Komodo National Park is most famous for the Komodo dragons, but as us scuba divers know, it is also one of the most highly rated scuba destinations due to its marine diversity, fresh coral, and fun / unpredictable currents. Continue reading below for travel tips and my experience diving in Komodo National Park in October, 2025.

Note: If you don’t have international data, I highly recommend downloading an e-sim before your trip! While many of the huts have wifi, it’s good to have service in case of emergencies or to ensure your map loads. I use Airalo for my e-sims, which is affordable and is easy to download. Make sure your phone is e-sim compatible!

How to get to Komodo

You will need to fly to get to Komodo National Park. The local airport (called Komodo International Airport), is located in Labuan Bajo in the northwest of the island of East Nusa Tenggara.

8 direct flights from Bali daily on airlines like Lion Air / Batik / Wings Air and Indonesia AirAsia, and will cost ~$60 one-way. You can sometimes find deals around $45 one-way. The airport is recently an international airport with flights to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. You can also fly direct from Jakarta or Lombok. I recommend searching for options using Omio:

From Labuan Bajo, you will need to sign up for a day trip or tour with a local operator to visit the actual National Park. It takes ~2.5 hours one-way to get to the islands to see Komodo dragons.

Alternatively, if you have more time and are motorbiking across Indonesia, you can take a ferry from Bali or Lombok. This takes a really long time, so I don’t reocmmend it unless you have a reason to do it!

Best time to go to Komodo

While you can dive in Komodo National Park year round, the dry season (April to October) is best to see the North part of Komodo, while the wet season (November to March) is best for the South. I was there in October, and the conditions were absolutely wonderful (~27C water). I hear that both the north and south have incredible dive sites, so you can’t go wrong!

Is it worth spending extra time in Labuan Bajo?

No. There is not much to do in the main town besides get ready for your trip to Komodo National Park. There are some nice restaurants, but they are much more expensive than other areas in Indonesia as they are tailored for tourists. I would recommend flying in the night before your trip and leaving the day after the trip ends (accounting for 18-24 hour no-fly time, of course!)

How to pick a scuba operator

There are TONS of scuba operators in Komodo area. I highly recommend looking for a sustainable company that:

Hires local guides
Cares for the corals and environment (I saw an incident where a less-reputable dive boat dragged their anchor across coral, and it was devastating. My dive operators reported them to the National Park)
Has 4 people or less per dive master

I did a live aboard with Uber Scuba Komodo and could not recommend them more. They were extremely professional and the food / chef was absolutely amazing. They also do day trips if you don’t want to do a full live-aboard.

Live aboard vs Day Trips in Komodo

I highly recommend spending the money for a live aboard. While it is expensive, you will have the best experience and be able to dive at more remote dive spots. Plus, as I mentioned above, there is not a ton to do in Labuan Bajo, so may as well spend your time at sea!

The boat ride to the famous dive sites takes ~2.5-3 hours one-way, so if you decide to go with a day trip, be ready for long boat travel times!

For staying in Labuan Bajo - I stayed at Seaesta Hotel & Hostel in a 8-person hostel room and it was amazing. They had nightly live music or DJ, great kitchen, and a full gym, which is always a nice touch! I got a discount to stay there through Uber Scuba, so check your tour operator before booking a spot.

If you’re looking for some non-diving activities to book, check out these operators:

My live aboard itinerary

I did the 4 days / 3 nights live aboard, which included 11 dives, a visit to Pink Beach, trek with Komodo dragons, and hike to Padar Viewpoint. I thought this was enough time to see all the main sites in Komodo, but if I did it again, I would have loved to do 1 extra day of diving. Mainly because who knows when I would come back?

I do want to mention that Pink Beach is very overrated… did you know the reason the beach is pink is because the red coral in the area is dying and washing up on shore? It’s really sad when you think about it. Whatever pictures you see online shows enhanced images; the beach itself is actually a dull shade of pink. I don’t think it was worth visiting.

Dead red coral on the pink beach, which causes the “pink” color

The general itinerary was:

Day 1: Meet at the office at 9:30, depart for Komodo. 2 afternoon dives & 1 night dive, lunch and dinner included

Day 2: 3 dives (morning, late morning, and afternoon). Sunset hike up to Padar viewpoint

Day 3: Morning walk to see Komodo dragons at 7:30am (before everyone else arrived, which was another pro of doing the live aboard). After, we visited Pink Beach for 45 minutes before returning to the boat for 3 dives (late morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon)

Day 4: 2 morning dives finishing around 10am, and a 2.5 hour boat ride back to Labuan Bajo, arriving around 3pm. Breakfast and lunch included.

How much does it cost?

Komodo is not a cheap place to visit. The only way to reduce the costs I listed below is to do day trips instead of the live aboard or visit for a shorter period of time. Labuan Bajo has become a large tourist destination, so even hotel and food prices will be 2x + what you will find in other areas of Bali.

Flights (round trip from Bali): $120

2 nights in a hostel (before & after): $30

Liveaboard (including tip): $1,048 (~17.5M IDR)

Daily Komodo National Park fees: $78 (325k IDR / day for 4 days)

Food / taxi: ~$50

Total cost for 5 nights: $1,326

My top dive sites

I should preface that every single dive site was absolutely wonderful - the coral was really healthy and filled with marine life! My top experiences were mainly based on really unique dives and how many manta rays I saw.

1. The Cauldron: This unique and famous dive site in Komodo does not disappoint. It starts as a drift dive towards an inlet, where the current picks up significantly and you get whisked away (sling-shotted, if that’s a word) through a narrow chute. The dive group a day before saw a dugong at this site, and you have a chance to see pygmy seahorses before the slingshot. It was really fun and absolutely a must when you go to Komodo!

2. Mawan: We saw a ton of mantas at this dive site - it was my first manta sighting in Komodo and less predictable than manta point (as in they aren’t always around at Mawan), which made this site special for me.

3. Three Sisters: A really unique dive site that traverses around 3 pinnacles (or the sisters). I was lucky enough to see a giant frog fish that was ~30cm in length, and a large octopus. Such a treat!

4. Manta Point: The dive site itself is not particularly interesting as it is a wide open sandy plain, but it is a haven for manta rays and spotted eagle rays. I saw at least 8 manta rays and 1 spotted eagle ray. So awesome!

5. Batu Bolong: This is also a very popular dive site for people visiting Komodo. When I visited, they enacted a 20-minute reservation rule, so dive boats don’t all get in the water at the same time. It is a pinnacle style dive where you can start deep (about 25 meters) and zig zag your way up the rock. I saw nearly 10 turtles and many reef sharks.

6. Castle Rock: Similar to Batu Bolong, this site requires a reservation by your dive operator so is less crowded. This site had one of the most pristine reefs with moray eels and white tipped reef sharks.

7. Crystal Rock: Another pinnacle dive similar to Castle Rock (and close-by), you can see many sharks, moray eels, and schools of fish.

8. Secret Garden: This area has a lot of great macro finds, including nudibranches, lobsters, small crabs, and eels. Unfortunately I did not have great visibility on this dive.

9. West Cauldron: Located next to dive #1 (The Cauldron), this dive site traverses across a sandy path up to a reef. Saw turtles and spotted sting rays.

10. Sebayur Kecil: An extremely popular dive site as it is located close to Labuan Bajo. This area has gorgeous coral and lively animals. I have it ranked low because of the crowds, but I saw turtles, hermit crabs, moray eels, along with a ton of fish.

11. Siaga Besar: We did this as a night dive, and unfortunately were not graced with a lot of unique sea life. Someone in our group saw an octopus.