Location Description Wakatobi is technically a regency of 150 small islands off the southeast coast of Sulawesi, but when we talk about Wakatobi as a snorkeling destination, we mean the area within that regency that is a national park. Wakatobi is one of Indonesia's most famous, and also most remote snorkeling destinations as it only has one snorkeling resort in the entire area, Wakatobi Resort. Wakatobi's remote location in the heart of the Banda Sea—an area well known for its vibrant reefs—combined with the fact that there is very little tourism or development of any kind in the area make it of Indonesia's most beautiful snorkeling destinations. Despite its remote location, Wakatobi is incredibly easy and comfortable to arrive to as the resort has its own charter flight twice weekly from Bali. The flight is just two and a half hours and lands on a private airstrip located on the neighboring island, Tomia. The boat ride from Tomia to Wakatobi Resort on Tolandona Island takes about twenty to thirty minutes, at which point you will disembark and be on the doorsteps to the fantastic resort. The area's best snorkeling sites are within close proximity to the resort, anywhere from 10-20 minutes away, and will be done via Wakatobi Resort's spacious snorkeling boats. The resort also has a really amazing house reef which starts just beyond the white sand beach and extends from hundreds of meters in either direction. Snorkeling The snorkeling around Wakatobi is particularly awesome for a number of reasons. First of all, the area's remoteness combined with the fact that it's a protected area mean that the reefs are in absolutely amazing condition. Truly some of the best in Indonesia, and they come right to the surface and just keep going and going. During certain moon phases there
Location Description Wakatobi is technically a regency of 150 small islands off the southeast coast of Sulawesi, but when we talk about Wakatobi as a snorkeling destination, we mean the area within that regency that is a national park. Wakatobi is one of Indonesia’s most famous, and also most remote snorkeling destinations as it only
Unless you're traveling business class, there's no denying that flying long distances—like from the United States to Asia—can be physically exhausting and uncomfortable, particularly if you happen to be someone who needs a bit more legroom and or just can't sleep on planes. As a full-time guide for Snorkel Venture who's originally from the U.S but has lived all over Asia since 2010, I've spent a considerable amount of time flying between many of the different Asia-U.S hubs. I won't lie, I've experienced some pretty miserable flights and layovers, but I've also had some quite pleasant trips once I figured out the better routes, which airlines to avoid, and what airports to transit through. So, for those of you who are planning or considering joining one of our Snorkel Safaris that take place in Asia but are a bit hesitant about the long flights, I'd like to share some of what I've learned so as to make your journey as comfortable as possible because I promise you, it will be worth it! Routes Your flight route will depend a bit on where you are coming from in the states, but most of the routes to Asia will be over the Pacific, even if you're on the east coast of the U.S. There is one route through Doha in the middle east which is also comparable in travel time to the Pacific itineraries. Travel times for any of the routes vary between nineteen and twenty-five hours. Actual flying time is about the same no matter which option you choose, the big difference in travel time is the layover. My personal favorite route is through either Singapore or Doha because it not only combines two of the world's best airlines, but also two of the world's best airports—particularly in the case of
Unless you’re traveling business class, there’s no denying that flying long distances—like from the United States to Asia—can be physically exhausting and uncomfortable, particularly if you happen to be someone who needs a bit more legroom and or just can’t sleep on planes. As a full-time guide for Snorkel Venture who’s originally from the U.S
We have a huge variety of snorkel safaris on our website, with each one offering something unique. Some are resort-based, while for others we charter an entire liveaboard. On some, we combine multiple resorts and liveaboards into one epic trip. Some are centered around reef snorkeling, while on other tours we spend the majority of our time in the open ocean looking for pelagic species. Some are in Asia and others are in South America. If you are new to snorkeling safaris or the destinations, it can be a little confusing choosing the right snorkel safari for you. Here's a little guide to help you decide. Liveaboard or Resort This is one of the most important decisions to make in our opinion. If you know you are prone to seasickness or just really want to have more space to move around, then a resort might be more enjoyable for you. If you want to have the opportunity to venture a bit further into the region and just love the idea of falling asleep and waking up at sea on a luxury yacht, a liveaboard may be right for you. One Destination or Multiple We have quite a few different combination trips, like Alor-Komodo, or North Sulawesi-Raja Ampat, or even our Epic Indonesia tour which stops at five different locations over the better part of a month. If you just don't want to miss anything and don't mind the extra travel involved, then joining one of these combination tours may be a wise choice. For these tours the average time at each location will be 4-6 nights with a day of travel in between. Just keep in mind there will be a bit more packing and unpacking as well as additional time spent flying between locations. If you really just want
We have a huge variety of snorkel safaris on our website, with each one offering something unique. Some are resort-based, while for others we charter an entire liveaboard. On some, we combine multiple resorts and liveaboards into one epic trip. Some are centered around reef snorkeling, while on other tours we spend the majority of
Indonesia is a massive country with over seventeen thousand islands so it's understandable when people get confused about what location is where. To help with that this short video will break down all of Indonesia's top snorkeling destinations including what you can see and how we arrive. Don't hesitate to ask any further questions, we are always happy to help!
Indonesia is a massive country with over seventeen thousand islands so it’s understandable when people get confused about what location is where. To help with that this short video will break down all of Indonesia’s top snorkeling destinations including what you can see and how we arrive. Don’t hesitate to ask any further questions, we
Indonesia is a massive country, and because it's broken up into over seventeen thousand islands it can be a bit confusing to know what is where, especially if you are a bit geographically challenged as I was before I moved here. I don't want to make broad assumptions about people I have yet to meet, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of people might not know a lot that Borneo is not it's own country and in fact three countries, the majority of which is Indonesia and known as Kalimantan. Or, that Indonesia also occupies about half of the world's second largest island, which I'm sure you've all heard of—New Guinea. The Indonesian side is known as West Papua and is the home of Raja Ampat, while east of the border is Papua New Guinea. If you already knew all this, gold stars for you! Anyway, the objective of this blog isn't to make you self conscious of your Indonesian geography, I know for a fact that many Indonesian people couldn't point out Wakatobi on a map. The point of this is to simply break down one of the most beautiful countries in the world, by focusing on the locations which also conveniently happen to be Snorkel Venture destinations! Fun Indo Facts 17,000 Islands 127 Volcanoes 300 Different Languages Center of Coral Triangle World's Highest Coral and Reef Fish Diversity Jakarta and Bali I'm not going to spend a lot of time with these two locations but they do deserve mentioning as a lot of our trips will begin at either one of these locations. Jakarta as you probably know is the capital of Indonesia and located on the island of Java. Jakarta is, for lack of a better description, a big city really well known for
Indonesia is a massive country, and because it’s broken up into over seventeen thousand islands it can be a bit confusing to know what is where, especially if you are a bit geographically challenged as I was before I moved here. I don’t want to make broad assumptions about people I have yet to meet,
