Bali to Komodo Island to Bali to Sorong in one day!

[stiebs]

Last year I did a Bali - Komodo - Bali liveaboard, and we spent a couple of hours on a Komodo Island tour. We saw three dragons - one near the village which was very docile and appeared to be drugged and a lot of the group had photos taken with it (crouching down about 3-4m behind, with camera perspective making it look like they were right next to it), and one that we saw in the "proper" wild on a high walking trail.

Although its highly likely, there's no guarantee that you will even see a dragon. Our dive crew said the previous group didn't see any, so their trip to the island amounted to no more than a scenic walk.

The Komodo Island tour was worth doing as a side trip from the diving, but in my opinion not worth the effort to make a special trip.

There's also noises about Komodo being closed for tourists:

Komodo Island is Closing its Doors to Daily Tourists!

Komodo Island, renowned for its stunning nature and endemic Komodo dragons, is one of Indonesia's top tourist destinations, second only to Bali. Authorities have long sought ways to limit the nu

bali.live

 

[Damselfish]

LOL.
Read #1 again.
The respective flight is to Sorong.

And is OP meeting a LOB in Sorong?

If they called them Komodo lizards, would people care as much?

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

Last year I did a Bali - Komodo - Bali liveaboard, and we spent a couple of hours on a Komodo Island tour. We saw three dragons - one near the village which was very docile and appeared to be drugged and a lot of the group had photos taken with it (crouching down about 3-4m behind, with camera perspective making it look like they were right next to it), and one that we saw in the "proper" wild on a high walking trail.

Although its highly likely, there's no guarantee that you will even see a dragon. Our dive crew said the previous group didn't see any, so their trip to the island amounted to no more than a scenic walk.

The Komodo Island tour was worth doing as a side trip from the diving, but in my opinion not worth the effort to make a special trip.

View attachment 887432

There's also noises about Komodo being closed for tourists:

Komodo Island is Closing its Doors to Daily Tourists!

Komodo Island, renowned for its stunning nature and endemic Komodo dragons, is one of Indonesia's top tourist destinations, second only to Bali. Authorities have long sought ways to limit the nu

bali.live

Good point to bring up. If it ever gets closed down, it'll definitely reopen, but when?

It'll be ashamed though. I think at one point the local government was thinking of a US $500 up to $1,000 price increase for entrance fee. But I think now, they come to their senses, 600-700,000rp fee for 2025...still high if true.

 

[Centrals]

And is OP meeting a LOB in Sorong?

If they called them Komodo lizards, would people care as much?

1. OP only mentioned to catch a early flight to Sorong and nothing else but @Blackcrusader thought it is to USA.
2. No idea.

 

[Damselfish]

1. OP only mentioned to catch a early flight to Sorong and nothing else but @Blackcrusader thought it is to USA.
2. No idea.

I know. My point was if they are meeting a LOB, missing flight to Sorong might be worse than missing flight home if they have no buffer. If it land based maybe less problem.

As far as the dragons/lizards, just pointing out it’s a bit of a marketing game. Maybe neat to visit and see, but good to consider if it’s worth jumping through hoops for.

 

[Darnold9999]

I know. My point was if they are meeting a LOB, missing flight to Sorong might be worse than missing flight home if they have no buffer. If it land based maybe less problem.

As far as the dragons/lizards, just pointing out it’s a bit of a marketing game. Maybe neat to visit and see, but good to consider if it’s worth jumping through hoops for.

Pretty sure they are going to Papua Paradise.

 

[Scared Silly]

in a word NO

There is no airport on Komodo AFAIK, you fly from Denpasar in Bali to Labuan Bajo in Flores. From there you will need to take a boat to Komodo, and of course a boat back to Flores.

As others have mentioned, flights get cancelled with very short notice. It happened to me last year with barely 24 hrs notice. The afternoon flight I had booked was cancelled and my options were the morning flight on the same day I had booked or the day after.

Volcanos in the area are also unpredictable.

My advice is to leave Komodo for a longer trip and do some diving there along with a Dragon tour.

Correct one flies into Komodo International Airport which is located on Labuan Bajo. For that matter they will probably not be taking a boat to the island of Komodo but to the island of Rinca which is closer and the Loh Buaya Komodo National Park.

Seeing Komodo Dragons is certainly worth while, we had multiple encounters including the local monkeys going ape !@#$ when a baby was taken by a dragon. We also watched dragons having sex on the beach.

As for the OP's plan. As others have noted it might work and it might not. My only suggestion would be to have contingencies.

I would also check the exact schedule. We spent the better part of two hours walking around the island. One tour I saw an hour stop with a multiple other stops.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Wish him for a speedy recovery.

Going to resort or liveaboard?

We were planning land based. He hasd sinus surgery got the all clear and we did that Maldives dive in November back there again in May. How was your Maldives trip is that done yet?

 

[Blackcrusader]

May I'll join you, when is it?

I'll let you know we probably plan it together when in the Maldives in May.

 

[Dan]

We were planning land based. He hasd sinus surgery got the all clear and we did that Maldives dive in November back there again in May. How was your Maldives trip is that done yet?

Yes. Fantastic! Saw Mantas, Sharks (Spinner, Lemmon, Gray Reef, Whitetip Reef, Blacktip Reef, Nurse, Tiger, …) and Rays (Sting, Marbled, Devil, Eagle, Guitar, …).

Just came back a couple of days ago, on the 8th. Still having jet lag (like waking up at 1AM and responding to your question now). Will post the trip video separately later. Here are some of the highlights: