Zoo
Body of Water:
Banda Sea
Max Depth: 30m
Altitude: Sea Level
Difficulty: Easy
GPS Coordinates
Lat: -5.7817
Lon: 123.913858
Another site close by the resort, the Zoo is a patch reef just beyond Turkey Beach on the backside of the resort. Named for the plethora of critters found here, this is one of the true macro dives of Wakatobi. The name indicates an array of interesting resident critters in a small area: Residents include frogfish, ghost pipefish, mantis shrimp, leaf fish, funky hairy squat lobster, different species of pygmy seahorses and more. One of the more unique macro critters found at the Zoo among the mushroom anemones are the mushroom pipefish, a small white pipefish with a triangular head, which makes it look less like a pipefish and more like a small underwater python.
The reef turns into a special place at night. At dusk the mating mandarin fish emerge from the staghorn and rubble zones and later at night a new range of nocturnal animals such as hunting cuttle fish, colourful flatworms and many species of lionfish scour the reef, including the elusive twin spot lionfish. Bob tail squid and octopus seem to be found in larger numbers here than other sites, and a million glowing eyes of various shrimps and crabs peer at you from every crack and crevice in this lattice of life.