Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine April 2019 | Page 97

Travel / Wakatobi
I rented a beachside bungalow at Hoga
Island Dive Resort and spent an idyllic afternoon
in a hammock watching flowerpeckers (dainty
Asian ‘hummingbirds’) flit through the vegetation
and frigate birds wheeling on scythe-like wings
across a cloudless sky. Slipping into the mirror-
like water I soon saw that the reef was thronging
with marine life. Within an hour’s snorkelling
I felt like I’d seen a large proportion of the
942 species of fish that have so far been
recorded here. It isn’t hard to imagine why this
spectacular submarine habitat is on the bucket
list of every globe-trotting diver worth their salt.
About 40km south of my little low-key patch of
paradise lay Wakatobi Luxury Dive Resort, on
Tolandano Island (just west of Tomia). This is the
area’s most celebrated destination and justifiably
one of the premier dive venues on the planet.
It is a prime escape-spot for visitors who want
to avoid the crowds and spend their time
drifting with a vast array of marine life.
There is an undeniable thrill in the thought
that more than a century and a half after Alfred
Russel Wallace’s pioneering scientific expedition,
there are still sure to be undocumented
species awaiting discovery among
Indonesia’s wildest islands.
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I  t isn’t hard to imagine why this spectacular
submarine habitat is on the bucket-list of
every globe-trotting diver worth their salt.
1. Free-diving the coral reefs
of Wangi-wangi Island.
2. World-class coral reefs attract
divers from across the globe.
3. Clownfish are among the
many species found.
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