pughio83
Contributor
This trip report is long overdue but i thought i would share some reflections and experiences from this trip, slightly summarised.
So the trip was started with Qatar airlines from Manchester to Jakarta, with an overnight stay at our usual place FM7 (the food there is amazing and is close to the airport). An early morning flight to Bali with Lion air followed by Bali to Flores with Wings air (2hr layover) was no hassle. Baggage allowance was 10kg per person : we had approx 75kg between us - so we paid the excess which worked out at around £18 total which was pretty good in my opinion.
Scuba Junkie Komodo:
So we decided to use scuba junkie komodo based on recommendations from friends in Bali. They were well organised and were very helpful in organising the trip from the uk via email. They picked us up at labuan bajo airport and took us to their office there. We had lunch locally before the boat took us out to the resort (1.5hrs). The resort is nestled away in a bay on flores southwest, so i guess not technically within the national park but as close as you will get if not staying at the Komodo resort. The resort was clean and well laid out. Being a fairly new resort there were small issues, like unfinished paths which in heavy rain became very mud and slippy but these were minor issues. The staff there on the whole were very nice and very accommodating (bar one dive master intern who caused some issues). The food to be honest was very good, with different food each night over the 8 nights were stayed there, including an italian pizza night. The post dive snacks were very good and the lunch and breakfast on the boats were very good too. We had the sea view cottage which was simple but clean. The fans worked well at keeping the room cool but at times became a bit stuffy. The room is only cleaned on request as it is an eco resort so bear that in mind. There were quite a lot of bugs in the resort so insect repellent is a must. It would have been nice to have a water station at the top near the cottages so you didn't have to trek down the path to the restaurant. The lounge area was chilled with hammocks and bean bags around, overlooking a tranquil bay with a small dark sand beach. If you take a walk up the hill you can get lovely views especially of sunsets. Drinks like beer and soft drinks, wine all available. No wifi bar in the office which would be nice one day.
The diving was well organised in general and our gear was well looked after. Dive safety was paramount and this was emphasised in the thorough dive briefs. The boat was one of the best day boats i have been on, well designed and had a great lounging area up top. This made the cruises through the national park blissful, and allowed seeing the likes of mantas and dolphins all the easier. Food on board was very good - pancakes, fruits, breads, jams peanut butter and eggs for breakfast. Lunches were mostly indonesian and very tasty, usually rice/noodles/egg/meat/fish etc.
The diving itself was excellent. We dove mostly the central and northern sites. Fortunately we were lucky to have a dive friend as a guide (Fadley), who we dived with previously in Ambon. He is an excellent macro spotter and highlighted the quality of the macro in Komodo. The other guides were also very good and found excellent critters, especially Solomon. Subjects like flamboyant cuttlefish, pughead coral pipefish, psychedelic mandarinfish, psychedelic batwing slug, various frogfish, ambon scorpionfish, Saron shrimp, and Harlequin shrimp made appearances. The best sites were probably Siaba Besar and Wainilu for macro. Then you have the delights of the manta rays - Sites like Mawan and Manta point (Karang Makassar) didn't disappoint - snorkelling with 25+ mantas or diving with similar numbers was brilliant. The visilbity varied from 10m-30m depending on the sites, and temps were usually 28C with some thermoclines. We also saw the odd grey reef, white tip or black tip shark. The coral diversity was world class, probably the best hard/soft coral sites i have ever seen.
The weather was 50% sunny 30% rainy and 20% overcast during our 8days. Some days it rained all day, others sunny all day but it almost always rained between 4-7pm at the resort.
We did an optional flying fox tour which was nice and relatively cheap, and the komodo dragon tour was included in the package we took. Personally i would consider a very late flight if possible on your leaving day as it would have been nice to do the 6hr trek around the Komodo island looking for the dragons- instead we were restricted to only 2hrs on the island. We flew on to our second destination in Ambon (DIA- see trip report).
Overall the stay was very well received. The diving was phenomenal. The staff on the whole are very nice although i think both guides we had have now left i think. Rohan and Carys were very friendly and ran a well oiled setup. The food was excellent especially given its location. The boat was excellent. The resort was great overall, especially when you look at the prices (think we paid £900 approx for 8D7N with flights, taxes etc) in the sea view cottage. I would definitely go back but would aim to try and dive the south so would go earlier in the year.
Some pictures :
So the trip was started with Qatar airlines from Manchester to Jakarta, with an overnight stay at our usual place FM7 (the food there is amazing and is close to the airport). An early morning flight to Bali with Lion air followed by Bali to Flores with Wings air (2hr layover) was no hassle. Baggage allowance was 10kg per person : we had approx 75kg between us - so we paid the excess which worked out at around £18 total which was pretty good in my opinion.
Scuba Junkie Komodo:
So we decided to use scuba junkie komodo based on recommendations from friends in Bali. They were well organised and were very helpful in organising the trip from the uk via email. They picked us up at labuan bajo airport and took us to their office there. We had lunch locally before the boat took us out to the resort (1.5hrs). The resort is nestled away in a bay on flores southwest, so i guess not technically within the national park but as close as you will get if not staying at the Komodo resort. The resort was clean and well laid out. Being a fairly new resort there were small issues, like unfinished paths which in heavy rain became very mud and slippy but these were minor issues. The staff there on the whole were very nice and very accommodating (bar one dive master intern who caused some issues). The food to be honest was very good, with different food each night over the 8 nights were stayed there, including an italian pizza night. The post dive snacks were very good and the lunch and breakfast on the boats were very good too. We had the sea view cottage which was simple but clean. The fans worked well at keeping the room cool but at times became a bit stuffy. The room is only cleaned on request as it is an eco resort so bear that in mind. There were quite a lot of bugs in the resort so insect repellent is a must. It would have been nice to have a water station at the top near the cottages so you didn't have to trek down the path to the restaurant. The lounge area was chilled with hammocks and bean bags around, overlooking a tranquil bay with a small dark sand beach. If you take a walk up the hill you can get lovely views especially of sunsets. Drinks like beer and soft drinks, wine all available. No wifi bar in the office which would be nice one day.
The diving was well organised in general and our gear was well looked after. Dive safety was paramount and this was emphasised in the thorough dive briefs. The boat was one of the best day boats i have been on, well designed and had a great lounging area up top. This made the cruises through the national park blissful, and allowed seeing the likes of mantas and dolphins all the easier. Food on board was very good - pancakes, fruits, breads, jams peanut butter and eggs for breakfast. Lunches were mostly indonesian and very tasty, usually rice/noodles/egg/meat/fish etc.
The diving itself was excellent. We dove mostly the central and northern sites. Fortunately we were lucky to have a dive friend as a guide (Fadley), who we dived with previously in Ambon. He is an excellent macro spotter and highlighted the quality of the macro in Komodo. The other guides were also very good and found excellent critters, especially Solomon. Subjects like flamboyant cuttlefish, pughead coral pipefish, psychedelic mandarinfish, psychedelic batwing slug, various frogfish, ambon scorpionfish, Saron shrimp, and Harlequin shrimp made appearances. The best sites were probably Siaba Besar and Wainilu for macro. Then you have the delights of the manta rays - Sites like Mawan and Manta point (Karang Makassar) didn't disappoint - snorkelling with 25+ mantas or diving with similar numbers was brilliant. The visilbity varied from 10m-30m depending on the sites, and temps were usually 28C with some thermoclines. We also saw the odd grey reef, white tip or black tip shark. The coral diversity was world class, probably the best hard/soft coral sites i have ever seen.
The weather was 50% sunny 30% rainy and 20% overcast during our 8days. Some days it rained all day, others sunny all day but it almost always rained between 4-7pm at the resort.
We did an optional flying fox tour which was nice and relatively cheap, and the komodo dragon tour was included in the package we took. Personally i would consider a very late flight if possible on your leaving day as it would have been nice to do the 6hr trek around the Komodo island looking for the dragons- instead we were restricted to only 2hrs on the island. We flew on to our second destination in Ambon (DIA- see trip report).
Overall the stay was very well received. The diving was phenomenal. The staff on the whole are very nice although i think both guides we had have now left i think. Rohan and Carys were very friendly and ran a well oiled setup. The food was excellent especially given its location. The boat was excellent. The resort was great overall, especially when you look at the prices (think we paid £900 approx for 8D7N with flights, taxes etc) in the sea view cottage. I would definitely go back but would aim to try and dive the south so would go earlier in the year.
Some pictures :
