bonairefans
Contributor
Komodo ~ May 18 - June 02, 2017
We recently completed 34 dives in the northern and central sites during a 2-week stay in Komodo, spending a week each at the Komodo Resort and Wunderpus Live aboard. This was our 4th trip to Indonesian waters: Komodo in 2014, Raja Ampat 2015, The Crossing (Sorong-Maumere) 2016.
Under sunny skies, we were fortunate to have good viz with water temps ranging from a high of 81 degrees in the north to 75 degrees as we neared Rinca.
In terms of the sheer volume of reef life, the week aboard Wunderpus gave us the richest 7 days of our diving careers, against a backdrop of stunningly lush coral gardens.
It took 45-minutes to reach Komodo Resort by speedboat. We requested room 8-N, the most remote, and enjoyed the spaciousness of the accommodations. We hiked to the hilltop every morning to enjoy the killer sunrise over Flores Island. The cuisine is Italian and "molto delizioso". You can order as much as you want from the menu...but try to restrain yourself, unless you want to return home packing 3 extra kilos.
The dive operation is run by an enthusiastic and competent team. We were looking for a land-based resort that combined comfort with world-class diving, and we found it at Komodo Resort. The gracious owner is Antonello, and he's the jolly Italian grandfather we all wish we had.
When it was time to board the Wunderpus, the boat conveniently picked us up on the dock at Komodo Resort. The diving was extraordinary from Day1. We teased the dive staff: "This couldn't possibly get any better" yet against all odds, it did. It was the week after the new moon, when currents can impact diving. But Chris, owner/cruise director, has a vast data base for each dive site and manipulates every variable that can be humanly manipulated to maximize the dive experience. When Chris says, "Let's wait 5 minutes, the current will weaken", that's exactly what happens. Chris, who hails from landlocked Oklahoma, is non-stop upbeat, engaging, and energized, and his team follows his lead.
Wunderpus holds 8 passengers, but the trip started with just the two of us and another couple from Adelaide We bonded immediately. Combine a beautiful boat with fun people, eye-popping diving, and our own private dive master...could it get any better?
Yes, when the next dives are at Manta Point. We dived Makassar and Mauan on our first trip in 2014, and had encounters I believe could be called 'typical": mantas circled us and made what appeared to be eye contact. We were enchanted out of our skins and shorties. But on 31May, those winged behemoths elevated the experience up quite a few notches. Lacking the video as evidence, I would scarcely believe it myself.
After an hour of unprecedented contact with mantas at Makassar, DM Dolan said, "We can recover from all this excitement at Mauna, where we can see other things". It didn't quite work out like that, as we could see the water was thick with mantas even before we did a backward roll. The mantas of Mauan tried to upstage the Makassar bunch with a fine-tuned ballet routine that would have left us breathless if we were not already on oxygen.
Topside activities included a hike up Gili Lawa Darat for the panorama over the Golden Passage. I've been wanting to savor this view for years, and to finally stand atop Gili gave me the chills. A few days later when we were again in the area, Chris said, "Who wants to climb Gili again?" and off we went.
Here's the video link:
The panorama over the Golden Passage...THE View
Travel Logistics
We paid $750 p/p Cathay Pacific RT San Francisco-HKG-DPS.
Purchased domestic flights via nusatrip.com, which often has better prices than the airlines' websites.
Flew Garuda DPS-LBJ, prop, checking-in 70 k total in 3 suitcases. Garuda still allows 21 k sports equipment, so we paid nothing extra.
Nam Air allows 10 k sports equipment; we paid $14 for the extra 10 k.
For a layover at DPS, look no further than Vira Bali Hotel. For $74, we received RT airport shuttle, breakfast, welcome massage (!), and a very comfortable room. The hotel is right across the street from the Lippo Mall, for any last-minute shopping needs.
For an overnight in Labuanbajo, we paid IDR1,000,000 for a large room at the Bayview Gardens, with a huge porch ideal for drying dive gear. Breakfast is delivered to the room. The Bayview is ideal for a transit night or an extended stay.
.
We recently completed 34 dives in the northern and central sites during a 2-week stay in Komodo, spending a week each at the Komodo Resort and Wunderpus Live aboard. This was our 4th trip to Indonesian waters: Komodo in 2014, Raja Ampat 2015, The Crossing (Sorong-Maumere) 2016.
Under sunny skies, we were fortunate to have good viz with water temps ranging from a high of 81 degrees in the north to 75 degrees as we neared Rinca.
In terms of the sheer volume of reef life, the week aboard Wunderpus gave us the richest 7 days of our diving careers, against a backdrop of stunningly lush coral gardens.
It took 45-minutes to reach Komodo Resort by speedboat. We requested room 8-N, the most remote, and enjoyed the spaciousness of the accommodations. We hiked to the hilltop every morning to enjoy the killer sunrise over Flores Island. The cuisine is Italian and "molto delizioso". You can order as much as you want from the menu...but try to restrain yourself, unless you want to return home packing 3 extra kilos.
The dive operation is run by an enthusiastic and competent team. We were looking for a land-based resort that combined comfort with world-class diving, and we found it at Komodo Resort. The gracious owner is Antonello, and he's the jolly Italian grandfather we all wish we had.
When it was time to board the Wunderpus, the boat conveniently picked us up on the dock at Komodo Resort. The diving was extraordinary from Day1. We teased the dive staff: "This couldn't possibly get any better" yet against all odds, it did. It was the week after the new moon, when currents can impact diving. But Chris, owner/cruise director, has a vast data base for each dive site and manipulates every variable that can be humanly manipulated to maximize the dive experience. When Chris says, "Let's wait 5 minutes, the current will weaken", that's exactly what happens. Chris, who hails from landlocked Oklahoma, is non-stop upbeat, engaging, and energized, and his team follows his lead.
Wunderpus holds 8 passengers, but the trip started with just the two of us and another couple from Adelaide We bonded immediately. Combine a beautiful boat with fun people, eye-popping diving, and our own private dive master...could it get any better?
Yes, when the next dives are at Manta Point. We dived Makassar and Mauan on our first trip in 2014, and had encounters I believe could be called 'typical": mantas circled us and made what appeared to be eye contact. We were enchanted out of our skins and shorties. But on 31May, those winged behemoths elevated the experience up quite a few notches. Lacking the video as evidence, I would scarcely believe it myself.
After an hour of unprecedented contact with mantas at Makassar, DM Dolan said, "We can recover from all this excitement at Mauna, where we can see other things". It didn't quite work out like that, as we could see the water was thick with mantas even before we did a backward roll. The mantas of Mauan tried to upstage the Makassar bunch with a fine-tuned ballet routine that would have left us breathless if we were not already on oxygen.
Topside activities included a hike up Gili Lawa Darat for the panorama over the Golden Passage. I've been wanting to savor this view for years, and to finally stand atop Gili gave me the chills. A few days later when we were again in the area, Chris said, "Who wants to climb Gili again?" and off we went.
Here's the video link:
The panorama over the Golden Passage...THE View
Travel Logistics
We paid $750 p/p Cathay Pacific RT San Francisco-HKG-DPS.
Purchased domestic flights via nusatrip.com, which often has better prices than the airlines' websites.
Flew Garuda DPS-LBJ, prop, checking-in 70 k total in 3 suitcases. Garuda still allows 21 k sports equipment, so we paid nothing extra.
Nam Air allows 10 k sports equipment; we paid $14 for the extra 10 k.
For a layover at DPS, look no further than Vira Bali Hotel. For $74, we received RT airport shuttle, breakfast, welcome massage (!), and a very comfortable room. The hotel is right across the street from the Lippo Mall, for any last-minute shopping needs.
For an overnight in Labuanbajo, we paid IDR1,000,000 for a large room at the Bayview Gardens, with a huge porch ideal for drying dive gear. Breakfast is delivered to the room. The Bayview is ideal for a transit night or an extended stay.
.
Attachments
Last edited:
