Komodo Island Diving

Red Beach

Red Beach (Pantai Merah) is located just in front of the old dragon feeding station in the eastern part of Komodo Island, directly across the bay from Komodo Village.

Snorkelling here is excellent over a healthy shallow reef. Diving is at the sloping reef edge where the bottom drops down to 25 metres. Half way along the beach front is the best spot, where the reef slope gives way to a more abrupt wall with lots of green branching cup corals and stinging hydroids.

Thousands of fish of every colour and shape are here including yellow damsels, regal angelfish, checkerboard wrasse, masked unicornfish and schooling reef fish such as striped fusiliers, against a beautiful backdrop of acripora corals, gorgonian fans and sponges. Frogfish also hang around the wall, blending in colourfully with their host sponge and surrounds.

Mantis shrimps are always in attendance with their housekeeping as they remove rock from their burrows. Their darting bulbous eyes are thought to be the most complex in nature, and they can strike prey with a crustacean karate chop from its claw, hard enough to crack a pane of glass. Other common residents in the Komodo rubble and sand substrate are crocodilefish, shrimp gobies and burrowing jawfish, protecting their broods of eggs in their agape mouths.

Red Beach Reef Basics: Fringing reef
Depth: 5 - 25m
Visibility: 5 - 15m
Currents: Can be strong
Surface Conditions: Calm
Water Temperature: 20 - 26°C
Experience Level: Beginner - intermediate
Number of dive sites: 1
Diving Season: All year round
Distance: ~500 km east of Bali (25 hours)
Access: Komodo Island liveaboards

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