Komodo, Indonesia
Bali to Komodo Liveaboard is really the only option to best appreciate Komodo. The entire area including Komodo Island and its south-easterly neighbour, Rinca (pronounced Rincha), are part of the Komodo National Park which is also a World Heritage Listed site. Due to such high levels of protection there is very little in the way of tourist accommodation on the islands and any land based dive operators must come from Labuanbajo, a small town on west Flores. As a result the majority of Liveaboards come from Bali as this is the most convenient entry point into Indonesia for most international travellers. Satonda Island Each of my four trips to Komodo have been aboard the Peter Hughes owned Komodo Dancer which embarks in Bali and then takes a full day to reach the first dive site on Satonda island on the north coast of Sumbawa. Satonda is an old volcano crater with steep, densely forest sides and a flooded crater. On one side of the island the reefs follow the contours of the hill sides and a colourful wall dive called Sand chute harbours plentiful crinoids full of clingfish, squat lobsters and even an unusual type of Brittle star. Both Bargabant’s and Denise’s pygmy seahorses can also be seen on the wall sites of the island.
The more sheltered side of the island has a shallow sloping reef with coral patches and white sand. There are many reef critters to be found on this site including ornate ghost pipefish, ribbon eels, short nosed and large winged pipefish, leaf scorpionfish and many nudibranchs. As dusk falls over the island the sky fills with millions of Fruit bats that fly from the safe haven of Satonda over to the mainland where they will feed and return at dawn. Gili Banta On the north-west edge of the Komodo National Park is the imposing island of Gili Banta. The island is horseshoe shaped and rises immediately from the ocean into steep cliffs covered in barren scrub. The diving here is amazing and has two of my most memorable dives. K2 has coral heads dotted among the sand, one of which is no bigger than a table tennis table but could keep me entertained for several dives due to the glass sweepers that are drawn to the structure, which in turn attracts their predators. On this one rock I have seen an enormous black frogfish, 5 leaf scorpionfish at one time, yellow, pure white, vivid pink and black individuals plus yellow banded pipefish. It is also well worth visiting the Bargabant’s pygmy seahorses on their fan at 30 meters. GPS point is a famous submerged reef a short trip from Gili Banta. It is most famous for sharks, which are drawn to the reef when the currents are running. The numbers of sharks seem to have reduced since I have been going to the site and there are reports that shark finning boats took quite a toll on the shark population. On our first visit a few years ago there were several large grey reef sharks plus a 3.5m hammerhead. There was some discussion whether this was a great or scalloped hammerhead although I’m pretty sure it was scalloped. On subsequent trip we have only seen juvenile grey reef sharks, which I think indicates that the adults may have been removed. Gili
Banta also has an amazing night dive called Circus/Small World depending
on where you enter the water. They are both fairly similar with
the most action clustered around small coral outcrops in the sand.
It is also worth scouring the barren sand patches far stargazers,
huge mantis shrimp and several species of snake eels. There are
also many frogfish around for those with keener eyesight. I once
found two miniscule painted frogfish at this
Komodo Marine Park The south of Komodo is very different from the clear waters of Gili Banta and can be 5°C colder. The visibility averages 10-15m and is explained by the colder waters, which come from great depths to the south of Komodo. These cold waters are rich in nutrients, which are usually very limited in tropical seas. Plankton flourishes and forms the base of a rich food chain that supports abundant filter feeding organisms. The reefs are actually far brighter in the south as they are covered in sponges, sea squirts, feather stars and resident sea apples (a type of sea cucumber) all of which, unlike corals, feed exclusively on plankton and debris in the water and do not rely on light. Cannibal Rock is the epitome of these rich southern waters and almost over whelms the senses with bright colours and bustling reefs. I have never seen a reef community quite like Cannibal Rock and it makes a great change from most other Indonesian reefs. Having said that it is not for everybody and some people on one trip were complaining about the poor visibility and cold water. I always feel the cold but just dress for the occasion plus there is always a hot chocolate waiting on the boat. The reef is covered in fire urchins, which are worth a closer look as many of the urchins at Cannibal have zebra crabs or pairs of Coleman shrimp. There are also many unusual nudibranchs to be found on the site including the vividly coloured Ceratosoma magnificum and Gymnodoris aurita. Yellow wall is another great site in the area, it is named after the dense yellow soft coral growth over the reef wall. Rhinopias scorpionfish have been seen at both these sites have. Torpedo Alley
Torpedo alley is a muck site in the Nusa Kode area close to Cannibal Rock. It is great by day but earned its’ name from the torpedo electric rays that come out at night to hunt. These rays appear undescribed by science and I have been unable to find shots of the species from any other location. They reach upto one foot in length and some smaller ones would be only 6 inches. As hard as the dive guide tried to convince me it would be a good idea to touch one they do put out an electric pulse to stun their prey so I decided to give that a miss. The site also has many species of seahorse and pipefish. Carrier crabs are also common and identified as they use debris as protection or camouflage. I saw them carrying urchins, broken seapens, starfish and upside-down jellyfish. The Dragons Komodo dragons are the largest living species of lizard, reaching over three metres as adults and weighing up to 100kg. The dragon’s ancestors arrived on the island thousands of years ago as fairly small and insignificant lizards. Due to the lack of a large predator on the island they soon evolved to fill this vacant niche. Gigantism is relatively common on isolated islands noted in Galapagos giant tortoises and the Dodo of Mauritius. The main draw back of attaining such a massive size is the inability to easily track down their main prey of deer and wild pigs. This problem has been solved by the lizard’s toxic bite, which slowly subdues the prey over many hours allowing the lizard to stalk its prey and feed once it has been subdued by the toxin. The toxicity of the bite is derived from bacteria, which are found in the lizard’s saliva, they cause sepsis and eventually death. Komodo dragons are considered vulnerable, although their population appears fairly stable at present. The main concentration is found on Komodo although they are also found on Rinca and limited numbers on the west of Flores. One of the most reliable places to spot a Dragon is around Loh Liang on Komodo where a ranger will take groups to spot the lizards in the surrounding area. Elsewhere in Komodo Langkoi is a series of small islets just off the Komodo coast where manta rays are known to congregate. It is a little hit and miss whether or where they will turn up and some divers may find the best spot for manta action and others will only see a couple in the distance. This is a pretty dive site with nice coral gardens and small schools of snapper and other small fish, there are also quite a few black-tip reef sharks that patrol the area so even if you do not catch the mantas it is a nice dive. Crystal and Castle rocks, off Gili Lawa Darat, are sites in the northern part of the islands and therefore mark a return to the warm and clear waters. These are very typical oceanic reefs and can sometimes receive quite strong currents. The hard corals on the top of the submerged seamounts are quite amazing and within the branches of a coral tree I found several spotted coral crouchers. The currents bring in large schools of fish such as bigeye trevally and barracuda. Castle rock also has some Bargabant’s pygmy seahorses in deeper water that bring a dilemma to the photographers whether to shoot a wide angle or macro setup. Volcanic Sands The journey back to Bali is broken up by a short stop over at the island of Sangeang. Unlike Satonda this remains an active volcano, which is evident from the bubbles that stream from the warm black sand at Hotrocks. Enormous Black Coral trees dominate the reef although a couple of fans can be found in the depths adorned with pygmy seahorses. Black sand patches around the reef are a great place to look for unlikely critters such as demon stingers, warty frogfish, flying gurnards and bend-stick pipefish. The area is also great by night when we caught a fleeting glimpse of a boxer crab.
Back to Civilisation The final day of the trip is spent on the north-eastern coast of Bali where the famous wreck of the American ship the USAT Liberty is located. This is a great wreck for both small and large animals alike. A large school of bigeye trevally are always on the wreck first thing and move off as hoards of tourists descend upon the site later in the day. If the wreck becomes a little overcrowded a short boat ride form the USAT Liberty there are some amazing critter dives where I have seen harlequin shrimp, seahorses, clown frogfish and unusual pipefish. This area has provided many images of unusual creatures for identification books. Balinese Relaxation Since the trip leaves direct from the international hub of Bali a trip to Komodo can seem a more relaxing expedition than to other regions of Indonesia whilst maintaining a remote and relaxed atmosphere. I’m sure that I will return for a fifth trip at some point aboard the Komdo Dancer to visit this diverse region. Further
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omodo
is an amazing area for the variety of dive types ranging from
clear oceanic reefs to muck dives and Black coral tree gardens.
site, one about 1cm long and bright orange plus a slightly larger
1.5cm individual, which was black with orange spots and blue fin
tips. Around the coral areas live bobtail squid, ornate ghost pipefish
and even mandarinfish.
