Trip Dates:		Bali, December 6-9 | Wakatobi, December 9-23, 2003
Resort:		Wakatobi (Tukang Besi, SE Sulawesi, Indonesia )
Staff:		Lorenz Mäder, John Keoghan, Gillian, Doris Hug, Stella
Participants:		Bruce Bearfeld, Mark and Marian Blum, Eric Cheng, Anat Grant & Bobby Maruvada, Christine Humphreys, Henry Isaak Jr., Chris King, Lydia Leithner, Mark Lunt, Paul Papadopoulos, Dave Patchen, Jean Louis, Len & Heidi Sheltry, Niklas Waitong, Casey Zwaan

"Oh... Where's that?"

That's the most common response people had when I told them where I was going (a close second being a blank stare). So here's a bit of geography and trivia: Wakatobi is here (.pdf map). The resort is named after specific islands in the chain on which it is located: WAngiwangi-KAledupa-TOmia-BInongko, or WA-KA-TO-BI. The resort itself is actually located on Onemobaa Island, just to the west of Tomia, and with the completion of an airstrip just a few years ago, it's quite easy to get to. All you have to do is book your stay and make your way to Bali. At the Bali airport, I was greeted by Crispin and other Wakatobi staff members, who made sure that all of our needs were taken care of. At the appropriate time, we were herded onto an airplane, and 2.5 hours later, we landed on the airstrip on Tomia Island.

I originally heard about Wakatobi from my good friend Jim Watt, who took some of the promotional photos still used by the resort today. A signed print of his is hanging in the TV room. The beautiful young woman in many of the resort photographs is actually Anna Abernethy, who sighed wistfully when she heard that I would be spending two weeks there. After meeting some of the Wakatobi folks at DEMA last year, and then speaking to Espen Rekdal at Visions 2003, I decided that I absolutely had to go. A few e-mails and forum postings later, Dave Patchen and I ended up diving Wakatobi with fellow Wetpixel member Paul Papadopoulos and, coincidentally, many divers and photographers from the Bay Area.

Reader Comments

Please leave me a message! :)

-- posted by Eric Cheng @ Thursday, January 1 2004, 08:31 pm

WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! Really amazing stuff you've got here (both above and below water). Your travel journals are better than National Geographic!!! Seriously.

-- posted by Aaron @ Friday, January 2 2004, 02:21 am

Great Wakatobi exposition Eric. I'm happy to note that I plan to conduct my own eighth group trip to Wakatobi this September. Your fine work on this fascinating and rewarding destination makes me all the more excited about returning. Cheers, Ken

-- posted by Ken Knezick - Island Dreams @ Friday, January 2 2004, 08:02 am

Wow. Completely awesome. I liked the Bali photos as much as the dive shots. But the giant plastic pygmy seahorses were the most beautiful and exotic of all! ;)

-- posted by Fred @ Friday, January 2 2004, 09:36 am

Absolutely wonderful, Eric. I was putting a much simpler one together myself, and what you have accomplished puts me to shame! Again, well done!

-- posted by Randal Sanders @ Friday, January 2 2004, 08:20 pm

Who's the girl with the tatoo (Socializing section)... and what is it, some type of dragon?

What a fabulous trip you've had, my one-week diving vacation in Cuba next month looks pretty lame compared to what you expererience... but we make do with what we have :-)

Cheers!

-- posted by Kaos @ Friday, January 2 2004, 09:47 pm

WOW! Very nice pictures. Thank you!

-- posted by Egg Roll Monster @ Saturday, January 3 2004, 01:36 am

Eric, you never cease to amaze me! Thanks for taking us with you. I see a lot of familiar places and faces in the group. It sure does bring back memories.

-- posted by Bonnie Pelnar @ Saturday, January 3 2004, 09:03 am

WOW!! What an awesome trip! And the breath-taking photos !! I am so jealous :P

-- posted by Keat-Hau @ Monday, January 5 2004, 03:18 pm

@#$#%^% amazing. . . .unreal!

-- posted by John Teng @ Tuesday, January 6 2004, 03:47 pm

Nice! as always.

-- posted by Ineke @ Tuesday, January 13 2004, 12:49 am

Excellent site!!! We will be going there in April and after seeing these photo's I can not wait. We have been to Manado, Sipadan & Layang Layang

What kind of camera were you using?

-- posted by Loma Waddell @ Wednesday, January 14 2004, 03:03 am

I loved "Finding Nemo" the movie.. and it looks like you found him! Albeit in the wrong country... :)

-- posted by superblog @ Tuesday, January 20 2004, 04:44 pm

Hi Eric,

you obviously put a lot of effort into your web-presentation; I appreciate the underwater images made on your recent Sulawesi trip (hopefully you did not break any corals off during your photo frenzy); just clicking through your web site leaves the impression that you are straight forward with a character that pays attention even to minor details ... very convincing cheers Pierre

-- posted by pierre @ Friday, January 23 2004, 08:03 am

Somehow fell in here from Wetpixel, and got curious to look at your Bali land pix (have special interest in pix from South East Asia as lived there before movin to Caribbean). I really enjoyed your Pictures and got a good laugh from the monkey bite photos!Sorry bitten-friend-of-Eric. However, I think it was a HUGE waste and enormous shame that you slandered the KING of FRUIT, the wonderful and irresitible Durian! You MUST give this fruit a second chanse!!! Here is the trick: pick an irregular fruit, not a round one. Pick one with squirrel scratches on it, as the squirrels will scratch the sweet nice durians. Smell the fruit. sometimes you might have to request the vendor to open 5-7 Durians until you find the "right" one. Durians have a "range" of tastes which vary from onion to Carmel (toffe). The toffee tasting ones are the best. Also in order not to loose your voice, you should drink some milk after eating Durian. Never drink alcohol with Durian, not even beer, as the chemicals in the fruit will react with the alcohol and can make you verrry sick (not to mention the smell the next day). Malaysian Durians are the nicest!

-- posted by Marjo @ Wednesday, March 24 2004, 05:27 pm

Flawless picture!~i didn't know how i got this website,it's just jumped into my eyes without me searching for it,any way,i love it ~ and i want to know more about you ,eric. good luck~!

-- posted by abby @ Wednesday, June 23 2004, 10:59 pm

wow..wow..wow..cant wait for my next trip!!great photos! keep on the good work.. dive save..

-- posted by yap lee ying @ Wednesday, July 14 2004, 10:55 am

Fantastic. We're heading there in July. I can't wait.

-- posted by Diane @ Wednesday, June 15 2005, 11:31 am

Your photos are fantastic. The bubble coral shrimp are a different genus and species from the anemone shrimp. The tube anemone is the firework anemone. You didn't post the photos of that strange orange anemone or the one with the blue tips. I'm curious as to how YOU identified those fish and anemones. Well, off to Hawaii. Thanks, again.

-- posted by Judy Foester @ Thursday, June 30 2005, 05:55 am

waw

-- posted by sahlan tomia @ Wednesday, August 3 2005, 10:08 pm

how beautiful... wish I'm there!!!

-- posted by Jessie Leong @ Sunday, September 4 2005, 11:51 pm

Great pic!!!

-- posted by zul @ Wednesday, September 21 2005, 01:35 am

Great work. I'm impressed. I hope you're monetizing some of your digital photography work. If not, here's an excellent low cost book to help you learn how and where to submit your photos for sale

From what I have seen, your pics deserve a premium price and you should expectto get it from sources listed above i.e schools, material developers, magazines etc etc etc

I'll be back for more of this eye candy.

Bruce aka sandwalker

-- posted by Bruce Santucci @ Saturday, December 23 2006, 09:57 am

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