Komodo Diving Information

Komodo Diving

Dragons On Land, Paradise Underwater

Komodo Island and national park reserve offers just about every type of tropical diving imaginable - from calm and colourful shallow reefs alive with hundreds of colourful reef fishes and crammed with invertebrates, to current-swept deep water sea mounts, walls and pinnacles patrolled by sharks, tuna and other big fish.

The variety of marine life for scuba diving in Komodo rivals the world's best dive destinations. This is the world's epicentre for marine diversity and you'll see loads of stuff here on a diving cruise that you just won't see anywhere else in the world - From whale sharks, sunfish, mantas and eagle rays to pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, clown frogfish, nudibranchs and blue-ringed octopus - all at home amongst a spectacular range of colourful sponges, sea squirts, tunicates and corals - a macro enthusiast's heaven.

Geologically, Komodo 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 300m. The many islands and relatively shallow seas between Flores and Komodo's west coast mean very fast currents at tidal changes. There are deep seas both north and south and upwellings bring nutrients and plankton to keep the seas rich and well-fed.

Unlike other parts of Indonesia, the reefs around the south of the islands have suffered relatively little damage from dynamite fishing. Much of the area now lies within the protection of the national park. The shallow reefs between Flores and the northern region however, were bombed in the past but are now recovering their former splendour. The affected area covers around 15% of the archipelago, and even here steep drop-offs and current-swept points offer excellent Komodo diving.

The island is also famous for its Komodo dragon monitor lizard, the largest lizards in the world. An alert and agile predator and scavenger that can reach 2.5m 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.

• Komodo tourist information

• Komodo National Park

• View map of Komodo

The Diving Season

You can go liveaboard diving Komodo all year round. The liveaboards here do not close for an off-season because every month of the year promises top quality action. Overall, the absolute best visibility is from November to January.

January to March can have rough surface conditions at the northern dive sites. July and August can have rough seas in the south and Rinca.

Diving Komodo - Reef Basics

Great for: Large animals, small animals, wall dives, underwater photography, drift diving, reef life and health and advanced divers
Not so great for: Wrecks and beginner divers
Depth: 5 - >40m
Visibility: 5 - 30m
Currents: Can be very strong - up to 8 knots
Surface Conditions: Can be rough
Water Temperature: 20 - 28°C
Experience Level: Intermediate - advanced
Number of dive sites: ~25
Distance: ~490 km east of Bali (24 hours)
Access: Liveaboard cruises from Bali
Recommended length of stay: 6 - 11 days

Dive Sites

More detailed information on the Komodo dive sites:

  • Cannibal Rock • End Of The World
  • Gili Lawa • GPS Point
  • Pillarsteen • Red Beach
  • Tatawa Island • White Angels
  • Yellow Wall Of Texas

Dive The World Recommendations: GPS Point, Cannibal Rock and Pillarsteen.

Other sites that can be visited as part of a Komodo liveaboard cruise:

  • Alor • Banda Islands
  • Flores • Sumbawa