Roma is a coral garden built around a pinnacle in the centre of the reef, dived from the boat and again at night. Potato coral and anemones cover it, clownfish sit in the anemones, and schools of fusiliers, snappers and redtooth triggerfish swirl around it. The published depth range runs to 25 metres, and bommies around it carry the macro life.
Where it is and how deep
No published position for this site — the map shows Wakatobi and its other sites; operators know the mooring.
The dive
Roma is usually taken on the second morning dive or in the afternoon, when the light is good. Sinking in through the rays of light you are met almost immediately by large schools of fusiliers, and pyramid butterflyfish, sergeant majors, snappers and redtooth triggerfish work the water around the pinnacle for the rest of the dive.
The pinnacle carries potato coral and is adorned with anemones and their clownfish, and it holds colour and life from the top down to the base at 25 metres. Several bommies stand around it, and those are where the macro sits, leaffish and cometfish among them. Banded sea snakes are the other constant here and are sometimes counted in double figures. Roma is run as a night dive as well.
Marine life and season
- Reef fish swarms
- Sea snakes
- Macro critters
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good |
Season follows Wakatobi: Diveable all year; April–May and September–November are the peak months, and January and February the wettest.
Photos from Roma
q phia · CC BY 2.0
q phia · CC BY 2.0
q.phia · CC BY 2.0
Dive videos
Roma October 2015 · Desert Diving on YouTube
Questions divers ask
How deep is Roma?+
The published range for Roma is 0 to 25 m. It is a pinnacle in the middle of the reef, so you can work the shallow top for most of the dive and drop to the base only if you want to.
When is the best time of day to dive Roma?+
The second morning dive or the afternoon, when the light is good. It is also run as a night dive.
Sources
- Wakatobi's Dive Sites — Wakatobi Dive Resort
- Diving in Wakatobi — Divezone
- Wakatobi Diving Sites, Indonesia — Dive The World
Photo credits
- A slender coronetfish hovers over a coral pinnacle with small fish scattered around by q.phia, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
- Patterned dendronotus nudibranch perched on orange soft coral with open polyps by q phia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Translucent shrimp with fine purple legs nestled among bubble coral by q phia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Orange and white clownfish peers out from among an anemone's tentacles by q.phia, CC BY 2.0, via Openverse
In The Logbook
- Night diving: the best night dives in the worldNight diving · 12 min read
More dive sites in Wakatobi
A serrated ridge in open blue water, falling away on both sides
The Great Wall of Cornucopia, a sheer drop-off at the end of the slope
A drop-off 80 m off the beach, from under 2 m to past 40 m
Reef
A coral ridge known for large frogfish, then macro on the fringing reef
Similar dives elsewhere
The area's most reliable tasselled wobbegong sightings
Black coral garden on a gentle slope from 6 m to 25 m
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
A swim-through at 22 to 25 m lined with crinoids
Coral garden
Cepar Cepor
Belitung · Indonesia
Bommie-hopping along a granite channel off Kepayang Island