Snorkeling in Komodo National Park
Komodo National Park is famous for housing the world’s only population of Komodo dragons. The Komodo dragons—deadly lizards famed for being the largest reptiles on Earth—are the park’s premier tourist draw. And rightly so. They are terrifying and utterly fascinating.
Yet tourists who visit Komodo National Park and limit their experience to animal encounters above water, are missing out on one of the world’s greatest underwater wonderlands.
The coral reefs around Komodo National Park are spectacular. In all my travels, I’ve rarely come across such a remarkable array of colorful coral and fish.
KOMODO NATIONAL PARK SNORKELING TOUR
I traveled to Komodo National Park with Dan and our friend Courtney, as part of a three-week trip to Indonesia. After a relaxing few days on Gili Air, we were excited to experience the wild side of Indonesia. We wanted the thrill of visiting an area of the county that—though still familiar with tourists—is relatively off-the-beaten-path.
We booked our tour of Komodo National Park from a small agency in downtown Labuan Bajo. Labuan Bajo’s main street is littered with small tour offices advertising tours to see the Komodo dragons and scuba diving trips to the nearby coral reef.
The diving in Komodo National Park is world-class. Yet, since both Dan and I had yet to get our scuba certification, we decided to book a two day tour to Komodo National Park that included both hiking with the Komodo dragons and snorkeling at Manta Point.
The tour cost us around $40 per person, including meals and excluding entrance fees.
PINK SAND BEACH IN KOMODO NATIONAL PARK
On the second day of our tour, following our encounter with Komodo dragons, we explored some of Indonesia’s most pristine coral reef. The first stop on our tour itinerary was the beautiful Pink Beach. The beach gets its rosy hue from the finely-crushed red coral that has washed ashore and mixed with the white sand. It is not the only beach in the area that is famous for its pinkish tinge, but it is certainly the most visited on boat tours around Komodo.
In all honesty, I do not remember much about the beach for, after forcing myself into the water and swimming feebly to the shore, I ran to the shade, planted my face in the sand and vomited.
Had I not been so preoccupied dealing with seasickness from the boat ride, I would have likely marveled at the sand’s rosy hue and at the surrounding cobalt water.
The wild and rugged scenery around Komodo National Park is truly spectacular. Sapphire waters contrast sharply with the pristine beaches and sparkle under the equatorial sun. Beyond the beaches, the islands’ sinuous mountain ridges look otherworldly and prehistoric.
SNORKELING AT MANTA POINT
From the pink-sand beach, we headed to Manta Point–the first of two snorkeling locations on our tour.
Luckily, I began to feel better as the day progressed and, while I couldn’t quite shake off the feeling of queasiness or lightheadedness, I am grateful that I was able to enjoy a day of snorkeling in Indonesia’s underwater paradise regardless.
Seeing animals in the wild is never a guarantee, so we counted ourselves incredibly lucky to have seen more than ten manta rays gliding gracefully through the waters during our visit to Manta Point.
Watching the giant rays drift below us was magical and surreal. I’d seen stingrays in Cape Aghulas and Moorea before, but this was my first time seeing mantas. The sheer size of the animals took me by surprise. With wingspans that reach over twenty feet, these giant cartilaginous fish can weigh almost 3,000 pounds.
I wish my grainy photographs could do justice to the experience.
The marine life at Manta Point isn’t limited to manta rays, however. Though we were a long ways up from the ocean floor, we saw a variety of fish darting between the underwater gardens and even spotted a giant sea turtle that lay camouflaged under an outcrop of sponge-like coral.
SNORKELING AT KANAWAH ISLAND, INDONESIA
After about an hour and a half of snorkeling at Manta Point, our boat tour continued toward Kanawa Island.
Kanawa Island’s vibrant coral gardens took me by surprise. I wan’t prepared for the vivid colors of the reef, the plethora of fish or the glassy clarity of the water. The tapestry of colorful coral on the ocean floor was as exotic as that which I had seen in Palau and French Polynesia.
As we explored the offshore reef, we admired the starfish that littered the ocean floor and pointed out the purples, blues and yellows of the coral.
The snorkeling in Komodo National Park left us awestruck.
Even Courtney–who despite having snorkeled and scuba dived her way around much of Southeast Asia for the preceding months–emerged from the waters stating that Kanawa Island had the most exquisite reef she had ever seen.
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Our two-day boat trip from Labuan Bajo, capped off an incredible three weeks of visiting temples, lounging on beaches, hiking volcanoes and admiring wildlife. Not even my upset stomach could get in the way of the sense of elation I felt while Snorkeling in Komodo national park.
And so Dan and I left Indonesia satisfied with our experiences, yet wishing we had longer to visit the country’s natural and historical attractions.
Next time I visit Indonesia, I’ll pick up where I left off and head East–across the large island of Flores and toward Sulawesi, Raja Ampat and Irian Jaya.
And I know I’ll be back, because in this culturally and geographically diverse archipelago nation, there are over 17,000 islands that I have yet to explore.
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