The Pelagian cruises the outer reefs and surrounding atolls of the Wakatobi Archipelago.

Below are descriptions of some of the many dive sites visited by the Pelagian. Each cruise is different because seasons, weather conditions, currents, visibility, water temperatures all determine what dive areas and dive sites we visit. We also vary the type of dive sites based on the experience level of the diving group and interest in specific types of marine life. It's all very flexible to allow for the best possible cruise for each group.

If you would like to view all of the dive sites in a matrix/table format without the site descriptions, Click Here!

	Inner Pinnacle Formed by two distinct tops linked by a saddle. Main top as at 6m (18f), the saddle at 18m (50f)and the smaller pinnacle has the top at 11m (33f). This complex has steep wall on one side with big black corals and fan corals, schooling butfish and lots of reef fish, the other side is more slopy, sandy, with huge pink fan corals. There is a large school of chevron barracudas and 2 smaller schools of Pickhandle B. and Forsters B. Bottom depth around the pinnacles is about 70m (200f). Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Pinnacle Advanced **** **** 10-25 m map
	Terrace Gardens: This is a sandy circular slope that starts at 5m with a coral garden, ends gently at 20m (60f) on a drop off and is framed on the sides by reef walls. In the center there are some beautiful bommies and latrge table corals. It harbors schooling fusiliers, sweetlips, lots off anemones and fan corals. The dive can continue along the wall on both sides. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Sandy Slope Beginner * **** 5-20 m map
	North wall: A huge coral reef wall that separates from Hoga island through a lagoon. We are diving on the outside. The reef is steep, deep (100m (300f), very rich in corals, colourful, and has some nice overhangs. It offers schooling red snappers and reef fish, occasionally pygmy seahorses, tuna and sometimes barracudas. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Wall Beginner * **** 5-30+ m map
	Hoga buoy #5 A night or dusk dive that features a short wall from 5-25m (15-75f), which presents a labytinth of huge overhangs and caves covered on the ceilings with orange cup corals, hanging soft corals, colored fan corals. It is not only interesting for the night critters, such as crustaceans, nudibranchs and fish, but also for the amazing colours it brings out with the torchlight. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Wall Beginner * **** 5-30+ m map
	Batu Turo North This dive site is located on the Southeastern tip of Buton island. It is a steep wall, carved in the side at about 15-20m depth by a beautiful long and continuous overhang, 3-4m high bottom to ceiling. On the bottom and the sides there are black corals and whip corals, nudibranchs, jawfish, mantis shrimps and other critters, while looking into the blue on the open side there are occasionally eagle rays, tunas, big groupers, barracudas, jacks and whitetip sharks. The external wall is covered by thousands of juvenile Redtooth Triggerfish (which are blue) and orange Anthias, creating marvelous color games. There is a mild to medium current and we generally dive it with reef on the right hand side. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Wall/Overhangs Intermediate *** **** 5-20 m map
	Gone With The Wind The name is appropriate since current here is almost always quite lively and sweeps the divers for a long drift. This place is just at the end of "Escape", where the wall ends and turns into a coral garden (5-25m/15-75f depth) and continues deeper into a sandy plateau (30-35m/100-120f depth). Along this plateau, when currents are not too strong, it's possible to linger and sight eagle rays, white tips, schooling giant tunas, barracudas and jacks. After leaving the plateau the dive goes on first with the coral garden where lobsters, nudies, sea snakes, scorpionfish and lots more can be found, then with a less colourful wall that features turtles, schooling bumphead parrotfish and other fish. A great action dive. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Wall/Overhangs Intermediate *** **** 5-20 m map
	Cheeky Beach Located in front of a local village, Pasar Wajo, this site is called cheeky beach on account of all the local children who crowd the surface holding onto anything keeping them afloat, as they "cheekily" observe the divers with noisy curiosity. This is a site that you can dive repetitively - each dive is different and critters come out depending on the time of day and lunar calender. It is a shrimp breeding ground with the most rare and special shrimps found here in abundance, all in one area. Harlequin shrimp, Coleman shrimp, halimeda crabs to name a few of the impressive ones. Mostly a steep slope of round weathered stone and rock, moving mats of sea urchins creep steadily over the sand. Any coral outcrop is crawling with critters trying to stay out of site by day. There are frogfish and sea horses, invisible amongst the trash and broken bits of the villagers above water. Wonderpuss hunts warily, aware that while seeking prey it can become someones meal in an instant.Night dives bring out the bizarre - snake eels, spider crabs and goliath mantis shrimp and should never be missed. This is a 10 out of 10 muck dive! Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range sand/rubble slope Beginner *****! * 15-20m map
	Asphalt Pier This site is located at the base of an old asphalt production plant. The surface is a mangle of rusting shacks and sacks of junk. It’s not pretty, but as you descend the rewards lie in wait. A sandy slope descends form four concrete pylons of the jetty and it is littered with large tyres, barrels and abandoned fishing traps between 9 and 15m. Tucked in the nooks and crannies are ornate ghost pipe fish, garden eels, nudibranchs and pegasus moth fish. The special photo opportunities here are the gold-specs jawfish incubating large egg masses in their mouths, and if you are lucky you can observe them briefly spit them out to aerate them and then quickly suck them back to safety. If not busy reproducing, the jawfish must keep house, darting in and out of their burrows with mouthfuls of sand. Other rare sightings include the wonderpuss and a burrow with four yellow-nose shrimp gobies and a single shrimp! Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Pier/Manmade Structure Beginner *****! * 0-40 m map
	Bianca 2 This dive is a sandy slope extending from 5m to 20m with large patches of reef. The dive again extends from a jetty to the small wreck of what appears to be a fishing vessel. Scattered around the mostly intact boat are barrels and other bits of wreckage, and coral is beginning to grow bringing fish and colour with it. Interestingly, at the time of diving, local divers were attempting to salvage parts of the wreck and he was as interested in us with all our technical dive gear and large camera rigs, as we were in him, diving in his clothes, some sneakers on his feet and a hosepipe feeding air into the nose area of an old plastic mask. There is a resident school of jacks who patrol around the wreck. A giant frogfish was usually found in the deeper water, and the reef patches hid juvenile devil lionfish and shrimp among the feather stars. The sandy patches were good to explore for more jawfish, blue ribbon eels and shrimp gobies. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Sandy Slope Beginner ***** * 5-20 m map
	Dessert A shallow muck dive, the sand and sea grass slopes very gently from 5m to 15m. As always a few bits of rubbish here and there shelter critters and any small coral or rock was a concentration of small fish. The sea grass is shallow and the hunt is on for nudibranchs and sea horses. A bright yellow frog fish was found clinging to the green blades. Anemones jut out from the sand with aggressive clown fish guarding the open water above them. But most interesting, were the squid hunting the shallows in groups, jetting away from every turn of the camera. An interesting dive, but conditions can be tricky as it is very close to the beach. If the tide is low, the sea grass can be too shallow at 2-3m and surge is impossible if the wind is blowing onshore reducing visibility to 3-5m at most. Usually if conditions are poor, Pelagian will choose another location in its stead. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Sand/Grassy Slope Beginner ***** * 5-15 m map
	Tanjung Batutoro An exploratory dive hit paydirt off the small island of Tanjung Batutoro, below a sheer cliff with caves and known as a fishing spot for the locals. The site was incredible, an unusual combination of superb macro and wide angle opportunity. Excellent visibility and blue water extend from the wall, which has large house sized ledges and overhangs at around 20m. Schools of king fish hang in the distance and turtles swim by. The ledges are sandy bottomed and exploring reveals macro treasures such as shrimp gobies, jawfish and peacock mantis shrimp. The overhangs are covered in tubastrea, sponges, green tree corals and colourful soft corals, all crawling with cleaner shrimp of every kind waiting for reef fish to pause. Ornate ghost pipe fish and long nose hawkfish hide in the branches of the large black coral bushes. Large lobster peer out of dark crevices. Take care to dive the site in the afternoon when the sun lights the wall as it can be dark in the morning. Type Skill Level Critter Rating Scenery Rating Depth Range Wall/Slope Itermediate **** **** 10-25 m map

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