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KOMODO WORLD CLASS DIVE SITES
DIVING IN KOMODO MARINE
Even WITHOUT a Dragon, Komodo and its surrounding islets would for
me still remain a powerful symbol of that vanishing Garden of Eden
deep within our collective memory . With its strange orchids, flying
lizards, forests of giant fan palms and scarcity of man, it seems
less like another Place than another Time. So remote is this tiny
island that it wasn't until l911 that Varanus Komodoensis, its
10-foot long, running swimming, tree-climbing lizard, was described
by science and revealed to the world as fact rather than myth.
Located at the edge-seam of the world, in no one continent and no
one sea, the dragon islands of Komodo National Park are also
surrounded by a furious moat For the Lesser Sunda archipelago, that
thin chain of islands stretching east from Bali towards New Guinea,
is also the grid which
divides the warm shallows of the South China seas, from the cool
deeps of the Indian ocean.
The ebb and flow between these opposing bodies of water produces not
only the protective navigational hazard of tidal races and
whirlpools, but also an astounding mixture of marine creatures of
both warm and cold water, some species having no business to be
anywhere near here at all, others found no where else, and many more
constantly revealing themselves to be new to science. No less than
fifteen different varieties of whales and dolphins have recently
been observed here, from pods of shark-eating tropical Orcas, to the
two-foot long, exuberantly acrobatic spinner dolphins.
Whereas the Dragon was only discovered in the first decade of this
century, it wasn't until the l960's that it was properly surveyed
and studied. In the 1970's it began receiving is first trickle of
tourists, and only the l980's did its waters first begin being
plumbed by SCUBA divers - and now, at the turn of the Millennium,
just when we have started to see how mysteriously rich this region
is, we find it under threat.
The burgeoning population of Indonesia, the hunger for fish and
meat, has brought dynamite and cyanide fisher bandits to Komodo's
reefs, and marauding armed poachers seeking the wild deer and pig of
the islands, which are the essential life support of the great
lizard. Our last dragon, and its moat of marine mysteries, should be
passed on, don't you think, to continue to remind future generations
of our earliest beginnings and of that dwindling Garden of Eden
within us all?
The Diving Season
The season is year round with November to January seeing the best
conditions as far as visibility is concerned. The seas can kick up a
little in different areas, such as the northern sites during January
to March and the southern sites during July and August, although
these rarely interfere with the liveaboard schedules to any great
extent.
Komodo Reef Basics
TECHNICAL DATA:
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Great for |
Large
animals, small animals, wall dives, underwater photography,
drift diving, reef life and health, and advanced divers |
|
Not so
great for |
Wrecks and
beginner divers |
|
Depth |
5 - >40m |
|
Visibility |
5 - 30m |
|
Currents |
Can be very
strong - up to 8 knots |
|
Surface
Conditions |
Can be rough |
|
Water
Temperature |
20 - 27°C |
|
Experience
Level |
Intermediate
- advanced |
|
Number of
dive sites |
>55 |
|
Distance |
490 km east
of Bali (24 hours) |
|
Access |
Liveaboard
cruises from Bali/Lombok/Sumbawa and Labuan bajo Flores |
|
Length of
stay |
6 - 18 days |
WORLD CLASS DIVING SITES AND UNDERWATER OF KOMODO NATIONAL PARK
Crystal Rock:
Crystal Rock is marked by rocks which just break the surface at high
tide, a wonderful dive site with lots of coral of all varieties, a
dive to see big and small marine life, white tip reef sharks, Giant
trevallys with schools of fusiliers, hawksbill turtles and often an
eagle ray can be spotted gliding in the current, a good place to
spot many nudibranchs, scorpion fish and octopus, sometimes we get a
quick glimpse of dolphins swimming in the current and checking us
out.
Full Moon :
Full Moon further north is a submerged sea mound. This site is
covered in many varieties of hard corals, heading down, bat fish
will come to greet you and try to swim between your fins and catch
your bubbles as you exhale, you find Hawksbill turtles and
processions of bright luminous blue fusiliers, it’s not a surprise
to see white and Black tip sharks checking out the action for their
next meal, a couple of big grey sharks hang out deep on this site
and sometimes come into the shallower depths, dolphins again have
been seen here, good place to see blue ribbon eels and Crocodile
fish.
Lighthouse Reef:
Lighthouse Reef A couple of Huge Napoleon wrasse make their home
here, designated as a Coral Trout aggregation area there are
certainly some huge specimens patrolling the waters, a huge
underwater rock is the entry point of the dive going down to the
depths, we swim along the wall and gradually make our way up into
the shallows with groups of red tooth triggerfish and Palette
Surgeons, often Mantas come into the shallows to be cleaned, you
find a comfortable spot, then wait for the procession to begin.
The Cauldron:
The Cauldron as the name might suggest to you, it is really
something to see when the current is running, it looks like the top
of a boiling pot, once the current abates, we drop down into the
centre of the cauldron onto a sandy bottom at 24mts the edges of the
cauldron are rock faces with huge ledges gouged into them covered in
every colour of hard and soft corals you can imagine, Black and
White tip sharks play here, with huge giant, big eye and blue fin
trevallys stalking us and glaring at us with their grumpy faces.
Stingray City:
Stingray City again the name suggests lots of blue spotted mask rays
and blue spotted fan tail rays, a big group of bumphead parrot fish
live here and 2 giant frog fish, off the steeper slopes we often see
white tip reef sharks, lots of anemones with their colourful clown
fish, sometimes Mantas feeding in the shallow water.
Coral Garden:
Coral Garden Steep wall turning into a slope of coral then up to a
sandy ledge with big coral heads leading up to a wonderful coral
garden in the shallows, we often see white tips sleeping in the sand
with many varieties of rays including jenkins whip rays, porcupine
rays, blue spotted and of course everyones favourite the Manta. Good
place to find crocodile fish and leaf scorpion fish.
Aquarium:
Aquarium a ledge at 5 meters shelters us from the current we stay a
while and watch the fusiliers feed, we’ve often had manta moments
here with them staying most of the dive and feeding in the current
then swooping in to take a look at you, we spent one dive in the
same place here for 105 mins, never moved and only went up as we
were running low on air; but if it’s quiet, we swim over into the
current and take a ride to end up in a sandy plateau at about 12mts
and spend the dive searching the coral heads for leaf fish and
critters of every variety, white tips sleep in the sand with the
smaller ones hiding under table corals, bumphead parrot fish always
seen here, hawksbill turtles, pipe fish and garden eels popping up
from the sand like a field of wheat.
Gold passage:
Gold passage a drift dive starting in the shelter of the bay with
slope leading to a steep wall, then moving along to catch the
current which sweeps us along at some rate of knots passing giant
trevallys, bumphead parrot fish, schools of fusilers to end up on a
sheltered coral slope to look for the crocodile fish, leaf fish and
any other little critters that catch our eye.
East of Komodo Island
Sebayur kecil walls and slopes of every kind of coral you can
imagine, with a wide variety of marine life to be seen at this site,
a great place for macro photography with leaf scorpion, Ornate ghost
pipe fish, robust pipe fish, banded pipe fish, blue ringed octopus,
crocodile fish to name a few.
Tetawa Besar
Orange Grove a gentle slope runs the length of this dive site with
an orange soft coral garden changing to hard coral along towards the
end of the slope, lots of schooling fusiliers, usual to see a lot of
Hawksbill turtles and white tip reef sharks, lots of Mantas in the
rainy season and a huge variety of beautiful coloured nudibranchs.
Manta Corner another nice coral covered slope with the hope of
spotting mantas in the rainy season, nice coral with leaf scorpion
fish, blue ribbon eels, turtles, white tips and lots of nice coral
heads in the shallow to check out the smaller critters.
Tetawa Kecil
a small island that is in an area that gets a lot of current in
Komodo so not an easy site, but it’s another that is among one of
the many world class sites here, schools of pelagic fish patrol the
waters, a huge school of bat fish live here near a coral encrusted
overhang, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrot fish with nurse sharks
and bamboo sharks found hiding in cracks and crevices in the coral
encrusted boulders, the shallows again are a vibrant colourful
picture of hard corals that hide the sea snakes, coral file fish and
baby sharks.
Batu Bolong
A small rock outcrop with a hole through it is the surface mark of
another world class site, 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 many pelagics sweeping in to check out the
divers.
Siaba Kecil
Beautiful coral slope with currents along the edges which bring in
the bigger fish, lots of life, water is sometimes chilly here, black
tips, white tips, barracudas and a host of nudibranchs and flat
worms.
Airstrip:
Airstrip the strangest dive site in the park! a very long stone
rubble road stretching forever along the East coast of Komodo, it
gently slopes off and has big coral heads at intervals along the
road, we tuck in behind these to hide from the current and to check
out the marine life there, then take off in the current again, often
seeing manta rays, white and black tip sharks, nurse sharks and
bamboo sharks under coral ledges and one sighting of a leopard
shark, dugongs have also been seen here, it is a manta cleaning and
feeding station, bumphead parrot fish like the area and many strange
nudibranchs can be found.
HALFWAY DOWN EAST KOMODO
Batu Tiga
3 huge rocks in the middle of the strait between Rinca and Komodo
island marks the spot of this site, current swept, it offers the
chance to see everything from tiny pygmy sea horses to sharks and
barracudas, not a site to be taken lightly and sometimes totally un-diveable,
but well worth it if you can get in, the topography of the site is
really amazing to see and covered in short encrusting coral, no
other coral could take the currents, this I think is the most
challenging site to dive in park, situated in the strait between
Komodo, Padar and Rinca it gets water movement hitting it from many
different angles. Two huge fish eagles have their home on the rocks.
Nidihang
A coral covered steep slope, Napoleons like to hang here, many
scorpion and nudibranchs amongst the coral, bamboo and nurse sharks
hide in the rock crevacies, one of our sightings of a Dugong was at
this site in the beautiful shallows, another site that has very
strong, strange currents.
Rinca Area
Penga Dead mans island.
Stunning coral covers the reefs of this small island, sea snakes,
turtles, frog fish, Leaf fish, nudibranchs, long nose hawk fish,
octopus sometimes Eagle rays and a wide variety of the usual reef
fish.
Wainilu.
Critter hunt special at this sandy slope, frog fish, seahorses,
juvenile Zebra bat fish, mandarin fish, picture dragonets, ghost
pipe fish, ribbon eels, zebra crabs, fire urchins, you never know
what will pop up;o)
Diving the South
Pulau Padar
Pillarsteen
This site at the southern side of Padar, is often affected by big
swells coming in from the Indian ocean, cooler water and visibility
usually not as good as the more Northern sites, it has an
interesting topography of sheer black walls, swim throughs’ and
caves, with lots of interesting hidden places to find strange and
wonderful critters, Giant Trevallys. hawksbill turtles, nurse and
bamboo sharks hang out here, sea apples and many varieties of
nudibranchs.
Nudibranchs Galore.
This site was found by Ernest who decided to drop in and take a
look, the amount of different Nudibranchs was unbelievable,
definitely a superb site for Macro photographers. Lots of nooks and
crannies to explore.
Three Sisters
This site has underwater mountains coming to within 5 mts of the
surface on one pinnacle. Covered in life of soft and hard corals,
very beautiful site, with an abundance of marine life of every
variety, white tip reef sharks, bumphead parrot fish, frog fish, sea
apples, nudibranchs, again cooler waters from the Indian ocean with
reduced visibility most times, but definitely worth a visit.
Nusa Kode
This small island in the bay off the southern coast of Rinca has
many different dive sites, some sheltered and some open to the
elements of strong currents and cold upwellings, but all this adds
up to some fantastic sites, with a profound wealth of small and
large sea life which will leave you totally in awe.
Cannibal Rock
Another Macro photographers dream, this sea mound is home to vast
amounts of invertebrates and wonderful soft coral, but it can be a
bit chilly here with the area catching the upwellings from the
Indian Ocean, frog fish, ghost pipe fish, octopus, nudibranchs,
turtles, stingrays and the wonderful crazy looking sea apples.
Nurdins spirit Dropping into a dark sandy bottom it looks like there
is nothing to see, but you will be amazed at the amount of life to
be discovered at this site, frog fish, nudibranchs, sea pens, sea
apples, leaf fish, rays, ghost pipe fish, seahorses, your camera
battery will run out before you end the dive. |
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KOMODO DIVE LIVEABOARDS
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