Liveaboard Diving Komodo – Dive with the Dragon
Considered by many the diving destination of a lifetime, the legendary and remote Komodo Islands are approximately 490 kilometers east of the island paradise of Bali, Indonesia. The national park is in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, between Sumbawa and Flores Islands, and is most easily accessed by Liveaboard Komodo diving from Bali or Labuanbajo on Flores. Declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986, the area has been legendary since the time of Dutch sailors in the seventeenth century to the present day. The park was originally founded to protect the magnificent Komodo dragon and its habitat, but efforts are now under way to include the entire ecosystem, aquatic and terrestrial. It is finally understood by the scientific and diving communities that this small area of the Indonesian Archipelago is one of the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet and great effort should be made to preserve it for future generations.
Komodo Liveaboard diving is not new by any stretch of the imagination, but it is only recently that the biological importance of the area has come to the attention of experienced divers and established Komodo as a world class diving destination. The challenging diving conditions of the area and the proliferation of marine life rivals the planets top dive destinations and truly elevates the Komodo Islands National park to another level. Geologically part of Flores Island, the Komodo and Rinca Islands are separated from Sumbawa to the west by the strait of Sape. In the middle of the strait, the sea only drops to a maximum of 300 meters. When the higher tidal waters of the Pacific Ocean in the north flow through the shallow strait to the Indian Ocean in the south, the result is raging currents that are unequaled in this hemisphere. In addition, the upwelling’s from the deep surrounding seas bring nutrients and plankton to keep the Komodo waters rich and exploding with life. It is this combination of conditions that has created a diving environment that is spectacular and at times adrenaline filled.
Komodo offers experienced divers just about every type of tropical diving imaginable, from calm and colorful shallow reefs teeming with thousands of colorful fish and unusual invertebrates, to current swept deep water sea mounts, walls, and massive pinnacles patrolled by sharks, tuna and other big pelagic’s.There are few places left on the planet where divers can experience such an abundance of aquatic species and such extraordinary diving conditions. Whale sharks, sunfish, giant mantas, eagle rays, pygmy seahorses, ornate ghost pipefish, clown frogfish, nudibranchs, and the blue-ringed octopus are all at home here among a never ending range of mind blowing sponges, sea squirts, tunicates, and corals. The Komodo Islands has been declared by many as a macro enthusiast’s paradise lost.
One of the most popular activities on every Indonesia Liveaboard cruise to the Komodo Islands is the unique opportunity to walk with the ominous Komodo dragon. An alert and agile meat-eater these awesome animals can reach 2.5 meters in length and weigh and an astonishing 125 kilos. Known to the locals as ‘Ora’ there are about eleven hundred of the world’s largest flesh eating lizard living on Komodo Island and another five hundred on nearby Rinca Island. Walking through the bush of Komodo is an experience that should not be taken lightly and will not soon be forgotten. World Class Diving and a rendezvous with one of the world’s last surviving dinosaur descendants all on one fascinating diving cruise, what more can you ask for?
When should you dive the Komodo Islands? The Komodo Liveaboard diving season is year round, with the best diving conditions from April thru December. It is during the summer months that the seas are most calm, the visibility is incredible, and there are unbelievable congregations of large pelagic’s. Diving Komodo is best accomplished on a world class Komodo Liveaboard from beautiful Bali or Flores Islands. Be one of only a few to experience this legendary and thrilling diving destination. Macro to massive there are no better scuba adventures anywhere in the world, Komodo has it all.
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