Three
Sisters/ Tiga Dara
A pristine reef with excellent
coral coverage and rich fish life.
Located
north of Pillaarsteen, there are three very large
submerged rocks about 10m apart and within easy swimming
distance of each other. The rocks run in a line about
100 meters east of a small reef that juts out on the
eastern side of the island. The rocks sit on a sandy
bottom in about 20-25 m of water and rise to 3-5m from
the surface of the water. The site can be hard to find
as its not marked on any charts and the rocks lay just
below the surface. This site is current-prone but can be
dived almost any time if you are willing to swim. For
the adventurous there is actually a fourth sister
located further to the west that starts in about 20m of
water and then drops down to 40m with some impressive
seafans and good marine life around it.
Pillaarsteen
Very interesting reefscape. Large schools of fusiliers
can be found here along the reef slope, which is covered
in an interesting variety of soft corals. Sharks and the
odd turtle are often encountered.
Pillaarsteen is a rock pinnacle located on the shore of
a small island east of Padar Besar. Best diving entry is
just off the point below the rock where there is a nice
wall. Continue swimming to the west towards interesting
caves and swim-throughs at different depths. Diving is
particularly good at around 30-40m depth. This site is a
good choice when other sites have too much current. This
area may be effected by surge when there are swells from
the southwest.
Indihiang
Many big fish and good coral
diversity can be seen when drift-diving along the steep
walls. Top attractions include potato cod, large
Napoleon wrasse and schools of giant trevallies and
snappers.
This
small island with steeply dropping walls is close to Loh
Liang and an ideal location for divers starting from
Komodo Island. This dive has to be planned around slack
tide to avoid excessive currents. The best time to dive
here is at the end of falling tide when the current has
slowed down and allows an easy north to south drift dive
along the eastern wall.
Loh
Namu
An excellent site for groupers and
Napoleon wrasse. Most of the fish on this reef are found
near the southern corner where some large boulders
spread out over the drop-off. A few caves also offer
hiding places for interesting marine life. Some of the
largest coral trout schools seen in the Park are here
along with malabar groupers and huge Napoleon wrasse,
which may aggregate here to spawn. You may also find a
giant T. gigas clam at 8 meters depth.
Dive
around the point of Loh Namu peninsula from south to
north at a depth of about 28 m, and always just before
high tide.
Pantai
Merah/ Pink Beach
There as a great variety of fishes
here and also a good selection of critters such as leaf
scorpionfish, blue ribbon eels, crocodile fish,
nudibranchs, and more. Visibility varies but is best
during falling tide.
This is
the most frequently visited site in the Park for
snorkeling and diving. Snorkeling is excellent from the
beach and there is a very good dive around a small area
of reef around a steep rocky wall which is visible from
the surface of the water at low tide. This site is also
a very good night dive and offers excellent
macro-photography opportunities. Several mooring buoys
are stationed at this site.
Batu
Tiga
An excellent “big fish” dive.
Large boulders in deeper water to the west offer
excellent habitat for grouper and other creatures.
Mantas, giant trevally and other pelagic fishes are
frequently seen here. Most of the coral growth is
stunted as a result of the strong prevailing currents.
Batu Tiga
is without a doubt one of the most current-effected
sites in Komodo and is tricky to dive. A rocky reef is
situated southeast of Tanjung Kuning in Linta Strait and
extends below the surface up towards Komodo Island. The
best diving entry is at the northeastern side of the
three rocks. Swim counter-clockwise until reaching some
big boulders at 33 m depth. After exploring the area
around these boulders turn around and swim back, keeping
the reef to your right.
Karang
Makasar
This site is for snorkling only,
please don’t dive here as it will disturb the manta
rays. The reef does not have much in the way of coral or
fish life however this location is manta ray aggregation
site. The best way to find the mantas is to cruise along
the eastern face of the reef until you see them on the
surface. The best time is during rising tide. Sometimes
there can be between 40 to 50 mantas.
Batu
Bolong
The top of the reef is covered in
colorful corals, invertebrate life and thousands of
brilliant reef fish. Along the steep walls in deeper
water many large fishes including sharks, napoleon
wrasse, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, and large schools
of rainbow runners can be observed on almost every
occasion.
Batu
Bolong is a tiny rocky outcropping in the strait between
Tatawa Kecil and Komodo Island. The reef is undamaged
due to strong currents and steep dropoffs, which are
difficult conditions for local fishermen to use dynamite
or cyanide fishing techniques. This site is one of the
top diving locations in the Park but it can only be
dived around slack tide when the current is not too
strong.
Tatawa
Kecil
Rocks, caves and beautiful coral
gardens grace the reef on the western side of the islet.
Many coral reef fishes including large groupers,
snappers, sweetlips, trevally and sharks can be seen.
Amazing numbers of anthias swim amongst colorful fields
of branching corals. Dugongs have been spotted here and
manta rays are often seen on the southern side of the
island.
This
small rocky islet southwest of Tatawa Besar Island is an
egret nesting site and a fantastic snorkel and dive site
when the current is not too fast. Large or inexperienced
groups should only attempt this site around slack tide.
Tatawa
Besar
Good reef fish life and an endless
field of orange soft corals. Mantas are often seen in
this area.
A good
drift dive starts at the northwest tip of the island and
runs along the western side in about 15- 20 m of water.
A similar drift dive is also possible along the north
coast of the Tatawa Besar from the same entry point.
This site is a good dive option if the current is too
strong at Tatawa Kecil or Batu Bolong.
Sabolan Kecil
This is another good site within
easy reach of Labuanbajo. On the west side of the island
there is a small white sandy beach. At the northern most
point of the beach where the sand meets the rocks is the
best point to enter. The reef slopes down to sand and
there is a patch reef isolated from the islands fringing
reef . The Water clarity is usually good and so is the
dive. Once you have seen the patch reef you can return
to the fringing reef slope to finish your dive.
Mini
Wall
The whole north face of this
island is good diving. There are garden eels on the
sandy slopes, and shrimp gobies and sweetlips are
common. Occasionally, mandarin fish have been spotted in
shallow water. This site also features beautiful coral
gardens with a high abundance of both hard and soft
corals.
This dive
is an excellent refresher/check-out dive or just a nice
easy dive with good visibility, calm conditions and no
current. The diving entry point is marked by a long,
low, rocky point east of the beach, which is at the
center of the island’s northern coast. Enter just on the
eastern side of the point and swim counter-clockwise
around the point at 20-25 m depth . Once around the
point the reef slope will turn into a wall that drops to
about 35 m depth. The wall continues to a sandy slope in
front of the beach, which marks the end of the dive. A
second dive can begin at the sandy slope and continue
counter-clockwise across the front face of the beach to
where the reef turns north and juts out to another
point.
Sebayor Kecil
Large boulders shelter groups of
giant trevally, whitetip reef sharks, coral trout,
snappers and emperors.
The
northwestern corner of Sebayor Kecil is one of the
better dive sites near Labuanbajo. A small reef extends
northwest from the island where it drops off to greater
depths along the northern coast of the island. A few
hundred meters from the shore there are some large
boulders with notable fish life. Currents can be quite
strong at this site.
Gililawa Laut
Always a great dive site to see
fish but does not have much to show in terms of hard
corals. Behind a very large rock on the corner of the
reef is a drop-off covered in boulders and many holes in
between with hidden animals. Excellent grouper
sightings, especially in October and November during
spawning aggregations. There are usually many golden
trevallies, snappers and sometimes huge napoleon
wrasses.
The site
is located on the northeastern tip of Gililawa Laut. The
best time to dive this site is when there is a slight
current just before or after slack-tide.
Castle
Rock
Curious batfish as well as
schooling barracuda, trevally and mackerels swim at 30-
40m depth. At approximately 20m depth there is excellent
soft coral growth and numerous seafans that host pygmy
seahorses. The top of the rock is a good, calm place to
explore during safety stops.
This site
usually has excellent visibility but is prone to strong
currents. The current usually flows eastwards and is
much stronger at the surface than in the deeper water.
However, the top of the rock, which is approximately 3
to 4m deep, also offers shelter from the current; hence
the name “Castle Rock”.Recommended dive entry point is
in blue water approximately 50m up-current from the
shallowest point of the reef
dive sites :
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