Kevster
Contributor
Komodo Trip Report March 2012- Damai 1 Labuan Bajo – Kupang (12 nights)
This was my 3rd trip to Komodo.
1st trip was land based in Aug 2008.
2nd trip was onboard a budget live-aboard, The Felicia in Sept 2009.
Flights
Perth-Bali return cost approx $450 on Virgin Australia.
Bali- Labuan Bajo on Wings, cost approx $130.
Kupang- Bali on Garuda, cost approx $120.
No problem with excess baggage/carry on (I had 21 Kgs check-in & approx 11 Kgs carry-on.)
The domestic flights were arranged by the Damai office.
Hotels
2 Nights in Bali before trip. Stayed at Green Garden Beach Resort & Spa. Ok hotel close to the airport. Approx $90/night.
1 Night in Bali after trip. Stayed at Febris hotel, $70/night. (Hotel is full of Australian chavs drinking Bintang for breakfast)
Our Route Labuan Bajo to Kupang
Boat
The boat, the Damai 1 was fantastic. Probably the nicest live-aboard I have been on. I had my own room as the charter was not full. Our trip had 7 guests in total. I think the boat can accommodate 10 guests.
My room was massive & nicely decorated.
The food throughout the trip was very good. Hardest decision was always deciding what to order for breakfast!
The sundeck was great, definitely the best sundeck I have seen on a live-aboard. Two huge beanbags and several large comfortable sunbeds.
There was ample space on the dive deck. Each diver had their own rinse tank for your camera/equipment. There is a separate camera room that had lots of space to store housings/camera gear & has lots of outlets to charge strobes/batteries.
The 4 dive guides were very good. We had a ratio of 1 guide for 2 guests.
The two dive tenders were good, lots of space, comfortable, easy entry/exit. Tender drivers did a good job of spotting you once you surfaced. More often than not you were transferred back to the Damai when you surfaced, rather than waiting around for the other divers to surface.
All up the level of service was very good. You could choose what/when you wanted to eat, when you wanted to dive and sometimes what site you wanted to dive. Beer/house wine & Nitrox was included free of charge.
Weather
Mixed.
Our trip started in terrible conditions. A cyclone and a low depression in Australia resulted in very windy conditions & large swell for the first few days. We had to hide in sheltered bays in Komodo for the first three days. We had one really rough crossing from Komodo to Rinca. Over the next three days the weather improved gradually while we were in Horseshoe Bay. We had amazing weather towards the end of the trip while we were crossing the Suva sea. Fantastic sunny skies and flat seas.
Diving
Viss varied from 2m in Labuan Bajo harbour to 40+ meters at Suwa & Roti.
Water temp was 28-29 C throughout the trip. Between Dec-Mar water in South Komodo is considerable warmer compared to the rest of the year, visibility also improves & the water is blue rather than green. We did not have strong current throughout the trip.
Day 1-3 – Forced to dive sheltered sites around Komodo due to weather. Average diving. Best site was Pink beach & a wreck dive.
Day 4-6 – Diving in Horseshoe bay. Fantastic diving at Cannibal rock, Torpedo Alley, Yellow Wall and a few others. We were the only boat in Horseshoe bay. Horseshoe bay is a very special place. Not only is the diving & topside scenery fantastic but you also have Komodo Dragons on the beach & Eagles in the trees. Highlights were Lady Bugs (Sea fleas) at Yellow Wall, night dives at Torpedo alley (Hairy frogfish, heaps of different crabs, cuttlefish) mobula rays at Disaster Bay and general diving at Cannibal Rock. Cannibal Rock is definitely one of my favourite dive sites in Indonesia. There is so much to see, so much colour. (However I think the diving was better during my last trip here in Oct when the water is colder.)
Smallest thing i have shot- Lady bugs
Day 7 – Diving at Gilimota, (southeast of Horseshoe Bay towards Flores) Nice couple of dives. Similar to Horseshoe Bay. Lots of colour, lots of jellyfish in the water. Pigmy seahorse.
Day 8-10 – Exploration diving at Sumba, Sawu. Not much to report. North Coast of Sumba & Sawu is flat with lots of sandy beaches. Most of the diving was on sandy slopes. Coral/fishlife was very average.
Day 11 – Exploration diving at Roti. AMAZING!!!! Unforgettable diving. Discovered a new dive site with hundreds, perhaps thousands of sea snakes!!!! Visibility was amazing, at least 40 m. Some very nice corals.
The first dive was just amazing. No one was expecting to see so many snakes. While we were looking for the dive site I saw a snake on the surface. At the start of the dive the guide started to bang on his tank to draw our attention to 1 snake.
As we all descended onto this snake we started to see a few more, then more and more snakes appeared, they seemed to be everywhere. No one could believe what we were experiencing. It was just so unexpected. You could be taking a photo of one only to find out there were two swimming around your fins. It was such an exciting dive.
During our three dives here it was common to see snakes every few minutes while we were moving around the dive site. Also common to see the snakes heading to/from the surface to breathe. At one point I had 5 snakes in front of my camera. Not sure what species of sea snake, they were not the common black & white banded sea kraits. This snake dive was reported to be as good as the snake dives in the Banda Sea.
The bad news is there were definite signs of coral damage due to dynamite fishing. While we were underwater we heard two loud noises that were likely caused by the fishermen using dynamite. There were a few fishing boats around the general area.
Summary
All things considered it was a good trip. The trip ended on a high after diving at Roti.
Unfortunately we could not hit the good sites in the North due to the bad weather. However the 3 days we had in Horseshoe Bay & the day at Roti were fantastic. The first dive at Roti would make my top 20 dive list!
The Good
The Bad
I will definitely return to Komodo but will likely return later in the season, Sept/Oct.
Conditions in South Komodo are supposed to be very good between Dec-Mar, with the added benefit of fewer dive boats around. We were very unlucky with the cyclones, depressions in Australia that impacted the weather in the Komodo area.
The Damai was class and I would definitely recommend a trip onboard.
This was my 3rd trip to Komodo.
1st trip was land based in Aug 2008.
2nd trip was onboard a budget live-aboard, The Felicia in Sept 2009.
Flights
Perth-Bali return cost approx $450 on Virgin Australia.
Bali- Labuan Bajo on Wings, cost approx $130.
Kupang- Bali on Garuda, cost approx $120.
No problem with excess baggage/carry on (I had 21 Kgs check-in & approx 11 Kgs carry-on.)
The domestic flights were arranged by the Damai office.
Hotels
2 Nights in Bali before trip. Stayed at Green Garden Beach Resort & Spa. Ok hotel close to the airport. Approx $90/night.
1 Night in Bali after trip. Stayed at Febris hotel, $70/night. (Hotel is full of Australian chavs drinking Bintang for breakfast)
Our Route Labuan Bajo to Kupang
Boat
The boat, the Damai 1 was fantastic. Probably the nicest live-aboard I have been on. I had my own room as the charter was not full. Our trip had 7 guests in total. I think the boat can accommodate 10 guests.
My room was massive & nicely decorated.
The food throughout the trip was very good. Hardest decision was always deciding what to order for breakfast!
The sundeck was great, definitely the best sundeck I have seen on a live-aboard. Two huge beanbags and several large comfortable sunbeds.
There was ample space on the dive deck. Each diver had their own rinse tank for your camera/equipment. There is a separate camera room that had lots of space to store housings/camera gear & has lots of outlets to charge strobes/batteries.
The 4 dive guides were very good. We had a ratio of 1 guide for 2 guests.
The two dive tenders were good, lots of space, comfortable, easy entry/exit. Tender drivers did a good job of spotting you once you surfaced. More often than not you were transferred back to the Damai when you surfaced, rather than waiting around for the other divers to surface.
All up the level of service was very good. You could choose what/when you wanted to eat, when you wanted to dive and sometimes what site you wanted to dive. Beer/house wine & Nitrox was included free of charge.
Weather
Mixed.
Our trip started in terrible conditions. A cyclone and a low depression in Australia resulted in very windy conditions & large swell for the first few days. We had to hide in sheltered bays in Komodo for the first three days. We had one really rough crossing from Komodo to Rinca. Over the next three days the weather improved gradually while we were in Horseshoe Bay. We had amazing weather towards the end of the trip while we were crossing the Suva sea. Fantastic sunny skies and flat seas.
Diving
Viss varied from 2m in Labuan Bajo harbour to 40+ meters at Suwa & Roti.
Water temp was 28-29 C throughout the trip. Between Dec-Mar water in South Komodo is considerable warmer compared to the rest of the year, visibility also improves & the water is blue rather than green. We did not have strong current throughout the trip.
Day 1-3 – Forced to dive sheltered sites around Komodo due to weather. Average diving. Best site was Pink beach & a wreck dive.
Day 4-6 – Diving in Horseshoe bay. Fantastic diving at Cannibal rock, Torpedo Alley, Yellow Wall and a few others. We were the only boat in Horseshoe bay. Horseshoe bay is a very special place. Not only is the diving & topside scenery fantastic but you also have Komodo Dragons on the beach & Eagles in the trees. Highlights were Lady Bugs (Sea fleas) at Yellow Wall, night dives at Torpedo alley (Hairy frogfish, heaps of different crabs, cuttlefish) mobula rays at Disaster Bay and general diving at Cannibal Rock. Cannibal Rock is definitely one of my favourite dive sites in Indonesia. There is so much to see, so much colour. (However I think the diving was better during my last trip here in Oct when the water is colder.)
Smallest thing i have shot- Lady bugs
Day 7 – Diving at Gilimota, (southeast of Horseshoe Bay towards Flores) Nice couple of dives. Similar to Horseshoe Bay. Lots of colour, lots of jellyfish in the water. Pigmy seahorse.
Day 8-10 – Exploration diving at Sumba, Sawu. Not much to report. North Coast of Sumba & Sawu is flat with lots of sandy beaches. Most of the diving was on sandy slopes. Coral/fishlife was very average.
Day 11 – Exploration diving at Roti. AMAZING!!!! Unforgettable diving. Discovered a new dive site with hundreds, perhaps thousands of sea snakes!!!! Visibility was amazing, at least 40 m. Some very nice corals.
The first dive was just amazing. No one was expecting to see so many snakes. While we were looking for the dive site I saw a snake on the surface. At the start of the dive the guide started to bang on his tank to draw our attention to 1 snake.
As we all descended onto this snake we started to see a few more, then more and more snakes appeared, they seemed to be everywhere. No one could believe what we were experiencing. It was just so unexpected. You could be taking a photo of one only to find out there were two swimming around your fins. It was such an exciting dive.
During our three dives here it was common to see snakes every few minutes while we were moving around the dive site. Also common to see the snakes heading to/from the surface to breathe. At one point I had 5 snakes in front of my camera. Not sure what species of sea snake, they were not the common black & white banded sea kraits. This snake dive was reported to be as good as the snake dives in the Banda Sea.
The bad news is there were definite signs of coral damage due to dynamite fishing. While we were underwater we heard two loud noises that were likely caused by the fishermen using dynamite. There were a few fishing boats around the general area.
Summary
All things considered it was a good trip. The trip ended on a high after diving at Roti.
Unfortunately we could not hit the good sites in the North due to the bad weather. However the 3 days we had in Horseshoe Bay & the day at Roti were fantastic. The first dive at Roti would make my top 20 dive list!
The Good
- Diving at Horseshoe bay.
- Diving at Roti.
- The dive guides.
- The boat, crew & guests onboard.
- No other dive boats around.
The Bad
- The weather at the start of the trip.
- Exploration diving at Sumba & Suwa.
- Evidence of dynamite fishing.
- Only spotted 2 sharks during 12 days of diving.
- No mantas, could not visit the manta sites due to topside conditions.
- Kupang taxi driver hitting warp drive on the way to the airport.
I will definitely return to Komodo but will likely return later in the season, Sept/Oct.
Conditions in South Komodo are supposed to be very good between Dec-Mar, with the added benefit of fewer dive boats around. We were very unlucky with the cyclones, depressions in Australia that impacted the weather in the Komodo area.
The Damai was class and I would definitely recommend a trip onboard.
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