Togian Islands · Indonesia · Reef · Night
Kadidiri
The Crack, a swim-through at 50 m, and night dives at Little Lembeh
Photo: portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
The island the Togian dive bases sit on, and the launch point for a ring of named sites around it: The Gap, Dominik Rock, The Crack, Batugilla, and Little Lembeh, which is the one the centres run at night. Kadidiri lies inside a no-take zone, so the fishing boats work elsewhere and the reef is left alone.
Also known as Pulau Kadidiri.
Where it is and how deep
0.3591° S, 121.8468° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The resorts sit on the island itself and run their own speedboats, working a ring of named sites around it, among them The Gap, Dominik Rock, Batugilla and The Crack. The boats will normally carry snorkellers along for free when the site is shallow enough for them. The reef sits in a no-take zone, so fishing trips have to go outside the area.
The Crack is the outlier among them: a swim-through at 50 m, deep enough that it is a planned dive on its own terms rather than something slotted into a two-tank morning. At the other end of the range is Little Lembeh, the site the dive centres save for after dark. The coral around the island is sharp, and the shallow end of these dives runs close to it, so buoyancy earns its keep on the way in and out.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Togian Islands: Mar–Sep is driest and calmest; the wet season from November to February brings rain and rougher inter-island crossings.
Know before you go
- The coral here is sharp and can cause serious injuries, and the shallow ends of these dives run close to it, so keep off the reef and finish the dive with your hands to yourself.
Photos from Kadidiri
portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
Reto Pieren · CC BY-SA 4.0
portioid · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Diving at Kadidiri · juls mast on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How do you get to Kadidiri?+
By ferry to Wakai, about four hours from the Sulawesi mainland, then a free connecting resort speedboat across to the island. The dive bases are on Kadidiri itself, so the boats leave from the island rather than from the mainland.
What is there to dive around Kadidiri?+
A ring of named sites: The Gap, Dominik Rock, Batugilla, The Crack, which is a swim-through at 50 m, and Little Lembeh, which the dive centres run as their night dive. The island sits inside a no-take zone.
Sources
- Togian Islands — Wikivoyage
- Togian Islands Diving Sites — Dive The World
- OpenStreetMap: Pulau Kadidiri — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- Regal angelfish with blue and gold stripes swimming past an orange sponge on the reef by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Regal angelfish facing the camera against a rocky coral backdrop by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Yellow Walea pygmy seahorse gripping a whip coral branch by Reto Pieren, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Giant clam with a bright green mantle set among coral rubble on the reef by portioid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Togian Islands
Wall
The Togians' best odds on schooling scalloped hammerheads
Coral garden
Temple, cabbage and mushroom coral in 15 m of water
Reef
Huge schools of yellow snapper over a southern slope
Reef
Reef network from 30 m down to a small wreck at 10 m
Wall
A north-pointing finger from 15 m down to 34 m
Reef
Shallow 12-15 m reef that links across to Pinnacle 2
Reef
An 18-30 m point with good visibility year round
Pinnacle
A pinnacle topping out at 5 m and falling past 60
Similar dives elsewhere
Protected bay that serves as both training ground and night dive
Moray eels and lionfish tucked into crevices between volcanic boulders
Blue-ringed octopus and frogfish among coral boulders
A coral slope below the Jesus statue with a resident turtle.