Weather Or Not To Go To Komodo?

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Adelaar Cruises

Contributor
Messages
211
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141
Location
Bali, Indonesia
# of dives
I'm a Fish!
Weather-to-Go-to-Komodo-or-Not-Cover-840x200.jpg

Short rainstorm approaching day boat moored in Pulau Siaba besar

If you think you can’t visit, dive and snorkel Komodo year round because of weather conditions, you’ve been mislead; unfortunately, some of that misleading information is coming from the local dive industry. There is some confusion out there about “seasons” in Indonesia. Because it is a vast nation there are many different micro climates throughout the archipelago. It’s like saying the winter in New York is the same as Los Angeles or Miami; climates vary widely across a nation the size of Indonesia. Traditionally, most dive liveaboards dive around Komodo National Park in Indonesia’s winter months (June through the end of September), and then head up to Raja Ampat for the summer months (October-April). They do this because if they wait any longer crossing the Banda Sea, which lies between the two areas, won’t be manageable. So, because of the liveaboards dive schedules dive travel specialists have been lead to believe that these were the only times to be in each area or “THE season”. This is not true, Komodo can be good year round.

The cover photo above was one of 2 rainstorms we had during the trip that lasted about an hour between 4:30pm and 5:30pm, letting up just in time for our night dive. I’ll be honest, a lot of rain fell during this storm but it was for such a short period of time it didn’t affect the trip in the least.

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Bright Sunny Komodo Day

The photos above and below, by guest Paul van Gardingen, shows conditions during most of the dive trip in early December, the majority of the 11 day trip was calm seas and blue skies just like this.

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Dry Hills in Rainy Season

So here’s the reality; while it is true the that summer months in the Southern Indonesian archipelago are called the monsoon season, Komodo has a relatively arid climate compared to other regions in Indonesia. It may rain some, but let’s compare apples to apples. Komodo’s average rainfall is rather mild for the tropics. Take February for instance, Komodo’s wettest month, with an average rainfall of 144mm or 5.6″ and compare it to Raja Ampat, which during the same period gets an average of 123mm or 4.8″ (this is the 3rd driest month in the middle of their high season). So you see Komodo has relatively little rainfall for the tropics.

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Komodo’s Average Rainfall - Raja Ampat’s Average Rainfall

Here’s where you will notice a major difference in seasons – Komodo’s borders are nestled between two oceans, 39 km (24 miles) apart, the Pacific Ocean to the North, and the Indian Ocean to the South. This results in two completely different seasonal changes, creating 2 completely different underwater experiences in each season. During December – April the Indian Ocean to the south warms up and visibility improves. Winds die down and sites that dive liveaboards, who were here in “season” had trouble reaching or found too cold to dive, are now accessible to divers on liveaboard dive boats. Imagine diving the world-class dive site Cannibal Rock, in Horseshoe Bay in warm blue water!

So the bottom line here is, you can do Komodo “off season” and spend more time at the best dive sites in the south, and you can be in Komodo without a bunch of other liveaboards and tourists to get in your way.

Join Adelaar’s year round round-trip Bali Komodo luxury dive liveaboard and see south Komodo the way it was meant to be seen.
 
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