I stayed here from April 14-21, and my only regret is that I didn’t stay longer. I had a 2 day stopover in Bali where I did nothing but sleep and relax by a pool in order to get rid of jet lag from April 12-14 first.
This was one of the best trips I’ve ever had. I’ve been to places like the Maldives, Bora Bora, and Hawaii, staying at top resorts like the Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria, St. Regis, and Conrad. But this trip was truly special, and I definitely plan to come back.
The service at Komodo Resort was excellent. Every staff member was super friendly and really cared about making sure we had a great time. The service felt authentic not fake/forced. The dive guides were awesome, the restaurant staff (especially Offar and Ellen!) were great, the reception team was very helpful, and the guy who took us out to snorkel from the pier was also fantastic. Even the owner, Julian, came by during dinner to check in and chat with us, which was a nice touch. This is very much a boutique resort experience instead of the resorts with hundreds of rooms.
The location is amazing – you don’t really get how special it is until you’re there. I don't care if there are newer resorts in Labuan Bajo, they can't compete with the location no matter what. Other people have to take long, bumpy speedboat rides every day from Labuan Bajo, but here, you’re already in the perfect spot on a peaceful private island with only about 25 rooms. It’s quiet and calm. Getting to the resort was a breeze as I sent the resort my flight arrival/deperature times and they organized someone to meet me at the airport and transport me as I had an arrival/deperature out of their compliemtnary hours.
Also, there is a beautiful view you can also walk up the hill behind villa 4/5 for a beautiful panoramic view – it’s only a 10-15 minute walk. Highly recommend this!
The house reef is just stunning. It’s super close to the beach, and most of it is only 2-5 meters deep, so you can see a lot just by snorkeling. The coral and marine life here are better than any house reef I’ve seen and even better than most dive sites I’ve visited outside Indonesia. The resort offers on demand complimentary boat rides to the edge of the reef, and then you can drift snorkel back – it takes about 20-35 minutes.
The beach is lovely with clear blue water. You can only go in chest-deep, though, because they want to protect the reef. You have to enter the reef from the pier. Still, it’s perfect for cooling off after sunbathing. It was the end of the 'rainy season' while we were here but there was only one slightly cloudy day with slight rain in the morning. The sun was out in full force no matter what. The benefits of this time is much less crowds in the park itself.
The rooms are super comfy with strong A/C, great beds, and pillows. The design mixes traditional Indonesian style with modern touches. The bathroom is big, with a separate shower area so things don’t get wet. Housekeeping kept everything clean and restocked water daily. Wi-Fi was very fast and seemed to cover the entire island. We stayed in villa 17, and the porch had a great view of the beach – perfect for watching the sunset and sunrise.
The food was tasty and felt like home-cooked meals. There’s a good variety for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they’re open to making custom dishes if you ask (just note that language can be a bit of a barrier for very specific requests). I had the all-inclusive package, but the menu prices were very fair, as were the drinks. I am a very picky eater and had zero issues.
We did one excursion outside of diving – the full-day Komodo tour – and it was awesome. If you come all the way here, you have to do it. The views from Padar are crowded but totally worth it, and Pink Beach and seeing the Komodo dragons was also a very neat experience.
The diving was incredible. It was my first time diving in Indonesia, and it was better than anywhere else I’ve been. The coral, sea life, and everything underwater were just amazing. The dive guides and boat crew were great – especially Nando, who guided most of our dives. They are all very safety conscious and it's a valet style diving operation, which my girlfriend appreciated but I have a hogarthian BP/W & long hose tech configuration which most of the staff did not really know how to set up, so I ended up setting up my gear every dive which I prefer anyways. The staff hangs, cleans and stores your dive gear which is very nice.
I did 11 dives, all in central Komodo. We skipped the north because of the strong currents and focused on wide-angle and macro photography sites in the central region. The dive shop is open to dive site requests too in order to avoid repeptive dive sites and I believe they organize groups by experience. The resort doesn’t go to the south yet, but they’re working on a boat that will. The dive prices were very reasonable too.
Overall, I can’t wait to come back. They’re building 3 new villas on the hill with amazing views, and I hope to stay in one of them next time!
