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PART ONE: Wakatobi liveaboard – The Pelagian – 2014
Wakatobi liveaboard – The Pelagian
You have a choice at Wakatobi dive resort to dive just at the resort or dive off the liveaboard dive boat – the Pelagian, or to do both. the dates are set in stone and so there are 5 day stays, 6 day stays. or 7 day stays. I did a 7 day stay on the resort and 5 days on the boat.
“The landing”:
Had a great breakfast at the resort restaurant. Out of the bungalow by 9:30 and chilling with others at the long house. The long house was the main office and reception where most things happen besides the restaurant. My bags were wisked away and I made my way to the long house.
Some at the resort were heading back home so we said our goodbyes. Scuba diving folks become instant friends and I am so very glad to have met many new friends. I am truly blessed.
Had lunch and after that enjoyed a superb hour Bali massage. Life is grand!
I met the new divers I would be diving with. A wonderful family of 4 from Brisbane. Their two teenage boys were a delight and were just smarr as all get out. Their parents did a wonderful job training them right to be cool and responsible kids! Isn;t it wonderful to meet a family that have polite kids? I sure appreciated this wonderful Australian family.
Then there was the cool German couple. I had a blast learning new things about Germany and was blessed to get to know them. Side note – at around now they are enjoying their new BMW they purchased prior to going on vacation. Hope they are enjoying it!
So the 7 of us were going to enjoy a great 5 days of diving.
There we were, stepping onto the Palagian and being welcomed by the crew in the top notch 5 star service we have been accustomed to at the Wakatobi resort. For sure the Pelagian crew kept that wonderful five star service pace and there were no complaints at all!
The diving:
Why go on a liveaboard dive boat? Simple. You can get to some of the best diving that is away from “civilization.” I actually prefer diving from liveaboards than resorts since there is more diving opportunities as well as the whole day centers around diving.
This trip was no exception. We dove some super cool walls which went straight down where you could not see anything but the big blue ocean. Other walls sloped gradually but mostly they were walls that went straight down.
Current was pretty much all around these walls. Not to fast except for a couple dives. When you are taking underwater pictures, like many of us were, you really don’t want strong currents unless you are looking for the big fish and creatures of the sea. Big currents means a lot of food which brings the sharks, mantas, etc in. I personally don’t like currents. I rather see a shark close by then with a current. You can’t argue with currents and follow their rules. Plus, I “hate” (and that is not a strong enough word for me on this subject) the thought of being swept out to sea and not being found. It is amazing how strong water is and you can find out when you are in a strong current.
Super diving and pretty cool underwater photographs made for happy divers. Their are two tenders that take you out to the dive spots during the day. I was on tender 2 with my new found German friends, a husband and wife. The way they have the diving gear set up is really great. All the tanks and bcd’s stay on the tender. They load the nitrox after each dive from the tenders. All the diver has to do is get wet suit and booties on and then enter the tender. Your mask, fins, etc are on the tender. The dive team then helps get your BCD on. You all row back together to get into the ocean. The distance from the tender to the water is no more than a foot or so. Really easy!Getting back on the tender you can step up with your BCD on or hand it all to the tender driver before you step in the Tender.
Back on the “big boat” you are asked what you want to drink such as coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Since I was on vacation hot chocolate it was!
Chow – Diving Doug / Doug Gulleson
