How would you rate Komodo/Labuan Bajo for non-divers?

[stepfen]

I have a 6D/5N LoB booked mid of August. Family (Indonesian wife and 2 kids, 11 and 9 yo) will be staying in Jakarta for 1.5 months by then (with my in-laws). A week or so after the LoB we will fly all together back home (Greece).

As I want the kids to spend some time in a place nicer than Jakarta, I am considering getting them to Labuan Bajo. Not for the full duration of the LoB (I'm worried wife will get tired and kids will get bored without me). I'm thinking, them to fly to Labuan Bajo 2-3 days before I finish my LoB. They can relax on the hotel, swim in the sea, do a day trip to the islands etc, until I finish my LoB. Then we all together stay few more days in Labuan Bajo for some snorkeling, maybe another day trip, having fun by the sea etc. Then we fly all together to Jakarta for a few days, before our long haul flight home.

The question is, is Labuan Bajo area nice enough to justify all this trouble (and cost)? How is the sea/beaches around Labuan Bajo? Is it good for swimming/snorkeling or?

I've been numerous times in Indonesia in several places (Jakarta, Raja Ampat, Bali, Ambon, Manado/Bunaken and others) but never to Komodo.

What do you think?

Thanks a lot...

 

[Luko]

Been there, done that. My wife is a non diver hence I need to take care about the non diving comfort when I travel as well.
The good thing with LBJ is that you'll have many restaurant/food options within walking distance.
There is nothing I would call a good beach on Labuan Bajo : your family will need to take a small boat and 20 min ride to get to the beaches on the islands (likewise Bidadari). I would advise they take daytrips on slow boats for snorkeling as well, there are lots of options in LBJ .
LBJ can get really hot and dusty. My advice is get an hotel with a swimming pool : not overly expensive Dragon Dive has a nice place which is really downtown also they organize snorkeling daytrips, otherwise the bigger hotels are either expensive (Meruorah) either out of town and then they'd need to organize transport (taxis) to get t the harbor, going to the restaurant etc.

In a nutshell, don't worry LBJ is not like Ambon (typically the non diver hell) don't expect Bali neither, ensure your creatures comfort. As for diving or snorkeling, I swear you won't regret, totally worth it (Batu Bolong is probably on my top 3 dive spots, unfortunately I think it has been closed for snorkeling but Mawan or some other spots will completely fulfill their wettest snorkel dreams).

 

[cetacean]

Fly them to Bali - meet them there. LBJ is busy, noisy, and not a great place to hang out. There are a few resorts on the very outskirts of the area that would be okay, however they are an hour+ away from LBJ by boat.

 

[Centrals]

@stepfen
Nicer than Jakarta? NOT a chance, LBJ is a dusty town with nothing interesting except diving and the Dragon.
Your kids will get bore after two days.

 

[Searcaigh]

I was in LBJ last April, not a lot going on there apart from the Dragon tour if you're a non-diver, and avoid Made in Italy restaurant, well overpriced for Indonesia and lousy service too.

 

[Luko]

not a lot going on there apart from the Dragon tour if you're a non-diver

That's true if your goal is to avoid putting a mask on your face, but if you ask my daughter, it's probably one of the best places in Indonesia for snorkeling, much better than Bali for instance.
"Non diver" doesn't mean "non snorkeler", I read the OP mentioned snorkeling didn't he?

 

[Centrals]

That's true if your goal is to avoid putting a mask on your face, but if you ask my daughter, it's probably one of the best places in Indonesia for snorkeling, much better than Bali for instance.
"Non diver" doesn't mean "non snorkeler", I read the OP mentioned snorkeling didn't he?

Better than Bali!
So your daughter has snorkelled all the places in Bali rather than a selected few?

 

[Luko]

So your daughter has snorkelled all the places in Bali rather than a selected few?

And she rates Komodo MUCH better than Bali, Mawan being her favorite spot for corals and manta rays.
Raja Ampat & Sipadan her other favs in the areas she snorkeled so far. (in Asia Menjangan, Nusa Penida, Tulamben, the Amed stretch from Jemeluk to Abang for the past 10 years in Bali. Maldives, Sipadan/Mabul, TAR KK, KohTao, Similan, PhiPhi, Nha Trang, Moalboal, Balicasag, PG, Maumere, central Maluku, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Bangka, Siladen/Bunaken, Gilis and more... she's going to Alor for her first time this year.)

I'd guess a young girl opinion who snorkeled more than 20 years since she's 5 yo. would be more appropriate for some family snorkeling than the advise of some old sour guy just diving.

 

[Centrals]

And she rates Komodo MUCH better than Bali, Mawan being her favorite spot for corals and manta rays.
Raja Ampat & Sipadan her other favs in the areas she snorkeled so far. (in Asia Menjangan, Nusa Penida, Tulamben, the Amed stretch from Jemeluk to Abang for the past 10 years in Bali. Maldives, Sipadan/Mabul, TAR KK, KohTao, Similan, PhiPhi, Nha Trang, Moalboal, Balicasag, PG, Maumere, central Maluku, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Bangka, Siladen/Bunaken, Gilis and more... she's going to Alor for her first time this year.)

I'd guess a young girl opinion who snorkeled more than 20 years since she's 5 yo. would be more appropriate for some family snorkeling than the advise of some old sour guy just diving.

LOL. Better than the places that she had snorkelled in Bali not the whole Bali.
Can you spot the differences?

I certainly would not be very happy if my parents telling strangers about myself!!!!
Keep your daughter's private life to herself!!!! There is nothing to boast about her snorkelling trips!

 

[Luko]

Can you spot the differences?

Yep, I can spot the difference between a girl who snorkeled all over Bali's snorkelable places during these last 10 years and the random opinion of someone who has absolutely no idea what we're talking about (family, wife, daughter, non diver, snorkeling) but has time on his hands.

I do also know the difference between average/mean and variance, I could carry on and on with Student's test for differenciating a mean value from another .

I certainly would not be very happy if my parents telling strangers about myself!!!!
Keep your daughter's private life to herself!!!! There is nothing to boast about her snorkelling trips!

Maybe she knows, maybe she speaks to me, maybe i asked her, maybe she doesn't give a rat's ass about : what do you know?.. (rhethoric question : I have the answer, "nuthin'", you're not even entitled to speculate about that. )

Can't help wondering whether your last posts were valuable in any way to the OP. For some reason some should get inspired with arabic wisdom : "Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than silence."