Scuba Season
Underwater reef at Wakatobi
Stable

Wakatobi

Indonesia · Southeast Sulawesi

A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve at the heart of the Coral Triangle, Wakatobi is one of Indonesia's most intact reef systems. Operation Wallacea has run continuous scientific monitoring here since 1998 and documented steady coral recovery following a 2010 bleaching event. Hard coral cover held at nearly 30 percent park-wide in 2019 surveys while destructive fishing declined. In 2024 when 84 percent of the world's reefs experienced bleaching-level heat stress, Wakatobi showed no significant bleaching — an anomaly researchers attribute to locally evolved heat tolerance in the coral colonies.

How this reef is doing

ⓘ How we measure this

Reef state

Stable

Wakatobi sits at the heart of the Coral Triangle with one of the longest continuous reef monitoring records in Indonesia. Coral cover near 30 percent park wide with individual sites reaching 46 percent. The reef did not bleach in 2024 when most of the world's reefs did. Operation Wallacea runs research expeditions from Hoga Island annually — divers here are diving alongside active science.

Coral cover

29%
LowHealthy
Moderate

Fish life

Not surveyed

Heat

SafeBleaching

No unusual heat right now.

Safe now

Fishing

QuietBusy

Some fishing is allowed here, in marked zones.

Limited

Sources · Reef survey · NOAA Coral Reef Watch · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity

Coral cover over time

Live coral cover, by survey year

Across surveys in 2009 and 2019, live coral cover here has fallen from 35% to 29%. Every point is a real survey reading, never a projection.

Live coral cover, percent by year

40%0%region avg 37%20092019
Two surveys
East Asian Seas average (GCRMN)
Reef survey

What you will see

17 species across the dive sites here

Dive sites

Gear & getting wet

  • Basic kit

    • Mask and fins
    • BCD and regulator
    • 3mm full wetsuit · warm water
    • Dive computer