The main reason we signed up for this scuba diving trip traveling 450 miles on a dive boat from Bali to Komodo was the chance to see Komodo dragons in the wild. The second reason was the opportunity to dive in a remote area of Indonesia with some of the most pristine and diverse coral reefs on the planet. We had such fond memories of diving around Raja Ampat in northeastern Indonesia in 2016, and we anticipated that this trip would offer similar highlights.
Our first four days of diving had been terrific as we (see our previous blog post) headed east from Bali and stopped along the way to dive near some lightly-inhabited islands. But on Day 5 of the boat trip, we finally entered Komodo National Park and began to encounter twice as many marine species as we had seen in the previous locations–tropical fish, sharks, nudibranchs (sea slugs), seahorses, manta rays, a huge variety of coral species, and so much more. What a feast for the eyes, and what a privilege to swim with these glorious creatures that so few people on earth get to see (except maybe on a screen or in an aquarium).
Diving Day 5 – Day 1 in Komodo – Crystal Rock, Castle Rock, and a muck dive at Wainilu, close to where we would visit Komodo dragons the next day. Favorites at the two coral reefs included: clown triggerfish, a common egg cowrie (a new sighting for us) diagonal-banded sweetlips, spadefish, a nursery for whitetip reef sharks, titan triggerfish, Emperor angelfish, butterflyfish, striped surgeonfish, a moray eel, and palette surgeonfish (Dory!!!!). (All of our underwater shots on the blog are actually stills taken from the GoPro video footage that Hank and I both shot underwater.)
And the muck dive at Wainilu gave us: SEAHORSES, blue-ringed octopus, a fingerprint toby, and a bunch of really weird creatures, such as a tiger mantis shrimp buried in its hole in the sand.
Before diving on Day 6, we headed onto land on the north side of Rinca Island, entering the land portion of Komodo National Park, founded in 1980 to protect these endangered reptiles and the marine species in the waters around these remote islands. Rangers guided us as we got up close and personal with several wild Komodo dragons. These giant monitor lizards live off the long-tailed macaques, deer, water buffalo, and wild boar that inhabit this particular island. Komodo dragons can eat up to 80% of their body weight at one time, and then may not eat again for a whole month. I guess it takes a while to digest a goat!
Komodo dragons are ambush predators who can run up to 12 mph, so the rangers did not allow us to walk anywhere on our own. But the rangers carried large forked sticks with which they could prod the Komodo dragons who got too close to people. We walked around a loop that included viewing a nesting site with the female Komodo dragon getting ready to lay her eggs.
What a treat to walk near the largest living species of lizards on the planet. Komodo National Park is made up of three larger islands and a couple dozen small islands, and this is the only region on Earth where Komodo dragons live in the wild. Scientists estimate that there are about 3,000 of these giant lizards living in the wild.
After returning to our ship, the Seahorse, we did two dives on Day 6 near two islands-Siaba and Pengah–in the Central Komodo region on two coral reefs that had an incredible abundance of sea life. We saw species we have rarely seen other than our last Indonesia diving in 2016, such as Oriental sweetlips, ribbon sweetlips, black-backed butterflyfish, and certain angelfish, plus favorites like turtles and both blacktip and whitetip reef sharks. New sightings included the zebra urchin crab, well-positioned on a fire urchin, and a tiger cowrie.
Day 7: Early in the morning our ship made its way to the south end of Komodo to a dive site called Manta Alley for three amazing dives with three kinds of manta rays—oceanic, black, and reef manta rays. These were the best dives we’ve ever had with manta rays—lots of them getting relatively close to us. What a blast! This water was colder than our other dives because the currents come north from the Indian Ocean. We put on extra layers–and we were fine. It was still nowhere near as cold as diving in Southern California.
In the air we spotted a fish eagle (or white-bellied sea eagle) who was definitely hunting for food as it flew over our boat.
Day 8: Our last full day in Komodo National Park included two dives near the southern end of Rinca Island, Cannibal Rock and Yellow Wall. These dives were on beautiful coral reefs, and though the visibility wasn’t the best (because of those Indian Ocean currents), we still got to see an amazing variety of fish and sea creatures, including lots of nudibranchs, several frogfish, including a warty frogfish, and some stunning coral, both hard and soft.
Between dives, we took the speedboats over to the southern end of Rinca Island to see if any Komodo dragons were on the beach. These Komodo dragons are not in a reserve with rangers making sure we all stayed safe. So, we stayed on the boat and watched two Komodo dragons interact on the beach, with one chasing the other away at one point. Since Komodo dragons are strong swimmers, our boat captains were alert for any signs that they might lunge into the water toward the boats, but that didn’t happen.
For our third dive on this 8th day of diving, we headed north to a popular dive site called Secret Garden-Padar. More nudibranchs and frogfish greeted us on this dive.
In the late afternoon we hopped back into the speedboats, this time with shoes on, and were whisked away to a landing site on Padar Island, where we climbed a very steep hill for a beautiful view of the bay and the surrounding islands. It was very hot, so we didn’t make it all the way to the top, but the views were still gorgeous.
Day 9–our last day of diving. Only two dives on this day because we had to allow 24 hours between our last dive and our flight back to Bali the next day. We returned to North Komodo and did repeat dives at two previous dive sites. Crystal Rock ended up having such strong current that it was a very short dive for me (I ran through my air very quickly and took almost no video). But our last dive at Castle Rock was much more peaceful and gave us lots of angelfish, butterflyfish, puffers, whitetip reef sharks, sweetlips, wrasse, surgeonfish, rabbitfish, morays, and more. A perfect way to end our diving in south-central Indonesia.
While the Seahorse made its way to the only big port in the area at Labuan Bajo (on the island of Flores), we relaxed, packed, and reviewed our video footage. That night the crew set up an amazing barbecue on a nearby beach, serenaded us with Indonesian and American pop songs, and joined us to watch the highlights and photo-award winners from the nine days of diving. While only a few guests did all 31 dives, Hank and I were proud that we dived 26 (Hank) and 25 (Cindy) dives each, averaging almost 3 dives per day over the 9 days of diving.
The boat crew served us once again by transporting us and all our luggage to the airport, where we flew back to Bali. Hank and I spent one more night on Bali, at a pretty hotel near the beach in Sanur, and then began the long journey home, where we were greeted by our very-verbal kitty Leilani. Yes, it was a long trip, but totally worth it–we saw some incredible sights, and a number of creatures we will probably never see again. Priceless!
Next post will feature our Komodo highlights video, or you can click below to watch it now.
My goodness. What an amazing trip! You certainly are adventurers, and it’s so special that you can do this together.
I thank God it was Cindy’s idea to get dive certified. We have pieced together so many trips of a lifetime. Very thankful.
The experiences and photos you were able to partake in, is absolutely one of your best trips! (from a totally outsiders view) The images are stunning, for sure – my favorite had to be the blue ringed octopus. But that is a very difficult choice for me, each image, so interesting and unique. The whole trip, so great – except the long flights. I am so glad you brought us all along for the ride, and made it home safely!!! Welcome back BTW
My favorite was swimming with those mantras. Wow. Did you see the one without a tail? Very easy to spot if you’re looking for it.
Wow…your trips continue to amaze me. I especially love the video, what a treat! How do you remember all the names of the critters?! Surely the trip is worth all the effort it takes and I am happy that you take us along for the ride!
Love,
Phyllis Brown
Phyllis, you should see the books Cindy has to look up all those critters! A lot of time we don’t even know what we’re filming until we get home and look very closely and zoomed in on the video!
As always, it’s so wonderful to feel like we’re right there with you! …’Wonderful photos and descriptions! Thank you for sharing it all with us!
Not enough words to adequately describe the beautiful photos & videos you share!! What a blessing that you two can experience this amazing underwater & remote world and then share it so beautifully with us!!👏👏 Thank you!!
Always amazing always interesting!
You two are, by now, a couple of ‘salts’. Blessings on you!