started my new site yet since a major hack last year, so I don't have much of anything on the web from the last 6 years. This image was in Scuba Diving Magazine. They still owe me $100 for it, but I would rather not get a W9 for $100.

 

[FishCity]

Wow. Lots to think about. Thank you all. My husband will write Misool Eco Resort with some questions will see how they respond...

 

[billt4sf]

Wow. Lots to think about. Thank you all. My husband will write Misool Eco Resort with some questions will see how they respond...

Likely slowly....

 

[FishCity]

Indeed

 

[Wingy]

Some more to think about - this book may give you some ideas of where to zero in on

Diving and Snorkeling Guide to Raja Ampat and Northeast Indonesia

 

[FishCity]

Well, I guess if it were easy to choose and get there it all would look like Kahaluu Beach Park in Kona...so the process continues.
We have pretty much moved on from Misool. Have started looking at a company that runs snorkel trips to RA on Blue Manta. Boat looks good...? (There are other snorkel trips on a sailing boat but those cabins look too small.)
Thanks for the book recommendation will pursue it.

 

[billt4sf]

You know what, I just remembered that the DMs on Mermaid told me that they have a group of snorkelers that reserve the entire boat a few times a year. Why don't you contact them and see about it? The DMs said how great a time the snorkelers had....and I suppose it's all much easier for the DMs as well!

- Bill

 

[FishCity]

Thanks, will look into that!