Komodo Island

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Komodo National Park is located in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores. Established in 1980, initially the main purpose of the Park was to conserve the unique Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and its habitat. However, over the years, the goals for the Park have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both terrestrial and marine. In 1986, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, both indications of the Park’s biological importance.
Komodo National Park includes three major islands: Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller islands creating a total surface area (marine and land) of 1817km (proposed extensions would bring the total surface area up to 2,321km2).

Rinca & Komodo Islands are part of the complex of 175 islands (about 90% unhabitant), situated 200 nautical miles east of Bali, between the islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Both above and below the sea Komodo represents a unique range of geological and biological diversity. On shore it is an amazing museum diorama of the Mesozoic era dry tundra and reptilian supremacy. Komodo’s symbol of international fame its dragons, the world’s largest living lizard.

In the sea it’s vibrant color and exotic life will enchant divers and snorkelers alike as endless schools of fish ride the waterways rushing up from deep sea vents, below them the seabed is covered with a thick carpet of florescent corals and marine invertebrates - an underwater photographers paradise. The waters that surround the island are turbulent and teeming with unparalled marine life. A marine reserve has recently been established and this reserve is largerly undocumented and remains unexplored.

The corals in Komodo National park are pristine, with Mantas, sharks, turtles, dolphins, dugong, many pelagics, to the tiny pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, frog fish, you name it we’ve got it. The sites vary from gentle easy coral slopes to heart pounding adrenalin rides, from the warm waters of the Flores Sea in the north to the chillier waters down south in the Indian Ocean, the underwater terrain is so varied with sheer cliff walls, pinnacles, sandy flat bottoms, underwater plateaus, slopes, caves, swim-throughs, channels, all with varying colours, sizes and types of coral both hard and soft.

DIVE SITES:

Bidadari Island
Angel Steps, huge towers of stone, encrusted with hard and soft corals, covered in nudibranchs, small caves and overhangs make this a very interesting and beautiful site, Dusky sharks, humphead parrot fish are among the bigger creatures we see here. Cathedral Coral, a gentle slope covered with table corals of every colour and schooling fish, a towering spire of coral with a small cave at it’s base is the home to some huge lobsters.

Sabolon
*Sabolon kecil a slope on the east side of this tiny island, with two underwater mounds at the southern end with fields of garden eels and sea pens, schools of round bat fish are often seen coming quite close for some nice photography.
*Sabolon Besar steep slopes off the southern and western sides of the bigger island, fabulous coral coverage and a good chance of spotting Scorpion leaf fish.
*Sebayur kecil walls and slopes of every kind of coral you can imagine, wide variety of marine life to be seen at this site, mantas often seen.
*Tatawa Besar slope with soft coral garden changing to hard coral along the slope, lots of shoaling fish, rainbow runners, fuseliers and often turtles and black tip sharks.
*Tatawa Kecil (current city) as the name implies, this site is washed by very strong currents, which is why this site is among the many world class sites in the Komodo National Park, schools of pelagic fish patrol the waters, best dived at slack tide.

Batu Bolong
A little further west from current city a small rock outcrop with a hole through it is the surface mark of another world class site, only to be dived at slack tide or with a current not long from stopping or starting to run, these giant slabs of rock which disappear into the depths are an amazing sight to see, covered with every form of marine life and patrolled by giant trevally, Napoleon Wrasse, sharks and turtles with schools of barracuda sweeping in to check out the divers. We often see Manta Rays at many of the sites, whale sharks also have their season here and whales and dolphins are often spotted from the boat.

Tanjung Rusa
A variety of small invertebrates and fish, including sharks and giant trevally, are visible while snorkeling the rocky slopes. Deeper diving to 40m reveals many coral trout, large groupers, schools of giant trevally, and massive dogtooth tuna.

Toro Oi
Excellent hard coral garden. Frogfish can be found on sponges on the reef slope. Nudibranchs and other unusual creatures are often found in this area. A good variety of hard and soft corals, plenty of fish life and other marine creatures can be found at this site.

Banana Split
A variety of sweetlips species live on this site and sometimes school together. Groupers, sharks and pelagic fishes can also be found. There is a lot of activity amongst the smaller reef fish around the top of the reef. Thousands of anthias and wrasses can often be seen spawning.

German Flag
From September to January high densities of plankton attract many large manta rays that can normally be seen swimming on the surface along the shores and rocks along southern Komodo Island. The nearshore water is quite shallow (5 - 20m deep) and is composed of large rocks and boulders that shelter huge malabar grouper, potato cod, napoleon wrasse, schools of surgeon fishes and red snappers.