Komodo Trip Advice

[BKtraveler]

I'm planning to spend a month in Komodo, Dec 15 – Jan 15, focused mainly on diving. I dove Komodo from a liveaboard about 15 years ago and had an excellent 10-day trip. While I generally prefer land-based diving, I’ll choose a liveaboard if it means better access to top sites.

This time, I’m considering either a liveaboard, staying at Scuba Junkie Komodo (or another budget-friendly land-based resort), or both.

For those who have dived Komodo—especially with Scuba Junkie or similar resorts:

• Are the dive sites accessible from land-based operators as varied and high-quality as those reached by liveaboard?
• Will I miss out on the best sites if I stay land-based, or is the local selection diverse and interesting enough for a four-week stay?
• Would you recommend a combination of liveaboard and land-based diving?

I've been to Raja Ampat a few times and to Bali, but if four weeks is overkill, I may return to Bali or another nearby destination (not Raja, as I was just there) for a week or two to dive elsewhere.

Finally, is a month too long to spend in Komodo? I’m happy to do some hikes and day excursions, but my main focus is diving. I also don’t mind diving the same sites multiple times if they’re really stunning. I mostly enjoy pelagics, awesome corals, cool seascapes, and schooling fish of all sizes. I love little critters as well, but my vision isn’t what it used to be.

Any recent experiences, recommendations, tips, or favorite sites would be greatly appreciated!

BK

 

[cozcharlie]

Not one of your questions , but you are going there in off-season from what I have read (rougher water and more rain ). Internet does say you can better manta encounters in off-season due to nutrients in the water—that is consistent with a comment I vaguely remember from a cruise director who used to work in Komodo . He was talking up the off-season in general

 

[cetacean]

@BKtraveler

Couple of things to consider here... although many of the really good sites in the northern part of the Komodo region can be reached fairly easily by day boats (or land-based operators) you end up competing for the sites with the other land-based operators (often after the liveaboards have come and gone in the morning).

Simple example: depending on the current, Batu Balong can be dived fairly early in the morning. The better organized live-aboards may dive this site before the land-based operators even get out to this site. That was the case the last time we were there (~2 years ago). We finished our dive there just as 3 day boats were pulling up. This is still a great dive site, but it is a better experience when you have ~12 divers on the site vs. 30+.

You can save some $$ by doing Komodo land-based, but I'd rather spend a few extra $ to experience some of the best sites without the extra divers.

For the south, many of the land-based operators don't include many of the more interesting sites, not because they can't get there, but because most of their divers are content diving in the north part of the park (and they save $ by not traveling as far). From Scuba Junkie it's about a 90 min. trip to some of the southern sites, so you have to be committed to make that trip (and they don't offer these all the time).

Having said this, you are planning on traveling during the beginning of their rainy season, which often brings wind and poorer conditions in the north. Interestingly, this time of year is often really good in the south (vis, etc.). As mentioned above, there are more mantas around during this time of year as well.

For me, I would be looking at live-aboard that includes the south this time of year (you'll have fewer choices because most of the live-aboards will be in Raja Ampat during this period). Bali will also have reasonable conditions this time of year if you wanted to split your time. The other option to consider would be Banda during this period, if you wanted to get completely away from everything.

 

[dirtfarmer]

Most of my favorite sites are in The Padar area and further South in the park, Scuba Junky will dive the Padar area, and some day boats out of LBJ may go that far, but it's a long trip from LBJ. But if you want to dive the far South your going to need to get on a LOB. The advantages of LOB is diving sites before the day boats reach them, and also being able to do night dives which if your into Macro critters can be excellent dives.
I've done 2 LOB's to Komodo that depart from Bali and loved them, and I've been to Scuba Junky twice and really enjoy their resort. On one trip to be able to dive the South like I love to so much, I did a 4 day LOB out of LBJ on a Southern route, then spent another 10 days at Scuba Junky to round out a great trip. All my trips have been in the "off" season in November or January and I like that time of year because lots of boats are doing Raja Ampat then and the visibility in the South is usually the best.

 

[Centrals]

Dived with SJ on three occasions and enjoyed every minute of it.
SJ also has a newish LoB now.

 

[Plutonist]

Last Christmas season, I did one week resort + one week liveaboard in Komodo + one week Jakarta. In brief, though take with a grain of salt since my personal experiences in Indonesia differ widely from others (especially Americans):

Out of six operations I dove with in Indonesia, Scuba Junkie is the only one that I would NOT recommend, owing to systematic abuse of wildlife. It destroyed my naive(?) preconceptions of "eco-friendly" diving in Indonesia. You will find a thread on that on this forum. The resort itself is good and the stuff was very nice - you get what you pay for. Not recommended for light sleepers, though - monkeys, mosque, etc. If you can afford the higher price, I would suggest Komodo Resort on Sebayur.

I would highly recommend the combination land-based followed by liveaboard.

Even though in the two weeks we repeated most of the signature dive sites a few times, I could have easily stayed a further week. Differing conditions give very different experiences. A fourth week - not sure. I think I'd prefer enjoying/exploring the country. I'm a huge fan of Indonesian cuisine though.

Komodo is absolutely world class diving. I was reluctant at first (currents), but I am very glad we did it. The only two underwhelming things were what they call "muck diving" and night dives. I've heard rave reviews about night dives in Komodo, but frankly I found Bunaken and Raja Ampat better. Could have been the operator, obviously. The dive site close to Scuba Junkie, which they designate as "muck dive", is ridiculously bad. I feel sad for the poor harlequin shrimp that is harassed every other day by a horde of divers.

The land excursions were not my thing. Did the dragons twice (once between resort and liveaboard, once on the liveaboard). Declined to go a third time. Saw a kerfuffle between dragons, which made the guide a bit nervous.

Hope that helps.

 

[Searcaigh]

I've only been to Komodo once (2024) and was land based at LBJ with Blue Marlin Divers.

The dive sites visited were mid and north Komodo only, I think they only go south on the LoB.

Personally I would say that one week is sufficient, but my main interests are macro, but I did enjoy the pristine corals etc.

 

[Volleyball]

I'll share a little about our land-based experience this past February. Like @Searcaigh, we used Blue Marlin, which has fast boats. Fast boats allow for earlier arrival at dive sites except liveaboards and charters, and can access more distant locations. Blue Marlin uses their fast boats for daily day trips. If fast boats are important to you, check with the dive operator to determine if they're using a fast boat for the day trips. Some short-duration LOBs don't have A/C, and SJ is pretty isolated

 

[Cali_diver]

Since you are going during off season I would do a liveaboard, that way you can hit the southern sights which would have the best conditions (if the seasons do what they are supposed to do). The south has some of the most amazing diving in Indonesia. They will also hit the northern sites but if it is cold and green you head to the south for the good stuff!! I have spent a month in Komodo area during that time and I had an amazing trip but it was all done on a liveaboard!

 

[RPGscuba]

Since you are going during off season I would do a liveaboard, that way you can hit the southern sights which would have the best conditions (if the seasons do what they are supposed to do). The south has some of the most amazing diving in Indonesia. They will also hit the northern sites but if it is cold and green you head to the south for the good stuff!! I have spent a month in Komodo area during that time and I had an amazing trip but it was all done on a liveaboard!

This is what I’m thinking too. If you’re going for the diving, a liveaboard is almost always the way to go.