This time we went with our daughter and had the pool villa number 1. Was great. Two bedrooms that are large with showers outside and even extra shower and tub out by the pool. The pool villas are fantastic great views and luxury.

The staff both local and Dive team work so hard to ensure your stay is the best. They work to know your name and chat with you and show you the best spots. Lisa was our DM and she did a great job highlighting keys points on the dives.

The food - yes it's buffet and in my view is outstanding. Great variety even for vegetarians. They really have wonderful soups and desserts (ask for the coconut sorbet).

Yes it is expensive- no question. But in our view all of us agree the way they treat you from the moment you land in Bali to the moment to return back to Bali is outstanding. Thanks again

Just wrapped up a fabulous 10 days at Wakatobi - the first 7 on the Pelagian and the remaining 3 on the resort.

TOP NOTCH SERVICE: From the minute we landed in Bali to the final return from Wakatobi, we were treated as important guests. The crew on the Pelagian was so attentive and remembered every detail. I especially want to call out Ramon (boat director), the chef, and the stewards. The same with the staff at the resort, especially Mo the dive shop manager. Even though we were only there 3 days, it felt like the entire staff new our names. We also left some items behind on the plane and in the room, and they went above and beyond to find the items and return them to us. (one person stayed in bali longer, and they met him at the airport to return the item directly. WOW!)

DIVING: The house reef and the boat dives from the resort were incredible. Beautiful reefs and lots of fish! Easy, gentle dives. Usually liveaboards offer better diving than resort diving, but in this case, the Pelagian dives didn't live up to my expectations. Yes, the diving was great, but we had the same (or better) diving experience from the resort. We also spent 2 days diving in trash (aka muck diving) on the Pelagian which was just gross; 1 day was more than enough!

FACILITIES: Pelagian: Large rooms, very nice boat. Diving was off tenders and harder to access gear, but it was manageable. Food was delicious on the boat. Resort: Rooms were nice, but a little more rustic than I would have expected for the price. There was a major ant problem in both of our cabins (we had 2 cabins). They should routinely spray the rooms. We had ants crawling on us at night when we slept and found dead ants in our luggage when we unpacked. Yuck. Food at the resort was buffet style; it wasn't bad but not as good as the boat. Suggestion for the resort: addition of a pool would be a great enhancement!

COST: basic cost comparable to other liveaboard and luxury dive resorts....but we had to pay for the charter flight to get there... and they nickel and dime for everything. Sodas cost US$5 (canned sodas in the fridge) and beers cost US$6 (whether at the restaurant, room service or cans in the fridge). They wanted US$250 for a bottle of Moet!! Even though they said tea and coffee was complimentary, they wanted to charge me for iced tea! Plus nitrox, computer rental (one of ours broke during the dive), torches, etc, etc....they charged me higher for the torch we rented than the listed price and when I complained their response was that I got a different torch than what was on the list price!

WOULD I GO BACK? I had a great time, really enjoyed the resort, beautiful boat, and glad I went...but probably won't go back. For the price paid and the distance, I would choose Raja Ampat over Wakatobi.