On another thread I said that Wakatobi is not recommended for a first visit to Indonesia for diving, and
@CF L had asked why. Note that info is before pandemic.
I flew into Wangi-wangi (the 'Wa' in Wakatobi) but the main dive sites are further afield so will require hours of daily boat rides from Wanci (capital city of Wakatobi, in Wangi-wangi Island). There are several sites around Wangi-wangi but local NGO staff said other places would be better. But anyway you could dive and stay at Wanci. This
hotel is probably the nicest (and has dive shop on site) - I didn't stay here, just had dinner.
I ended up diving out of Hoga Island with a crew from
OpWall and stayed at a homestay. It was arranged spur of the moment through the grapevine (was there for work).
From Wangi-wangi I took a public boat to Kaledupa Island (the "Ka" in Wakatobi), about 2 hours. I was picked up at Kaledupa by a small boat, then it was about 10min to Hoga.
[Alternatively I hear you can fly into Bau-bau and take a boat to Kaledupa]
At Hoga, everything was pretty basic and not vacation-pampering level. But the diving was fantastic and the crew very knowledgeable as they run the dive op at OpWall (up to 300 tanks can go out in a day at height of summer session - probabaly the largest dive op in Indo). Sites were 10-20min by boat. Huge schools of fish (barracuda, tuna), many turtles, some sharks, healthy corals, seeing all the Bajau people do their thing out in the water. Did a couple of night dives from shore. I also splurged on a trip out to Tomia (where Wakatobi Resort is based), about 2 hours roundtrip from Hoga (2x60hp engines). It was ok but nothing that couldn't be seen 10-20 min from Hoga, dive wise. But I wanted to see the rest of the archipelago. Very nice boat ride. At one point had to pust the boat w/ pole through mangroves due to low tide.
While everything was basic, the team that hosted me was used to catering to hundreds of foreign students who come to the island for their summer course with OpWall. The dive crew particularly was involved in many research projects (resulting in probably hundreds if thesis/dissertations over the years) so they are VERY knowledgable.
On land you could visit the bigger island e.g. Kaledupa was interesting. Visited several weavers and bought lots of handwoven cloths. You could also visit the Bajau villages (I didn't do this).
The government web
site for Hoga says there are two resorts.
Tripadvisor has a recent review and seems this is the
Hoga Island Dive Resort. The other one must be thi:,
Hoga Dive Resort. I didn't stay at either (stayed at a homestay).
Overall I enjoyed myself, would go again. But Hoga is a bit out of the way even for Indonesia, and wouldn't recommend for those visiting for the first time. Facilities are very basic, people generally don't speak English. It's a bit harder to arrange than Alor.
