Komodo National Park (8 Days / 7 Nights - 21 Dives)
Trip highlights: shark action, dolphins, manta rays, dugongs/manatees, turtles, great macro life/ marine diversity, schooling fish & big pelagics, non diving activities
Diving environment: advanced divers, drift diving, healthy reefs, very popular, wall diving
Dive sites and activities: Sebayur Kecil, Komodo: Gili Lawa, Shotgun, Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, Manta Alley, Batu Bolong, Tatawa Kecil, Pantai Merah, Manta Point, Pulau Damar, Loh Sera, Nusa Kode, Padar, Tatawa Besar, Siaba Besar, Komodo trekking, Padar trekking
Day 1
You arrive in Labuan Bajo and transfer to the harbour, where the Temu Kira liveaboard crew welcomes you aboard. After cabin assignments and a safety briefing, the boat sets course into the national park. Your check dive takes place at Sebayur Kecil, a gentle sloping reef where hard corals, seafans, and sponges cover every surface. The sandy bottom at 19 metres holds cuttlefish, octopus, ghost pipefish, and leafy scorpionfish. No current. Good visibility. A perfect place to refresh your skills before the week ahead.
Core Days
Temu Kira moves through the park with an itinerary that covers north, central, and south. In the north, Castle Rock and Crystal Rock sit in current-swept channels. At Castle Rock, batfish and moray eels crowd the soft corals around 20 metres. Sharks and large rays patrol the deeper edges. Crystal Rock takes its name from the clear water that surrounds it. Schools of fusiliers and anthias hover above impressive table corals. The current can run hard here, but your guides know where to find shelter around the rock's top. Shotgun lies in the channel between Gili Lawa Darat and Gili Lawa Laut. You drift through a natural corridor lined with yellow corals. Eels, sharks, stingrays, tuna, trevallies, bumphead parrotfish, and manta rays all appear along the way.
Batu Bolong sits in the heart of the park. From the surface it looks like a small, hollow rock. Underwater, it transforms into a pinnacle that drops into deep water. Reef sharks lurk by ledges. Dogtooth tuna and giant trevallies patrol the blue. Hawksbill turtles rest on overhangs. Electric blue surgeonfish school in the current. Manta Point offers your best chance to dive with manta rays – sometimes in groups, often close enough to see their markings. Tatawa Kecil delivers an enormous abundance of reef fish. Anthias cloud the water. Groupers, jacks, sweetlips, and bumphead parrotfish move through. Turtles and sharks appear regularly, and the occasional manta joins the scene.
Further south, Manta Alley lives up to its reputation. Manta rays feed and get cleaned by wrasse, circling close to divers who kneel on the sand and watch. Anemone fish, triggerfish, unicorn fish, and moray eels populate the reef. Mantis shrimp peer from crevices, their powerful claws have earned them the nickname 'thumb splitters', so keep your hands to yourself. Nusa Kode, at the south-western tip of Kode island, features large coral-encrusted boulders and some of the biggest reef fish in the park. Gigantic potato cod and malabar grouper rest among the rocks. Schools of large red snapper hang in the water column.
Loh Sera offers superb diving along the southern point and around underwater pinnacles. Dogtooth tuna circle off the point. Monster-sized giant trevallies, potato cod, and malabar grouper patrol the wall. Schools of bumphead parrotfish and napoleon wrasse pass through. Manta rays glide overhead. Pulau Damar and Pantai Merah add variety. The dive site at Pink Beach has a sandy-sloped bottom made of red and pink sand, created by microscopic animals living on the reef. Frogfish, leaf fish, mandarin fish, Coleman shrimp, nudibranchs, Pegasus sea moths, snake eels, crocodile fish, ribbon eels, and devilfish all hide among the large soft corals and yellow sea cucumbers.
Tatawa Besar is famous for some of the most astonishing coral gardens in the park. Cuttlefish, turtles, lionfish, triggerfish, and batfish accompany you through the garden. Sharks swim among the corals. Siaba Besar offers a massive coral garden where pelagic species such as manta rays, reef sharks, turtles mix with flamboyant cuttlefish and thorny seahorses.
Between dives, the Temu Kira liveaboard anchors for 2 land excursions. A trek on Komodo Island puts you face to face with the dragons. Rangers lead you across dry fields to where the big males bask near watering holes. You keep your distance, but you feel their presence. On Padar Island, you climb the steep ridge, about 20 minutes to the summit. From the top, you can spot more than 10 different beaches below, their sand coloured in shades of black, pink, and white. It is the most iconic view in the region.
Day 8
After breakfast, you pack your gear and say goodbye to the crew. Temu Kira transfers you to the airport for your onward flight. You leave with a logbook full of Komodo's greatest scuba hits and the quiet satisfaction of having seen the park at its best.
[Information is best estimate in ideal circumstances and subject to changes beyond our control. The itinerary is a guide only and may be adapted to best suit the weather, tides, currents, availability and other prevailing events. Price is for the cruise, not for an exact number of dives].
