Trip Report - Wakatobi, not up to the hype!

[divingdawn]

We were there in 2007 in waterfront bungalow. My hubby is a camera boy - im just the packhorse! Lovely diving, great staff but they don't really do flexible very well. As most camera boys they get a bit keen to get the shot they are looking for.. well it became very hard to do three day dives and a night dive and get fed in the evening.. The evening meal was buffet style and most was either eaten or cleared away by the time we had rinsed off. They did however restart the cooker for me when I told the manager I would cook my own if they didn't.. typical stroppy brit as i am but if I am paying 5 star prices and the brouchure said 5 star food - I want it after I have dived not before. Interestingly after my temper tantrum - 5 other euros joined our late supper and another magazine photographer , albit an american one.

Would I go back - yes please - would the kitchen staff want me to destroy their clockwork running of the caffiere I don't think so.

Go, have a great time, the diving is fab,the plane was way better than most little planes in that region, the drink seemed very reasonable compared with the Conrad in Bali!! and take some matches if you want to night dive to relight the cooker.

 

[Henrik_at_Wakatobi]

Hi Dawn,

Appreciate you adding your two cents to this exchange. I am glad that you had a great time with us and would consider coming back, something I would encourage you to do as we have fine-tuned resort operations to allow more flexibility in many areas, especially in the way we serve meals. You can now get an à la carte breakfast in your room if you want to sleep in and not join the first boat dive. You can also stroll to the restaurant later in the day and still find fresh, hot and yummy things to enjoy. Same with lunch and dinner that nowadays are served more flexibly.

One thing you can count on at Wakatobi Dive Resort is that if you experience something to be less than perfect during your stay with us and you communicate that to our team - we'll all work to improve on that, as soon as possible. The key being that you let us know, preferably while you are still in the resort, so that any improvements can be enjoyed by you as well as those that come after.

Thank you for coming to dive with us - we look forward to serving you again (and again) in the future

/ H


PS. Overall, I think you'd be pleasantly surprised at all the little changes since you were there! Our modus operandi is C.A.N.I - Constant And Never-ending Improvement!

 

[scorpiofish]

Since this thread is still kicking around, I'll throw in some comments. I've led two group trips to Wakatobi, plus a personal trip on the Pelagian. I'll have also done many other trips to Indonesia.

I consider a Wakatobi trip a slam dunk. The diving is wonderful, the accommodations superb and the food fantastic. No one I have ever taken there has ever been disappointed. Being walked through customs seems a like minor thing until you've done it the hard way and had to tussle with customs agents trying to shake you down.

The OP's complaints are quite subjective. Just an opinion I would place in the minority. I can't speak to fresh water rinse tanks. Some of his comments do have merit.

Drinks are expensive. So drink water or BYOB. I don't whine about mini bar prices in a hotel. Dive guides are hit and miss. There has also been some big turnover from season to season. We had dinner with Iman while on a stopover in Bali for another trip. He was there recruiting staff. The only dive guides remaining from our last trip are Deni and Romon. Deni was worthless as a spotter and guide anyway. Nice guy, but wouldn't point out a thing. I'm glad to see more Indonesian guides, as the one and done hired hands were always a problem. Fabrice was not only despised by our group, but he couldn't find a sponge if his life depended on it. I quit doing the boat dives and just dived the house reef after a while, except the sites I knew I wanted to visit.

Value is a subjective thing. If you want cheap, then Tulamben or other Bali locales can be awesome, but my favorite destination for diving, Raja Ampat, isn't exactly a bargain. Price the daily rate of a top liveaboard, Sorido Bay, or Misool Eco Resort and you find that it isn't exactly a bargain, nor is a room on a liveaboard as nice as a beachfront bungalow. To be sure, it has gotten quite expensive at Wakatobi (we paid $2800pp with flight included the first time), but it is supply and demand. If demand was concentrated on the cheaper end, then they would have built another long house.

Henrik, I will tell you what I tell every dive operator. Customers perception of the dive destination is overly influenced or weighted to their direct experience with their dive guide. The food tastes better, the rooms seem bigger and the drinks aren't near as expensive after three dives with a great dive guide. Never treat dive staff as a commodity. There may be an over supply of guides out there, but they are not a commodity. I had a dive op owner tell me, "but people choose to dive with me!" My reply, "but they don't dive with you. Most of them never even see you."

As soon as Wendy took over running the P Dancer and hired Yann, the complaints about the water leaks started going away. If the OP had a better experience with his guide, then the rinse water wouldn't have mattered.

 

[JasonG]

I don't want to side-track this thread about Wakatobi, but just a quick response to the last paragraph of Scorpiofish's comment above.

I just returned two days ago from the Paradise Dancer in Raja Ampat (very detailed trip report to be posted shortly). I knew Wendy from a trip to Wakatobi in 2006 and she hasn't changed a bit. Still as enthusiastic as ever and simply an amazing dive guide. And both Yann and Acho, the other guides, were every bit as good at spotting critters.

Water leaks...it did drip inside the saloon one afternoon, but everone was having such a good time that all we could do was joke about it.

Jason