Darrell Seale · Scuba Diving / Dive trips / Komodo

Diving Komodo

Strong currents, rich reefs, mantas and turtles, and some of the best night diving in Indonesia. October 2022.

Oct 2022when
Phinisifrom Labuan Bajo
Day + nightdives

Komodo National Park sits in the Coral Triangle, between the Indonesian islands of Sumbawa and Flores, where the Pacific and Indian oceans push water back and forth through narrow straits. Those currents are what make Komodo special: they feed reefs packed with life and bring in mantas, sharks and big schools of fish. They are also what make it demanding, so it is a place for divers who are comfortable in current.

I dove the park in October 2022 from a traditional wooden phinisi out of Labuan Bajo, on the western tip of Flores. Over four days we mixed current-swept reef dives, slow dives on the sand and night dives, and in between we went ashore to see the Komodo dragons.

The dive guides time every dive to the tide. On the big current sites, the plan is usually a negative entry and a fast drift along the reef, ducking behind coral heads to watch the action, then a safety stop in open water with a surface marker buoy. The slack-water and night dives are the opposite: slow, careful and focused on small things.

Watch: Diving Komodo

Three minutes from the trip: reefs, a hawksbill turtle, manta rays, a whitetip reef shark, a Spanish dancer and a flame scallop.

Turtles and bigger animals

Turtles turned up again and again, resting on the reef or cruising past without a care. Mantas come to Komodo’s cleaning stations, and the video above has them up close. Along the way we passed stingrays on the sand, sweetlips in the coral and a giant moray watching from its hole.

Sea turtle swimming over the reef in Komodo National Park — On the move. A sea turtle cruising over the reef.

Sea turtle resting on coral in Komodo National Park — Resting. Turtles turned up again and again.

Stingray on the sand in Komodo National Park — Stingray. Settled on the sand.

Oriental sweetlips over plate coral in Komodo National Park — Sweetlips. Striped and spotted.

Giant moray eel looking out from the reef, Komodo National Park — Giant moray. Watching from its hole.

Coral reef and fish in blue water, Komodo National Park — The reef. Komodo’s currents feed reefs like this.

Night and small things

After dark, Komodo’s sandy slopes come alive. On the night dives we found a peacock mantis shrimp, an octopus spread out on the sand, a lionfish hunting in the torch light and a crab picking its way across the bottom. By day, nudibranchs in electric colors were everywhere once you started looking.

Peacock mantis shrimp on the reef at night, Komodo National Park — Peacock mantis shrimp. One of the most colorful animals on the reef.

Octopus spread out on the sand at night, Komodo National Park — Octopus. Out hunting on the sand.

Lionfish on the sand during a night dive, Komodo National Park — Lionfish. Hunting in the torch light.

Red crab walking on the sand during a night dive, Komodo National Park — Night crab. Picking its way across the bottom.

Blue and yellow nudibranch on the reef, Komodo National Park — Nudibranch. Small, slow and very bright.

Striped nudibranch among orange tunicates, Komodo National Park — Another nudibranch. Among the tunicates.

Reef color

Between the current dives, the reefs were a riot of color: anemones with their clownfish, giant clams wedged into the coral and soft corals in every shade.

Clownfish in a green anemone, Komodo National Park — Clownfish. At home in its anemone.

Giant clam with a blue and gold mantle, Komodo National Park — Giant clam. Wedged into the reef.

Anemonefish in a red anemone in deep blue water, Komodo National Park — Anemonefish. Deeper on the reef.

Between dives: the dragons

You cannot go to Komodo and skip the dragons. On the morning of 10 October we went ashore at Loh Liang on Komodo Island and walked with park rangers among the largest lizards on earth. The full story is on the travel site.

Darrell Seale with a Komodo dragon at Loh Liang, Komodo Island — Loh Liang. With a dragon on Komodo Island.

Close-up of a Komodo dragon's head on Komodo Island — Up close. The world’s largest living lizard.

Traditional wooden phinisi anchored off Labuan Bajo, Flores — The boat. A traditional phinisi out of Labuan Bajo.

On land: Komodo dragons at Loh Liang →

Good to know

WhereKomodo National Park, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
GatewayLabuan Bajo, Flores (Komodo Airport)
StyleCurrent-swept reefs, slow sand dives and night dives
Who it suitsDivers comfortable in current; Advanced Open Water recommended
My tripPhinisi from Labuan Bajo, October 2022

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