KOMODO
Komodo Island and it's national park reserve offers both live aboard and Land base diving operation about every type of tropical scuba diving imaginable - from warm, calm and colourful shallow reefs alive with hundreds of colourful reef fishes and crammed with invertebrates, to current-swept deep cool water sea mounts, walls and pinnacles patrolled by sharks, tuna and other big fish.
The variety of marine life that you can see in Komodo rivals the world's best dive destinations. This is close to the world's epicentre for marine diversity and you'll see loads of stuff here on a liveaboard diving cruise that you just won't see anywhere else in the world.
From Sun fish or Mola - mola, mantas, dolphins and eagle rays to pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipe fish, clown frogfish, Frogfish, nudibranchs and blue-ringed octopus, all are at home amongst a spectacular range of colourful sponges, sea squirts, tunicates and corals; Komodo is one of the macro heaven
Geologically, Komodo Island and Rinca are part of Flores, separated from Sumbawa to the west by the Sape Strait. In the middle of the strait, the bottom drops to almost 300 metres. The many islands and relatively shallow seas between Flores and Komodo's west coast mean very fast currents at tidal changes, especially when the higher tidal waters of the Pacific Ocean in the north flow through into the Indian Ocean to the south. The upwellings from the deep surrounding seas bring nutrients and plankton to keep these waters rich and well-fed, which makes perfect conditions for some spectacular scuba diving.
Komodo Island is also famous for its Komodo Dragon monitor lizard, the largest lizard in the world. An alert and agile predator and scavenger that can reach 2.5 metres in length and 125 kg, they are known locally as 'Ora' and now about 1,100 inhabit the island and about half that live on nearby Rinca Island.
Diving is good year-round. Because of strong currents and upwelling the water can be cold. We suggest a 5mm suit and hood.
Diving in the NORTH: Best period is during the southeast monsoon, from late March to early May and late September to early November. Currents are often encountered during this time. Water temperature: 24 – 29 C. Visibility: 20 – 25 m.
Diving in the SOUTH: Best period is during the northwest monsoon, mid November to early March. Water temperature: 21 – 27 C. Visibility: 10 – 15 m.
The variety of marine life that you can see in Komodo rivals the world's best dive destinations. This is close to the world's epicentre for marine diversity and you'll see loads of stuff here on a liveaboard diving cruise that you just won't see anywhere else in the world.
From Sun fish or Mola - mola, mantas, dolphins and eagle rays to pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipe fish, clown frogfish, Frogfish, nudibranchs and blue-ringed octopus, all are at home amongst a spectacular range of colourful sponges, sea squirts, tunicates and corals; Komodo is one of the macro heaven
Geologically, Komodo Island and Rinca are part of Flores, separated from Sumbawa to the west by the Sape Strait. In the middle of the strait, the bottom drops to almost 300 metres. The many islands and relatively shallow seas between Flores and Komodo's west coast mean very fast currents at tidal changes, especially when the higher tidal waters of the Pacific Ocean in the north flow through into the Indian Ocean to the south. The upwellings from the deep surrounding seas bring nutrients and plankton to keep these waters rich and well-fed, which makes perfect conditions for some spectacular scuba diving.
Komodo Island is also famous for its Komodo Dragon monitor lizard, the largest lizard in the world. An alert and agile predator and scavenger that can reach 2.5 metres in length and 125 kg, they are known locally as 'Ora' and now about 1,100 inhabit the island and about half that live on nearby Rinca Island.
Diving is good year-round. Because of strong currents and upwelling the water can be cold. We suggest a 5mm suit and hood.
Diving in the NORTH: Best period is during the southeast monsoon, from late March to early May and late September to early November. Currents are often encountered during this time. Water temperature: 24 – 29 C. Visibility: 20 – 25 m.
Diving in the SOUTH: Best period is during the northwest monsoon, mid November to early March. Water temperature: 21 – 27 C. Visibility: 10 – 15 m.