bshort4
Contributor
After arriving in Labuan Bajo and checking into the hotel I walked into town to Uber Scubas office--big mistake--the heat and humidity were brutal! It was about 95 degrees and the humidity felt the same---it's almost getting to be rainy season and it poured down rain later in the afternoon. Arrived at the office--met the folks I had been talking to through e-mails and paid my balance for the trip and the park fees (pulled the IDR out of the ATM at airport in Bali). Told what time to be at the office the next morning for the boat trip out to the liveaboard. I needed to store my luggage somewhere as I didn't need it all on the boat and they let me store it in their office. The next morning at the office I met the other folks going out to the boat---six of us---we would meet the boat and they would bring back others who were finishing their trip. Before getting on the boat we would go to Rinca Island to do the Komodo Dragon trek then on to the boat. The dragon trek was something I'd skip next time--a few dragons hanging out by the ranger station looking for a meal--not really worth the time and effort but it's checked off the bucket list lol. Back to the speed boat and ten minutes later we were on the boat headed to our first dive. Taken to our cabins, tour of the boat--how things work, what kind of schedule we would be following etc. Soft drinks and sodas were free, beer at a cost to be paid at the end of the trip. I had asked them if they could stock up on diet Coke for me and they had brought on two full cases! A bit of overkill but much appreciated!
Cabins were small and no a/c but I knew all this--they did have a small fan above every bed which worked out nice. Most guests ended up sleeping up on deck at night but I slept in the cabin the first two nights and on deck the last night. Sleeping on deck was actually pretty nice--nice cool breeze and comfortable big thick mats--I liked it. The meals were incredible--lots of vegan food if you're into that--believe me I didn't go hungry and plenty of fruit and snacks anytime. Good coffee in the morning as I sat on the top deck watching the sunrise---I was in heaven--or was it just Komodo?
The diving: First dive of the trip of course was a check out dive. We were broken up into dive groups--there were only nine divers and we had three guides. My group only had two divers and our guide--Katie a great gal from Texas who had just gotten out of the hospital after suffering a bout of dengue fever for the second time. She was bright and witty and full of energy and information. Later we added another diver from another group to make our group four. The dive was pretty generic but we got wet--no current and not a whole lot to see. Visibility was only 45 to 50 feet and that would be the norm for almost all our dives. We went out in speed boats and they were always there to pick us up when we surfaced. They had small wooden ladders getting back on the boats which I found a bit of a chore to manage but I managed. You could take your gear off and hand it up if you wish but I never saw this happen. Second dive was the only night dive---mostly white sandy bottom with lots of small sting rays and lots of lionfish that followed us using our lights to hunt. The next day would be the dive sites I've read so much about and watched videos of--Manta Point--Batu Balong and Siaba Kecil which would be our first dive of the day.
Siaba Kecil---a lot of first for me on this dive---fastest current I've ever dived--first Manta Ray (one), first white tipped sharks--a few. Negative entry--straight to the bottom--deepest depth--42 feet for 57 min. It was the fastest drift dive I've ever done--but nothing compared to later!
Manta Point (Makassar)---Manta Rays were a big reason I wanted to dive Komodo---boy did they deliver! Current was strong--negative entry---right above two beautiful Mantas just waiting for us! By the time we hit the bottom at 36 feet we ad been swept away but we looked around and there they were---five more right next to us not ten feet away--trying to hold onto rocks and take pics and videos was a chore but my excitement was off the charts--how lucky was I? we saw between 20 and 30 Mantas on this one dive--everywhere we looked there were more---I could leave now and be happy!
Cabins were small and no a/c but I knew all this--they did have a small fan above every bed which worked out nice. Most guests ended up sleeping up on deck at night but I slept in the cabin the first two nights and on deck the last night. Sleeping on deck was actually pretty nice--nice cool breeze and comfortable big thick mats--I liked it. The meals were incredible--lots of vegan food if you're into that--believe me I didn't go hungry and plenty of fruit and snacks anytime. Good coffee in the morning as I sat on the top deck watching the sunrise---I was in heaven--or was it just Komodo?
The diving: First dive of the trip of course was a check out dive. We were broken up into dive groups--there were only nine divers and we had three guides. My group only had two divers and our guide--Katie a great gal from Texas who had just gotten out of the hospital after suffering a bout of dengue fever for the second time. She was bright and witty and full of energy and information. Later we added another diver from another group to make our group four. The dive was pretty generic but we got wet--no current and not a whole lot to see. Visibility was only 45 to 50 feet and that would be the norm for almost all our dives. We went out in speed boats and they were always there to pick us up when we surfaced. They had small wooden ladders getting back on the boats which I found a bit of a chore to manage but I managed. You could take your gear off and hand it up if you wish but I never saw this happen. Second dive was the only night dive---mostly white sandy bottom with lots of small sting rays and lots of lionfish that followed us using our lights to hunt. The next day would be the dive sites I've read so much about and watched videos of--Manta Point--Batu Balong and Siaba Kecil which would be our first dive of the day.
Siaba Kecil---a lot of first for me on this dive---fastest current I've ever dived--first Manta Ray (one), first white tipped sharks--a few. Negative entry--straight to the bottom--deepest depth--42 feet for 57 min. It was the fastest drift dive I've ever done--but nothing compared to later!
Manta Point (Makassar)---Manta Rays were a big reason I wanted to dive Komodo---boy did they deliver! Current was strong--negative entry---right above two beautiful Mantas just waiting for us! By the time we hit the bottom at 36 feet we ad been swept away but we looked around and there they were---five more right next to us not ten feet away--trying to hold onto rocks and take pics and videos was a chore but my excitement was off the charts--how lucky was I? we saw between 20 and 30 Mantas on this one dive--everywhere we looked there were more---I could leave now and be happy!
