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PART TWO: Wakatobi liveaboard – The Pelagian – 2014
Chilling on the boat:
Snacks were amazing and meals were awesome. Each evening the stewart asked you what you wanted for breakfast. Indonesian, western, or any type of breakfast was available. I usually asked for nasi goring (fried rice) with a fried egg. They didn’t have crupuk (shrimp crackers) but they bought some when at the next island the next day for me! It is great to be spoiled! Danishes, toast, all the coffee and tea and hot chocolate you wanted.
Each breakfast time the steward provided two great options to choose from for lunch and dinner. If you did not like the choices or had food allergies you could ask for anything else. We had beef tenderloins, steaks, fries, potatoes, pastas, prawns, and other great foods. Salads, fruit and deserts were plentiful.
Since diving was the agenda from the time you stepped on the liveaboard there was not much else you could do. Well, we ate like kings and queens and chatted throughout the day together. Sometimes we took naps but mostly shared photos we took just from the last dive or two. Making sure camera and strobe batteries were being charged and keeping the cameras working pretty much made the day fly by.
You could opt out of dives which I did for night dives. Instead I took dusk dives. I am not fond of night dives but really like the change of sunrise and sunsets in the ocean. It is really cool!
The liveaboard was “born” the year I was born, 1967. Wakatobi bought her eight years ago, which I would guess would be around 2006. She is actually a yacht converted to be a dive liveboard. She is around 32 meters long and just an amazing and beautiful boat. My room was in the back (ok, I am not a boat guy so aft and starboard are not in my vocabulary – sorry, I am a land lover outside of diving) and very spacious. Fits two people but since I was the only single guy I had it all to myself. Beautiful shower and both bathroom and bedroom were very spacious. Hot water was plentiful and you could drink out of the faucet water if you wanted. AC worked tremendously and a lot of reading lights. Plug outlooks were plentiful to charge up your electronics. Only the camera room on the boat had 110/220 volt options. The rooms were all non U.S. voltage.
The Pelagian Team was amazingly wonderful. Truly 5 star service. Husband-wife team from the U.S, Steve and Shelly, were just so friendly and helpful. Shelly ran the show and both of them were just top notch divers and became great dive friends. I really do take my hat off to them and their Team because it is a very busy and challenging job they have. They sure deserve longer vacations!
Since I was heading back to Bali I could only dive 4 days. So my last afternoon on the boat was filled with catching up with reading and taking a long needed nap.
“On dry ground”:
Departure day came and we had a great early morning breakfast. We were back at the resort and was invited to get on the transfer boat to bring us to the front office of the resort. A couple hours wait we were transported to the airport, an island away, via the transfer boats.
I want to thank all those who work at the Wakatobi resort and Wakatobi liveaboard. You all beat my expectations. Even though the cost was steep it was very well worth it. This is not only a great place to dive but also a great place to relax. In fact, I could see this being the place where I would go on my honeymoon. It is that good!
Thank you also, Wakatobi Team for allowing me to learn more about many of you and even become Facebook friends. You all are awesome! Till we meet again, hopefully soon!
Cheers, Diving Doug – or as my friends sometimes call me, “DD” for Diving Doug. I answer to anything when it comes to diving!
