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
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