sea weed and algae.
Moyo Island gives divers their first taste of what can be expected in Komodo. Two submerged reefs off the island’s west coast are swarmed by schools of fish, sharks and other pelagics. Though bombs have previously damaged the reef tops in some areas, the steep slopes of both reefs, which plummet to depths in excess of 80 meters, have survived and support a healthy variety of angelfish, baitfish and groupers. The smaller reef to the north is rich in nudibranchs and exotic critterss. Hairy ornate ghost pipefish have been spotted in the mossy shallows. Satonda, a smaller island to the east, provides another delightful half day of diving. Painter’s Pleasure, a healthy shallow reef slope, is decorated in gorgonian fans of all sizes and coral whips, and is home to twin spot gobies, gaudy nudibranchs and dozens of mushroom corals, with the attendant pearly white pipefish. The sand patch, also in front of the main beach, has stargazers, pipefish, leaf scorpionfish and bobtail squid for a very enjoyable night dive.
The Komodo National Park in Nusa Tenggara was established in 1980 and was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986.
The Amanwana-operated Moyo Island Resort offers luxury accommodation and diving on Moyo Island. For those wanting to explore further afield, then a live-aboard trip may be the best solution.
For a day diversion, bring some sturdy sandals and hike the short trail that leads to the crater’s marine lake. And for a truly memorable show, sit back at dusk and watch as thousands of bats emerge from the island’s southern trees and fly to the mainland in search of food.
If Komodo is Indonesia’s tastiest dive spot, then Sangeang Island is the flavor of the day. Because guests clamored to reachKomodo, liveaboards would push on, ignoring this lush volcanic island for the adrenaline diving at Banta, two hours to the east. In 1999, on one of his famous hunches, guide Larry Smith directed his boat to the island’s southernmost point and jumped in.
At the western edge of a small beach that serves as an itinerant fishing village lies an excellent muck diving site. The currents at Mentjeng Wall can be tricky due to its exposed position, but there are spots to take shelter and visibility can be good.
Healthy sponges and soft corals around Moyo Island.
The wall, which bottoms out at 15–20 meters, is covered in crinoids, sponges and sea whips, some of which host colonial anemone, and while there are ghost pipefish, frogfish and saron shrimp tucked away in the crevices, the real action is at the base of the wall, where anything from boxer crabs to robust ghost pipefish make their home amongst an array of nudibranchs.
Around the corner two more rich invertebrate sites round out the diving in the south. Tikno’s Reef and Black Magic are so good, some operators with the right group might avoid Banta in order to spend a full day at Sangeang.
At the mouth of the long bay that leads into Bima in Sumbawa, lie two sites that, although worlds apart, continue to excite ardent divers. Diversity on the east side has two separate walls, one that drops to 20 meters and the other to 30 meters. Though it is unprotected during the months of December to March, visibility is quite good year round, and the ribbon eels, frogfish and good reef fish make it a splendid checkout dive for trips departing from Bima. Copycat Copycat on the other side of the channel is the quintessential muck dive, with visibility hovering at 5–7 meters. The small patch reef at 5 meters is covered in toon shells and spiny seahorses. The vast featureless sand below the reef is punctuated by sporadic debris that provides homes to frogfish, pipefish and marble eyed morays. The real highlight and the main reason to dive here is the promise of the elusive mimic octopus in the surrounding desert.
Diving off southern Sumba is primarily by liveaboard but it is worth the trip. With nothing but water between Sumba and Australia’s northern shores, this place has become a haven for surfers. However, several sites, including Magic Mountain and Marlin Rock on the offshore reefs, hold the promise of pelagic action. If the opportunity should arise, the local villages, throwbacks to a feudal time, merit a visit.
—David Espinosa/Sarah Ann Wormald
Feather stars vary in color according to species.
Komodo
Acclaimed as Some of the World’s Best Dives
Access 5–10 minutes by tender from liveaboard; 1 hour from Labuanbajo
Current Variable, from 2–50 meters
Reef type Can be extremely strong, up to 5 knots
Highlights Superb, with a good mix of hard and soft corals
Visibility Sloping reef and some walls
Coral Excellent
Fish Rugged terrain, komodo dragons, encounters with a variety of large pelagics
Diving Komodo is like stepping on a Jurassic gyroscope, tilting and spinning at uncontrollable speeds. There are times when guests have been perched in a 2-knot current, holding on for dear life, mouthpieces vibrating, watching a halimeda ghost pipefish while their buddy gesticulates wildly, trying to gain their attention to point out a hovering manta ray. Dives like this are common. It is hard to know where to look and what to focus on. Welcome to Komodo!
Komodo, as well as the other islands between Sumbawa and Flores, belongs to another time and place. Rugged, dry, covered in scrub and borassus palms, it is just a few degrees south of the equator and represents an arid anomaly in the lushness of the monsoon-fed islands of the Indonesian archipelago. But it is the perfect habitat for one of the world’s most awesome animals, the Komodo dragon.
Komodo is famous for its huge manta rays.
BIOLOGICAL RICHES
The wild Komodo area offers just about every imaginable type of diving, from current-swept sea mounds patrolled by groups of sharks, tuna and other big fish to plunging walls covered in impressive corals, to calm reefs alive with invertebrates and hundreds of colorful reef fishes. The water temperature varies from a chilly 22° C to 30° C bath water. Visibility ranges from a clear 25–30 meters to a dismal 3 meters when clouds of tiny fish and plankton allow only macro photography.
The variety of marine life in the Komodo area rivals the world’s best. There are deep seas both north and south of the narrow straits running between the little islands. Strong currents and upwellings bring nutrients and plankton, keeping all the marine creatures well fed.
While the Komodo area is well explored and a popular liveaboard destination, because of its vastness it rarely feels crowded aside from at one or two of the most popular of its numerous dive sites. In general, there are two habitats and two seasons for diving Komodo—the winter for the cooler, temperate water southern sites, and the summer for the warmer, tropical north. The main factor in enjoying diving Komodo is visibility, and the north is the more predictable in this regard.
Komodo
