Coral Shaw’s account of her solo trip to Wakatobi paints a vivid picture of the resort as a perfect destination for women traveling alone. With its pristine snorkeling opportunities, welcoming atmosphere, and inclusive community, Wakatobi offers solo travelers both security and social connection. Coral’s experience underscores how solo travelers, particularly women, can enjoy the independence of solo travel while still engaging with a friendly community of like-minded individuals.

Her journey began with a seamless connection from Sydney to Bali, where she experienced the warm hospitality of the Balinese and the attentive care of the Wakatobi staff. The ease of this initial leg of the trip set the tone for the rest of her vacation. Once at the resort, Coral found a community that not only welcomed her but also made her feel immediately at home, with staff and guests alike greeting her by name and inviting her to join in conversations.

The social atmosphere at Wakatobi is highlighted by the communal spaces where guests gather to share stories and experiences, like the lounge area and the jetty bar. Coral’s interactions with other guests, including prominent authors who have documented the local marine life, added an extra layer of enjoyment to her stay. The sense of camaraderie among guests, paired with the resort’s inclusive approach to snorkeling and diving, made her feel valued as a snorkeler, an experience she notes is not always the case at other dive resorts.

A standout moment for Coral was her encounter with a massive moray eel during one of her snorkeling trips, a memory that encapsulates the awe-inspiring marine life that Wakatobi offers. This, along with the overall sense of being part of a supportive and engaging community, made her trip.

About Wakatobi Resort

Wakatobi Resort is known as one of the world’s premier diving and snorkelling destinations. Set on a small island in Indonesia’s Banda Sea, some 1000 km east of Bali, this landmark destination is surrounded by a private marine preserve that protects some of the world’s most pristine and bio-diverse coral reefs. Five-star guest reviews often mention the pristine condition of Wakatobi’s reefs, as well as the idyllic small-island setting, attentive service, ease of travel and gourmet dining experiences.

For more information or to book, contact Robert Parrington, Guest Experience Representative:

Email: robert.parrington@wakatobi.com / Call: +44 20 8393 8511

www.wakatobi.com

On our final day of diving in Alonissos we were being treated to the area’s most famous site and a true bucket list dive.  The ancient shipwreck of Peristera is a large merchant ship from Classical times carrying a cargo of wine amphorae, which sank around 425BC. The wreck was discovered in 1985 and subsequently excavated by archaeologists during the 1990s and early 2000s.  The Athenian-built ship is one of the largest of classical antiquity and its discovery proved that merchant ships over 100 tons traveled the Mediterranean as early as the 5th century BC.  The wooden parts of the ship have not lasted the test of time, but many of the 4000 amphorae which made up the main cargo can be found on the seabed between 21 and 29 meters deep, tracing out the shape of the original vessel.  

As a hugely important historical site the wreck is very tightly protected and an impressive underwater camera system has been installed to ensure the preservation of this historical site.  The cameras have wipers to keep the lens domes algae free and have IR sensors for nighttime.  An AI “brain” allows for remote monitoring which can identify species and conduct biodiversity data collection, and spot any unauthorised dive activity.  The live camera video feeds are also available to the public to observe the wreck on the website https://nous.com.gr/naxly_project/peristeras-ancient-ship-wreck/ 

It is a true underwater museum, with informative signs and markers to label the different artefacts and route markers which help divers maintain the correct height and distance from the amphorae (a minimum of 2m away at all times).  Diving tours are scheduled in advance so that an underwater archeologist can meet everyone for a briefing prior to entering the water and divers are then observed with the underwater CCTV system throughout the dive to ensure all artefacts remain untouched.  

On our dive we met at 10 o’clock to fill out the special paperwork and take the boat over to Peristera Island, where we met the archeologist team based in Stena Vali.  They gave us our briefing and returned to shore to watch our dive on the screens in the headquarters.  Once we had the ok, we kitted up and jumped in, swimming directly to the mooring buoy.  Our guide Angel gave us the signal and we submerged maintaining a hand on the rope for the entire descent as instructed.  

On our dive we descended the mooring line in excellent visibility and the outline of the wreck soon appeared below us, followed by route marker A and the first of the monitoring cameras.  Our first impression was not only what a unique dive this was, but also how well preserved the amphorae were, with the shapes clearly defined and looking in great condition for items over 2500 years old!  The dive was a simple one, swimming clockwise around the wreck, observing the signs and artefacts, then repeating the circuit at a slightly shallower depths. To witness something so incredibly old, in pristine condition and with state of the art museum technology functioning perfectly in the sea was mind-blowing and it was an absolute privilege to visit.  Some of our family were even able to watch us during the dive via the camera feed website from their living room across the globe!

Due to the wreck’s protected status permission was not granted to take and share photos except for our personal use so we are unable to print them, but we hope our description is enough to inspire you to go and see it in person for yourself.  It was truly one of the most amazing dives we’ve ever done.  The excellent news is that with the success of this project, plans are underway to open up several more ancient shipwrecks located within the Sporades Marine Park to divers in the coming years, which gives us a perfect excuse to return very soon!

On return to the boat, we made the short trip to Agios Petros for our second dive.  This site was a fairly shallow dive around a rock formation close to shore.  A very pleasant fin brought us round to the best feature of this dive, a small pile of amphorae, presumably from one of the ancient wrecks prior to their protection.  Here we were able to look closer at the shapes and take some close up photos.  The rocks were home to moray eels and several shy octopus and well as shoals of damselfish and wrasse.  It was a lovely and relaxing dive to round out the trip.

In the afternoon we took a trip to the Alonissos Underwater Museum Peristera shipwreck information centre located in the Old Village.  The centre had a 3D model of the wreck, amphorae replicas, information displays and a Virtual Reality Dive of the shipwreck.  The VR system is quite incredible with a very detailed dry dive experience, perfect for those unable to do the real dive itself.  A trip to this fantastic centre was a wonderful addition to our trip and had the added bonus of giving us another excuse to wander the picturesque alleys of the Old Village and stop for an ice cream at a cafe overlooking the coastline.

Perhaps one of the best things about Alonissos as a holiday destination is that the island offers so much more than great diving.  We’ve always considered a full day of diving pretty perfect, but here we were delighted to take the afternoons off to go and explore!  We found stunning secluded beaches, mountain drives through the olive groves, picture postcard fishing villages, fabulous tavernas serving great local cuisine and one of the prettiest old towns you could hope to stroll through.  We felt we had found our own personal paradise. 

Mike and I had high hopes for Alonissos and it easily exceeded our expectations in every way. We throughly recommend visiting for yourselves and we will certainly be back again next year!

Thanks to:

Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/

Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/

Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/

Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/