Komodo Tours Travel News Komodo Liveaboard Diving

Komodo Liveaboard Diving

Post By : BCK • September 01, 2019 • views : 1,320



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Boat Charter Komodo to offer the most popular Komodo Liveaboard Packages with attractive choice of tour arrangements. These tour packages are perfectly designed with comprehensive ranges of tourist activities, sailing boat, attractions and flight. Therefore, we are pleased to offer the following Komodo Liveaboard Packages at your convenience choices.

KOMODO DIVE SITE
CENTRAL SITE
The central sites are reachable by our day boats and we often dive here with our liveaboard too. The variety of types of sites here in the upper half of the park is incredible and there are sites suitable for both beginners and experienced divers.

  • Tatawa Besar (central)
    Starting at the northern tip of Tatawa there is a magic drift dive down both the eastern and western sides of the island during a falling tide. The reef is best between 8 to 20 meters depth. There is good reef fish life, including giant trevally, schools of fusiliers, angel fish and lots of sweet lips. Reef sharks and Hawksbill turtles resides here and we usually see several on a dive. There are endless fields of hard corals and orange soft corals, among which you can find crocodile fish and octopus. Mantas are sometimes seem in this area also. Normally it is an easy drift dive but can become quite fast on a strong falling tide, but don’t worry, enjoy the ride, as we will end the dive in an area protected by the main current. Here we will normally have a 5-10 minute stay in the shallows looking for mandarin fish and other critters.

  • Tatawa Kecil (central)
    Tatawa Kecil is probably the anthias (small colorful fish) capitol of the world! Its best to dive the western side of the island which has great topography including big boulders and caverns with sea fans. Here we find large schools of snappers, sweetlips and jacks. There are also large groupers, sharks, often mantas on the south side and Dugongs has been spotted on several occasions. The shallow coral gardens are healthy and beautiful, a great place to spend your safety stop. This site has wild currents around new and full moon strong and may not even be suitable for experienced divers in these periods.

  • Batu Bolong (Central)
    Batu Bolong is a tiny rock island in the strait between Tatawa and Komodo islands. This is the most famous dive site in Komodo National Park, and we dare to say it is one of the best in the world. The usual dive plan is to jump in on the side protected from the current, descend along the steep slope covered in hard corals and surrounded by a cloud of small fish. We then spend the dive zigzagging between the current lines whilst seeing more marine life than we can possibly point at; including white tip reef shark, large turtles, giant trevally, enormous sweetlips, napoleon wrasse and much more. Batu Bolong is not always suitable for inexperienced divers as even the “protected” area has some shifting currents coming if the current is very strong. Good buoyancy is vital on this dive site and we always remind divers to stay close to the reef and behind the dive guide

  • Karang Makassar / Manta Point (Central)
    Famous for its aggregations of up to 100 manta rays! Makassar is a long gentle drift dive. Although the bottom composition is mainly coral rubble, it is dotted with beautiful coral gardens full of life. Mantas, and other large fish, can be found hanging out at these “cleaning stations” getting a cleaning service from the small fish living there. Certain times of the year manta mating trains are frequent and sometimes we see the mantas feeding on their prey of choice; zooplankton. Other common marine life includes bamboo sharks, marble rays, eagle rays, bumphead parrot fish and unicorn fish. A dive not to be missed.

  • Mawan (Central)
    Mawan is a smallish island with a fringing reef and a white sandy slope. We frequently encounter reef mantas here at the cleaning station but they are often also encountered swimming back and forth along the reef. White tip reef sharks, bamboo sharks large cuttle fish and a three legged Hawksbill turtle are often seen here too. The site is often suitable for beginners as an easier dive plan can be adopted whilst the more experienced can sometimes enjoy a good drift. Close to full moon and new moon this site can however be too tricky for beginners due to strong currents. Be extra careful to stay close to the reef and follow your dive guide when the currents are strong. Snorkelers has a large shallow reef to explore and can easily see mantas from the surface too.

  • Siaba Besar (Central)
    Located inside a calm bay you can find this dive site with a huge hard coral reef which is home to many green turtles (really a lot!), sting rays, sweet lips and starry pufferfish. The sheltered location means that the reef is also a nursing ground and you can find many juvenile species, look our for baby bumphead parrot fish and Napoleon wrasse. We usually spend half the dive time in the sand though because it is an amazing macro dive with various species of frogfish, flamboyant cuttle fish, ghost pipe fish and nudibranchs. Dugongs do visit this site sometimes so don’t forget to keep an eye on your surroundings. This is a great snorkeling spot and exciting night dive during our liveaboard trips.

  • Siaba Kecil (central)
    Siaba Kecil offers one of the best drift dives in the park. This dive can be done on a falling (reef right) or rising tide (reef left). When the current is strong a fast decent is crucial, then follow the reef edge at about 8 and 20 meters. The reef face is filled with small caverns harboring Gorgonian fans, angel fish and sweetlips. Giant Trevally, balck and white tip reef sharks and sometimes Napoleon wrasse cruises past in the blue. At the end of the dive we swim into a protected coral garden area, the coral garden in the north is healthy with schools of fish and good chance of turtle and shark. The southern safety stop area is great for macro, turtles and giant moray eels, look out for manarin fish! Beginner divers can dive here if current is mild or dive on the protected side.

  • Pengah Kecil (central)
    This is perhaps one of the most under-rated sites in the park but this small island is the top of a deep pinnacle and can be as spectacular as other famous sites such as Tatawa Kecil and Batu Bolong. Rich hard and soft coral cover almost every inch of the pinnacle and on the west side a large coral garden sits at 8-14m depth where baby reef sharks can be found under the large table corals. The site is fantastic for schools of long nosed emperors, floaty red-tooth trigger fish, large turtles, angel fish and scorpion fish just to name a few. Sharks patrol in the depths and jacks play on the edges of the currents. Small critter include whip coral shrimp and various nembrotha nudibranchs. At strong current this site may not be suitable for beginners but this is one of our favorite dives when the conditions are right.

  • Waenilu (Central)
    A small island with a gentle sloping reef full of a multitude of macro life. Look out for frog fish, ribbon eel, zebra crabs in fire urchins, cow fish, flying gurnard, various scorpion fish, strange and wonderful nudibranchs and many different camouflaged crabs and shrimp. The visibility is typically only 5-10m but can clear up to 25m at times. This site can be dived whilst other guests are dragon trekking on Rinca island. Great for night dives too.

  • Batu Tiga (Central)
    Batu Tiga is without a doubt one of the most current affected sites in Komodo. Situated southeast of Tanjung Kuning in Linta strait. Batu Tiga is an excellent big fish dive when you can get on it. Best place to enter is at the northwestern side of the three rocks. A rocky reef extends below the surface out towards Komodo island. Down in the deeper water to the west and  below the reef, the big boulders offer excellent habitat for groupers and other creatures. Mantas, giant trevally and other pelagics are frequently seen here. Most of the coral growth is stunted as a result of the strong currents that prevail.

NORTH SITES
The north sites are reachable by our day boats and our liveaboard. For experienced divers looking for adrenaline dives the North is a must. It has typically strong currents, clear water, interesting dive plans and a lot of big stuff. We can only take beginners here at quarter moon phase when the currents are less.

  • Castle Rock (Komodo island north).
    This site is a large sea mound with its highest point a few metres under the surface. It is prone to strong currents and usually has excellent visibility. The current flows east at falling tide and west during rising tide; offering 2 different experiences. We usually enter the water 50-100m up-current, a quick descent is crucial if the current is strong. During the descent into the blue we are surrounded by schools of fusiliers and curious bat fish, and as we approach the reef look out for large reef sharks, giant trevally and Napoleon wrasse. We hang out in the current split for most of the dive as this is where all the action happen! Look out for large grey reef sharks in the deep (25-35m), schooling barracuda, jacks and mackerels. In approximately 20 meters of water there is excellent soft corals growth and numerous fans that are host to pigmy seahorses. Toward the end of the dive we drift along the site and into the protected area. During safety stop behind the highest point, don’t forget to look into the Pocillopora (small branching corals) for a multitude of different crap species. We can take beginners to this dive site when the current is mild

  • Crystal Rock / Crystal Bommie (Komodo island north)
    The top of Crystal Rock just reaches the surface. This site also experiences very clear water, hence the name “Crystal Rock” and is prone to strong currents. A very colorful dive with excellent hard and soft coral coverage. The west side has a seamount with shallowest part at 14m, it is full of soft corals and good chance of reef sharks and eagle ray. Thousands of anthias and schools of yellow-ribbon sweetlips are always encountered whilst tuna and mackerel frequently buzz this site. This is an excellent dive and usually worth doing twice. The dive plan is same as for Castle Rock, however less experienced groups can jump in on the protected side for a more slow paced dive.

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