I was in Wakatobi this year and it was one of the best dive experiences I’ve ever had. We spent 4 days in Bali before flying to Wakatobi and hired a driver to take us to some temples and rice paddies (sp?). The elephant park was worth the money and just fun to ride an elephant and touch them.
The diving in Wakatobi is by far the best I’ve seen except the Red Sea. The dive masters were incredible and we had 60-80 mins dives every time. They would stay under as long as someone had air and we always had air. The currents can be fast at some dive sites so be weary of split fins as you won’t have much propulsion against the currents. We were at one site where we literally went topsy-turvy until the current broke. It was scary but fun at the same time.
Every day we saw new sea life we hadn’t seen before, including sharks. The dive boats handled the seas really well and I don’t recall anyone getting sea sick, even on bad days.
I hope you get a chance to go. It’s a trip of a lifetime. At least it was for me. :-)