Wakatobi
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Wakatobi National Marine Park
Wakatobi Highlights
Diving in Wakatobi
Current
Dive sites (open in new page)
How to get to Wakatobi
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Wakatobi National Marine Park
Wakatobi National Park (TNW) is one of the few and the largest marine national park in Indonesia. Coral reef ecosystems coastal marine ecosystems is rated as very productive that can be found in tropical waters (Supriharyono 2007). Ecologically coral reefs play an important role as a habitat for reef fish communities targeted by fishermen. TNW fishing communities in the region has relied on this resource their survival since time immemorial.
Utilization done so far is the fishing and making a rock by a traditional community. If this activity is not managed wisely it will likely evolve toward excessive exploitation. This would threaten the sustainability of resources, which in turn will affect the lives of the surrounding communities as well.
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Wakatobi highlights
p to 30 years.
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Diving in Wakatobi
SCUBA DIVING IN WAKATOBI – Finest dive sites in the world!
BEST TIME TO DIVE IN WAKATOBI
Located just south of the equator, Wakatobi has an even, tropical climate with air temperatures around 32°C all year round. It is best dived between March and December – it’s the Wakatobi high season (most busy around April/May and September/November) during which the scuba diving is consistently good. July and August, while the water temperature may drop a little along with the visibility, is the best time for big numbers of fish as it’s coral spawning season. July/August can also see some stronger winds and surface movement.
Water temperatures fluctuate between a low of 25°C in August and a high of 30°C in October. Although this is not really a destination for large animals, certain times of the year are better than others. While a manta ray or whale shark could pass through at any time, pilot whale appearances are restricted to the November to April period.
January and February normally see the wet season here but rain is not as heavy here as in other parts of Indonesia. In fact it is said to be 4 times lower than the national average. So rain does not greatly affect the Wakatobi dive sites and visibility rarely, if ever, suffers from river run-off.
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Current
Currents are can be very strong on most dive site depending on what time of the month. You will find the strongest current around full moon. It is a good idea to have some dive experience if you are planing on diving Komodo during this time. It is also recommended to have yoru advanced certification.
There are also some quieter dive spots for those beginners but you may miss the incredible action of big fishes swimming into the current.
The current can sometimes reach 8 knots in some places. It is driven by tides so choose your dive site wiht this in mind which you can plan depending on the conditions.
This current is due to the Komodo and Rinca island acting like a bottleneck between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. This current is why Komodo waters are so full of fishes and so clear.
Tho you dive from a liveaboard you will always have boat suppoet to pick you up it hte current takes you.
For dive sites click here… (open in new page)
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How to get to Wakatobi
To get to Wakatobi you can either fly to Makassar (Ujung Pandang) or Kendari and get a connecting flight to Wangi Wangi directly, or fly to Bau Bau (Buton Island) and find a boat to one of wakatobi’s big island. there is a direct flight from Bali (Denpasar) to Tomia island.