Wakatobi

Location: Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
Type: Dive resort and national marine park
Significance: Premier underwater photography destination and workshop venue
Notable features: World-class house reef, pristine coral reefs, exceptional biodiversity

Overview

Wakatobi is a remote archipelago in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, encompassing the Wakatobi National Park (established 1996). The name is an acronym derived from the four main islands: Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. The area is part of the Coral Triangle — the global epicenter of marine biodiversity — and its reefs are renowned for their health, diversity, and photogenic qualities.

The Wakatobi Dive Resort, located on Tomia Island, became one of the most frequently referenced dive destinations in the Wetpixel archive, appearing in articles and forum threads spanning from 2003 through 2023. The resort was a regular sponsor of underwater photography competitions and events, and its house reef was praised by multiple Wetpixel community members as among the finest in the world. Forum member kdietz described it: “they claim it’s the best House Reef in the world…I can’t say they are wrong!” (^[1]). Another member, blackbird (Shannon), who visited on a Martin Edge Photo Trip in October 2004, agreed it was “probably…the best house reef I’ve seen in the World” (^[2]).

Diving and Photography

The House Reef

Wakatobi’s house reef is directly accessible from the resort and is considered exceptional for underwater photography. The reef features dense coral coverage, high fish biodiversity, and a range of subjects from macro critters to wide-angle reef scenics. Forum member NWDiver described it as “by far the best house reef we have seen anywhere and in large part sets Wakatobi apart,” noting it could be dived as a drift in strong current (“the Wakatobi Express”) or explored slowly on the slack, taking over 80 minutes to cover 70% of the reef (^[3]).

Community members who visited reported outstanding reef diversity and fish life, though water clarity could vary — kdietz noted “75’ max I’d guess” visibility during one September 2004 trip, though “the regulars said this wasn’t normal” (^[4]).

Forum member jlyle advised: “you might think about skipping half the boat dives and play with your camera on the house reef” — describing the wall in front of the resort as “fantastic” (^[5]). Regular visitor TomR1 confirmed he dived Wakatobi “EVERY year,” calling the reefs “beyond belief” (^[6]).

Marine Life

The archive documents a wide range of photogenic marine life at Wakatobi, including:

• Frogfish — Multiple species documented at well-known sites including “Table Coral City” and caves along the house reef. Forum member ripli shared a collection of frogfish images including a free-swimming individual. Long-term visitor ingvald arne meland tracked individual frogfish over multiple visits, noting one in a cave had “got a bit bigger since I was there 2 years ago.” Forum member “Guest cor” reported finding a baby frogfish “about the size of a pygmy seahorse” at a site called Pockets (^[7]).
• Clownfish and anemones — Giacomo Marchione captured a notable image of two clownfish in an unusual white-colored anemone during a night dive at Wakatobi, shooting with a Nikon D200, 60mm macro, ISO 200, 1/160, F20, in a Seacam housing with two strobes (^[8]).
• Pygmy seahorses — The area’s gorgonian sea fans host pygmy seahorse populations. Multiple community members reported photographing them, including kdietz (who noted the challenges of using close-up diopters for the small subjects) (^[9]) and TomR1, whose super-macro pygmy images were referenced in community discussions (^[10]).
• Nudibranchs — Eric Cheng photographed nudibranchs at Wakatobi during his December 2003 trip, with an image used to illustrate a 2004 article about the Sea Slug Forum conservation issue (^[11]). Community members leslie and dave h provided extensive nudibranch identifications from kdietz’s Wakatobi gallery, including species like Chromodoris magnifica, Chromodoris annae, and Phyllodesmium longicirrium (^[12]).
• Barracuda and reef fish — Earth Touch’s Wild Oceans video series documented schooling chevron barracuda (Sphyraena qenie) in a dramatic vortex formation on Hoga Island within the Wakatobi National Park, along with Western clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) and reticulated dascyllus (Dascyllus reticulatus) (^[13]).
• Reef diversity — The 2015 Earth Touch series filmed by Stewart Whitfield showcased species including the rare blue-faced angelfish (Pomacanthus xanthometopon), unusual sea fans, Clark’s anemonefish (Amphiprion clarkii), longnose butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavissimus), and freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri) (^[14], ^[15]).

Note: Community consensus was that Wakatobi is primarily a macro and reef scenic destination, not a big animal destination. Forum member scorpio_fish rated it “4 star diving” compared to “5 star” at Komodo and Raja Ampat, while TomR1 confirmed: “Big stuff? NO. Reefs beyond belief? Absolutely” (^[16], ^[17]).

The Pelagian Liveaboard

Wakatobi Dive Resort also operated the Pelagian, a luxury liveaboard vessel that extended diving access beyond the resort’s immediate sites. The Pelagian was used for multi-day expeditions within the Wakatobi archipelago and was included as part of the DivePhotoGuide Underwater Photo & Video Festival in 2008 (^[18]). Forum member Gudge shared images from the Pelagian in 2008 (^[19]).

Workshops and Events

Eric Cheng’s Visits (2003–2004)

Eric Cheng visited Wakatobi on a personal trip in December 2003 (Dec 9–23), posting an extensive gallery and travel journal at echeng.com/travel/wakatobi/. His forum post (as “Guest wetpixel”) shared images including a squat lobster in a crinoid and a false percula clownfish in an anemone, generating enthusiastic community response (^[20]).

Wetpixel Wakatobi Workshop (2004)

Eric Cheng and Espen Rekdal organized a Wakatobi Underwater Photo Workshop for September 28–October 8, 2004, limited to 10 guests (6 spots were already filled at announcement). Rekdal, described as “an accomplished photographer, also a marine biologist (BSc, working on MSc) with specialization in fish behavior,” had logged over 120 dives at Wakatobi and knew the house reef well. Wetpixel planned daily webcasts from the island. The trip was ultimately cancelled, as noted at the top of the article (^[21]).

Espen Rekdal also presented at the Visions in the Sea 2003 festival in London on “Adventures on Safari: Photography from his native Norway, and from Wakatobi” (^[22]).

Martin Edge Photo Trip (2004)

British underwater photography author Martin Edge led a photo trip to Wakatobi in late October 2004, as reported by forum member blackbird (Shannon), who attended and praised both the diving and the resort’s eco-credentials (^[23]).

DivePhotoGuide / Wakatobi Underwater Photo & Video Festival (2008)

DivePhotoGuide organized the first DivePhotoGuide/Wakatobi Underwater Photo and Video Festival and Shootout, held from March 28 to April 15, 2008. The event was split between the Pelagian liveaboard (March 28–April 4, sold out) and Wakatobi Dive Resort (April 4–15, 11 days), led by Jason Heller and Mike Luzansky of H2O Photo Pros.

Sponsors included Amphibico, Sea & Sea, Mares, H2O Photo Pros, Ultralight Control Systems, and Sport Diver Magazine, who donated over $10,000 in prizes. Winning images were to be published in Sport Diver Magazine. Land activities included photo, video, and editing workshops with nightly reviews, plus weekly contests in wide-angle, macro, and video categories.

Wetpixel member Victor Zucker (forum name “mrbubbles,” also known as “vazuw”) won Best of Show/1st Place Macro and 1st Place Wide Angle (^[24], ^[25], ^[26]).

Competition Prizes

Wakatobi dive packages were regularly offered as prizes in major underwater photography competitions:

• 1st Annual DEEP Indonesia Photo Contest (2006) — Co-organized by Wetpixel and DivePhotoGuide in association with DEEP Indonesia (Indonesia’s first diving expo). Dive packages included trips to Wakatobi among other destinations. Judges: Eric Cheng (Wetpixel), Tony Wu (FiNS Magazine), and Berkeley White (Backscatter). Over $20,000 in total prizes. Winners announced February 8–11, 2007 at the DEEP Indonesia Expo in Jakarta (^[27]).
• 3rd Annual Wetpixel/DPG Photo and Video Contest (2007) — Over $50,000 in prizes including trips to “some of the top photo destinations in the world, including Socorro, Wakatobi-Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Ambon-Indonesia, the Red Sea, Grand Cayman, the Solomon Islands and Vietnam.” Judges included Eric Cheng, Berkley White, Tony Wu, Ric Frazier, Chuck Nicklin, and Mary Lynn Price (^[28]).

Digital Shootout Sponsorship

Wakatobi Dive Resort was a sponsor of the Digital Shootout, the annual underwater photography skills improvement event. The 2010 Digital Shootout on Little Cayman was co-sponsored by Backscatter, Aquatica, Light & Motion, Canon, Sea & Sea, Wakatobi, and Wetpixel, among others (^[29]).

Equipment Testing at Wakatobi

The resort’s reliable conditions and excellent reef diversity made it a favored location for equipment testing and reviews published on Wetpixel:

• Nikon D2x and Nexus Housing Review (2005) — Ken Knezick of Island Dreams Travel conducted a 10-day review of the Nikon D2x in a Nexus housing at Wakatobi, calling the diving “stellar.” Knezick described the D2x as “Nikon’s top of the line camera” with 12 megapixels, praising the combination as “as fine a photography system as I could have hoped for, well exceeding my considerable expectations.” The review covered auto-focus performance, viewfinder quality, image display, battery life (1,000+ shots per charge, “two or three days between charges”), and shooting workflow. He shot in full manual control with default settings of 1/125 at f/11 (^[30]).

Video Productions

Wakatobi’s reefs featured prominently in professional underwater video productions covered by Wetpixel:

• Earth Touch / Wild Oceans Series (2015) — A three-part video series filmed by Stewart Whitfield for Earth Touch’s weekly Wild Oceans program documented the Wakatobi National Park’s marine life. Part 1 focused on Hoga Island, showing schooling chevron barracuda and clownfish. Part 2 featured the rare blue-faced angelfish and diverse coral formations. Part 3 showcased Clark’s anemonefish, longnose butterflyfish, and freckled hawkfish (^[31], ^[32], ^[33]).

Community Reports

Wakatobi generated enthusiastic trip reports and photo galleries in the Wetpixel forums throughout the 2000s and 2010s:

• kdietz (Karl and Kimberly Dietz) posted an extensive gallery from a trip September 7–17, 2004, describing their first experience with Nikon D70 cameras in Ikelite housings. The couple found the D70/Ikelite combination “very easy to use underwater” and praised the reef diversity and fish life. They shot primarily with 60mm and 105mm macros plus a 10.5mm fisheye and 12-24mm wide angle. Karl noted that Wakatobi “doesn’t really have anything big to shoot…it’s either macro or beautiful walls.” Forum members Alex Mustard, Mike Veitch, Herb Ko, and others responded with enthusiasm (^[34]).

• NWDiver (2010) posted a detailed trip report answering the common question “is Wakatobi worth the money?” with “a resounding YES!” comparing it favorably to Raja Ampat, Fiji, Thailand, Palau, and the Caribbean for reef quality, while noting Raja Ampat had superior fish/invertebrate diversity and more big animal encounters (^[35]).

• vetdiver (Allison, 2009) wrote a detailed account of combining Tulamben/Bali with Wakatobi, praising the resort’s exceptional service — including a story where staff sourced a replacement Canon 5D in Java for a guest whose camera failed in Bali. She took a private wide-angle course with Wetpixel moderator Mike Veitch in Bali before heading to Wakatobi (^[36]).

• TomR1 (Tom, annual visitor) posted “Wakatobi in Super Macro” galleries multiple times, contributing both macro and wide-angle portfolios from single trips and returning yearly (^[37], ^[38]).

• The resort’s proximity to other Indonesian dive destinations meant Wakatobi was often discussed alongside Lembeh Strait, Bali, Komodo, and Raja Ampat in trip planning threads, with forum members debating the relative merits of each destination for different types of photography (^[39]).

Timeline

• 2003-10: Espen Rekdal presents photography from Wakatobi at Visions in the Sea festival, London (^[40])
• 2003-11: Forum member “35” (paul) plans a December Wakatobi trip; “Guest wetpixel” (Eric Cheng) confirms he’ll be there (^[41])
• 2003-12: Eric Cheng dives Wakatobi Dec 9–23, posts gallery and travel journal (^[42])
• 2004-01: Eric Cheng and Espen Rekdal announce Wakatobi Underwater Photo Workshop 2004 (later cancelled) (^[43])
• 2004-09: kdietz posts extensive D70 photo gallery from Sept 7–17 Wakatobi trip (^[44])
• 2004-10: Martin Edge leads photo trip to Wakatobi (^[45])
• 2005-09: Forum members share frogfish images from Wakatobi house reef and known dive sites (^[46])
• 2005-10: Ken Knezick reviews Nikon D2x/Nexus housing over 10 days at Wakatobi (^[47])
• 2006-09: Wakatobi dive packages offered as prizes in DEEP Indonesia Photo Contest (^[48])
• 2007-06: DivePhotoGuide announces first Wakatobi Underwater Photo & Video Festival (^[49])
• 2007-09: Wakatobi trips among $50,000+ in prizes for 3rd Wetpixel/DPG contest (^[50])
• 2008-03: DPG/Wakatobi Festival held March 28–April 15; mrbubbles (Victor Zucker) wins Best of Show (^[51])
• 2009-06: vetdiver posts combined Tulamben/Wakatobi trip report with Mike Veitch photo course (^[52])
• 2010-04: NWDiver posts comprehensive trip report and destination comparison (^[53])
• 2010-06: Wakatobi sponsors the Digital Shootout on Little Cayman (^[54])
• 2011-05: TomR1 posts “Wakatobi in Super Macro” gallery (^[55])
• 2013-12: Giacomo Marchione’s night dive clownfish image from Wakatobi published (^[56])
• 2015-02: Earth Touch begins three-part Wild Oceans video series from Wakatobi National Park (^[57])

References