Wakatobi National Park

Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park, South-east of Sulawesi island of Indonesia. Wakatobi National Park is located south-east of Sulawesi, between 05°12’-06°10’S and 123°20’-124°39’E, between the Banda Sea to the north-east and the Flores Sea to the south-west. It consists of four larger islands: Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia and Binongko, as well as many small islands such as Tokobao, North Lintea, South Lintea, Kampenaune, Hoga and Tolandono. The highest elevation is 274 metres (899 ft) on Wangi-Wangi, followed by Lagole Hill (271m) on Tomia, Terpadu Hill (222 m) on Binongko and Mount Sampuagiwolo (203 m) on Kadelupa. The water depth varies, with the deepest parts reaching 1,044 metres (3,425 ft).

Wakatobi National Park is one of largest marine national park in Indonesia. Coral reefs and fish are main focus in managing and it is become important things. Coral reef ecosystems assessed as coastal marine ecosystems are very productive that can be found in tropical waters. Ecologically, coral reefs play an important role as habitat for reef fish communities are targeted by fishermen.

Wakatobi waters are located in the coral triangle area, those areas are coral reefs Whose diversity and biodiversity are highest in the world, consists of Philipines, Indonesian untill Solomon Island.

In Wakatobi you can enjoy diving 365 days a year. There is no period or season unsuitable for diving, and we have skipped only 4 dives in the last 10 years. The climate is drier than in other parts of Indonesia, and the location is quite protected by the surrounding reefs and islands.

The types of vegetation found in the national park are mangrove forest, coastal forest, lowland swamp forest, riverbank vegetation, lowland rainforest, mountain rainforest and coral reefs. The Wakatobi Archipelago has 25 groups of coral reefs including fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. A survey conducted in 2003 identified 396 species of coral belonging to 68 genera and 15 families. These include Acropora formosa, Acropora hyacinthus, Psammocora profundasafla,Pavona cactus, Leptoseris yabei, Fungia molucensis, Lobophyllia robusta, Merulina ampliata,Platygyra versifora, Euphyllia glabrescens, Tubastraea frondes, Stylophora pistillata, Sarcophyton throchelliophorum, and Sinularia species

At this time, Wakatobi has about 750 species of coral and 942 species of fish. In addition, there are also coral beach area or coral reef about of ​​118,000 hectares  and coral atolls along 48 kilometers. Its named Kaledupa Atoll, this coral atolls is the largest in the world.

After the designation of the Wakatobi Marine Conservation Area in 1996, the Wakatobi National Park with a total area of 1,390,000 ha has been established in 2002. It is managed by the Wakatobi National Park Authority (Balai Taman Nasional). In 2005 the park has been listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), inaugurated Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi as a Biosphere Reserve Earth (CBB). The inauguration was marked by the CBB certificate by the Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan to Wakatobi Regent, Hugua, Tuesday night, May 14, 2013.

To reach the main gate of Wakatobi National Park  and District Wakatobi is the Wangi Wangi Island, this island is known by  "Wanci". From the Kendari (the capital of the  Sulawesi Southeast Province), Wanci can be reached through sea travel. There are 2 routes to travel toward the sea from Kendari to Wanci. There are routes Kendari to Bau-Bau to Wanci, and routes Kendari to Wanci. Route Kendari - BauBau - Wanci can be reached by using a fast ship (Motor Vessel), It takes  ± 5 hours.  And from Bau-Bau to Wanci using wooden ship for ± 9 hours.

Route Kendari - Wanci can be reached by regular wood ship 2 times a week and takes about ± 12 hours. Among the four major islands at Wakatobi, Wangi-Wangi Island has the highest accessibility and serves as a central capital of Wakatobi.

Wakatobi National Park Authority
Jln. Dayanu Ikhsanuddin 71
Bau-Bau, South-east Sulawesi
Tel / Fax: +62402 2826326 

For Wakatobi dive resort see more at  http://www.wakatobi.com