Bora_Horza
Contributor
Hi all, well I've recently returned from 5 weeks travelling and diving around the islands of eastern Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara). Its an excellent region to visit!
I did a bunch of diving on daytrips from Labuan Bajo town (Flores island). We set off in the mornings and returned late afternoon or so, doing 2 dives, and having lunch on the boat moored off beaches and little islands really beautiful scenery!
I dived with Bajo Dive Club, managed by a German couple, and had a great time with them. Reefseekers was another good dive outfit (website: http://www.angelisleflores.com/komodo_angel.html), and they had fast speedboats (but a bit more expensive to use these). There were 2 other diveshops - CNDive and somebody else, but I dont know much about them. I paid 1.3 million Rupia (about $US 140 to 150) for a 3 day/6 dive package, if you do any more dives you get a better rate...
To get to the good dive sites did take a while - the best places are within the National Park itself. Using the 'traditional' boats at least 1.75 to 2 hours each way. I also visited some great places 3 hours away, and if you want to go to Manta Alley it takes 4 hours... (As mentioned above there is a more expensive speedboat option). But I really enjoyed the boat trips, some great scenery and islands, and a coldbox of beers for the longer return trips was fun...
The diving was easily as good as anything I experienced in the Philippines. Komodo National Park is up there with Apo Island in my opinion. Many dives were off these little islands between Komodo and Rinca, and impressive currents could be seen from the boat - some big whirlpools! But we dived in the sheltered lee of the islands - where exactly depended on which way the currents were running. Beautiful and colourful corals and lots of fish, turtles, cuttlefish, sharks, etc. On one dive (Crystal Rock, off N. Komodo) the divemaster looked back at the group, but couldnt see us too many fish in the way! Ive never seen so many fish huge swirling shoals of fusilers
Accommodation in Labuan Bajo: The Gardena Hotel in L'Bajo was really nice, a great garden/restaurant area overlooking the waterfront of the town. They have some newer, more up market bungalows (possibly aircon, but I'm not sure). A nice relaxed atmosphere though. Bajo Beach Hotel was also good; its used a lot by Tour Groups passing through on their way to Komodo. I paid around 40,000 Rupia/night usually, for a decent room with fan and bathroom, and a light breakfast was included. Of course there are more up market options, and both Bajo Dive Club and Reefseekers are in the process of setting up dive resorts/hotels for the richer, non backpacker type customers.
Returning to Lombok I went by boat, a 2 day/1 night trip on a Perama Tours boat (website: http://www.peramatour.com/) . Cost for this trip with small cabin was 700,000 Rupia. There were fresh water showers on board, and it was a good sized boat - 23m or so, and a little speedboat to take you back and forth to the beaches, etc. There was lots of space, and about 10 other tourists, and a crew of about 6. Nice food, cold beers, we stopped at snorkeling spots, went swimming in waterfalls, and of course the Komodo dragons. Altogether a mellow journey!
Anyway, I had fun, and there are some photos from this trip in my tagline. Happy diving all!
I did a bunch of diving on daytrips from Labuan Bajo town (Flores island). We set off in the mornings and returned late afternoon or so, doing 2 dives, and having lunch on the boat moored off beaches and little islands really beautiful scenery!
I dived with Bajo Dive Club, managed by a German couple, and had a great time with them. Reefseekers was another good dive outfit (website: http://www.angelisleflores.com/komodo_angel.html), and they had fast speedboats (but a bit more expensive to use these). There were 2 other diveshops - CNDive and somebody else, but I dont know much about them. I paid 1.3 million Rupia (about $US 140 to 150) for a 3 day/6 dive package, if you do any more dives you get a better rate...
To get to the good dive sites did take a while - the best places are within the National Park itself. Using the 'traditional' boats at least 1.75 to 2 hours each way. I also visited some great places 3 hours away, and if you want to go to Manta Alley it takes 4 hours... (As mentioned above there is a more expensive speedboat option). But I really enjoyed the boat trips, some great scenery and islands, and a coldbox of beers for the longer return trips was fun...
The diving was easily as good as anything I experienced in the Philippines. Komodo National Park is up there with Apo Island in my opinion. Many dives were off these little islands between Komodo and Rinca, and impressive currents could be seen from the boat - some big whirlpools! But we dived in the sheltered lee of the islands - where exactly depended on which way the currents were running. Beautiful and colourful corals and lots of fish, turtles, cuttlefish, sharks, etc. On one dive (Crystal Rock, off N. Komodo) the divemaster looked back at the group, but couldnt see us too many fish in the way! Ive never seen so many fish huge swirling shoals of fusilers
Accommodation in Labuan Bajo: The Gardena Hotel in L'Bajo was really nice, a great garden/restaurant area overlooking the waterfront of the town. They have some newer, more up market bungalows (possibly aircon, but I'm not sure). A nice relaxed atmosphere though. Bajo Beach Hotel was also good; its used a lot by Tour Groups passing through on their way to Komodo. I paid around 40,000 Rupia/night usually, for a decent room with fan and bathroom, and a light breakfast was included. Of course there are more up market options, and both Bajo Dive Club and Reefseekers are in the process of setting up dive resorts/hotels for the richer, non backpacker type customers.
Returning to Lombok I went by boat, a 2 day/1 night trip on a Perama Tours boat (website: http://www.peramatour.com/) . Cost for this trip with small cabin was 700,000 Rupia. There were fresh water showers on board, and it was a good sized boat - 23m or so, and a little speedboat to take you back and forth to the beaches, etc. There was lots of space, and about 10 other tourists, and a crew of about 6. Nice food, cold beers, we stopped at snorkeling spots, went swimming in waterfalls, and of course the Komodo dragons. Altogether a mellow journey!
Anyway, I had fun, and there are some photos from this trip in my tagline. Happy diving all!
