Photo Link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RGY6TyTvaM1qwCLi7
After a night in Bali, I walked to the airport (my hostel was only a 10 minute walk!) to catch my 40usd, 1hr flight to Labuan Bajo, which is on Flores Island but is the gateway to Komodo National Park. I did a couple of days of diving (6 dives in total, to give me 70 overall dives now) and a day visiting the dragons and doing some hiking on a boat tour, and also just a few days chilling and travel planning (and watching the Eagles advance to the Super Bowl!!! I will be in Tokyo for this so need to find a bar).
Labuan Bajo itself is a nice enough town, but I can definitely see it becoming over-commercialized and like a new Bali within the next 5+ years…as it is, I am convinced I liked Bali more than I should have because when I went in March 2020 it was empty due to people not traveling because of COVID. One of the nicest hostels I have ever stayed in, called Seaesta. Beautiful rooftop deck with a pool and bar and restaurant, so it was a super fun atmosphere.
The diving itself was honestly great, probably second to only the Galapagos for me (I don’t think anything will ever top the Galapagos). There were a couple of dives with INSANE currents – arguably just as crazy as the Galapagos. But thankfully here the currents were all sideways and not up/down currents…unlike that Galapgos dive where we were at 30+ meters and kicking up as hard as we can, and not moving up at all because the currents were pushing us down. But it was tougher because the Galapagos was all rocks, so we could grab hold to stop and look at the wildlife and group together, while here it was all (beautiful) coral reef, so we were not allowed to touch it. Super, super fun though to wildly fly around and take in all the color…I think that Komodo is up there with the Red Sea as the best color I have ever seen. Of course, the big difference between the two sites is that Komodo also has big fish life, with the giant manta rays the star of the show. There were a couple of dives where we saw like 30+ manta rays, and we would just stop and observe them circling around. The longer we were there, the more they adjusted to us and the closer they came, and at certain points I actually had to lean backwards so that their “wings” wouldn’t clip me. But they are massive (a few humans wide) and just so so graceful. When looking at my GoPro vids it is almost as if they are flying around in slow-motion, it’s crazy. Beyond the mantas, it was just the colorful reefs and the ABUNDANCE of small colorful fish that littered the area. Just so peaceful and tranquil (when we weren’t fighting the washing machine currents). Great, great diving trip. I actually cut my right middle finger pretty deeply while trying to grasp onto dead coral and rocks to stop my drift so I could stop and observe the manta rays, so it was nice to get a battle scar here. And because the water was so warm, we didn’t have gloves like we did in the Galapagos, which would have at least better protected our fingers (though I do remember how sore my fingers were after the Galapagos liveaboard even with the gloves).
In a way, I think Komodo is like Galapagos because to the layman, it is famous for the above-land life, while the real treat is the underwater life. Though that said, Komodo Dragons are definitely cooler than the Galapagos tortoises. We saw three just lazing around the beach on Komodo Island, and were able to approach within 10 meters of it. Apparently, the dragons only eat once a month, and they typically eat by chasing the deer to the coast (they can hit 20 km/hr!) and trapping it, before munching. Once they eat, they just sort of vegetate and lie around, which is why these were allegedly safer to approach. They are more like massive lizards than dinosaurs (who were feathered!). Definitely a resemblance to Caiman, Alligators, and Crocodiles, though I think these were a bit cooler, if only because they were more exotic/unique. Definitely cool to see, but I absolutely would not go out of my way to Komodo just to see the dragons (even though the roundtrip from Bali is only 80USD)…you definitely need to dive. We also did a couple of hikes, the highlight of which was up to a viewpoint on Padar Island. Honestly, the hike was easy (150 meters in elevation over <1km, but all paved steps) and I did it in sandals. And again, this is absolutely a symptom of me having traveled too much, but the view was good but…I have seen better.
Food-wise, it was OK as it was just a tourist town, so a bit like Bali. Nothing like the heights of Jogja or the rest of Java. But yea, Komodo was definitely a small, fun, trip, predominantly because of the diving. It is widely regarded as the 2nd best dive site in Indonesia after Raja Ampat, and I can definitely see why…just so cool to see the vividly colored reefs, the plethora of small colorful fish, and the giant manta rays, all together. This is a pretty quick entry…spent a week in Bajo but I mean, not much to write about, even though I did genuinely enjoy my time here! But yea, I am off to Japan for a month after this. Should be fun (hopefully not too expensive!), so looking forward to that.