Travel to Komodo Island / Flores - Boat tour, dragons, Padar Island and diving

How to visit the Komodo National Park? Visiting the islands where you can see the Komodo dragons was always on our list, but we didn't really know how to get to Komodo island. When you do some research you know, that you need to go to Komodo island or Rinca island, but these islands are not really easy to visit. First thing we had to learn is, that you don't stay on Komodo island. You need to fly to Flores and book a boat trip to visit the Komodo National Park. So let's summarize the most important tips:
How to travel to Flores/Komodo National Park?
We flew from Lombok (Indonesia) to Flores. It is really important that you book your flight to Labuan Bajo which is the gateway to the Komodo National park. We paid 50 USD for the flight, plus 25 USD extra for the luggage. We booked it on Skyscanner (nusatrip.com) with the airline Wing Air.
You can book your taxi to the accommodation at the airport of Labuan Bajo. The prices are fix.
Where to stay in Labuan Bajo?
We stayed at the Le pirate hostel. It was clean, the price was good, we had a rooftop bar and nice breakfast. lepirate.com/l...
This is also where everything happens. Most of the restaurants, shops, diving schools and tourist centers are next to that place.
Another tip is the Seasta hostel. This place was also spotless. The pool was amazing, but we didn't stay at that place. The hostel is a bit up a hill, so to get to the restaurant you need to walk a bit longer. seaestakomodo....
Our favorite restaurants in Labuan Bajo are the Bajoo Taco and the Bajo Bakery.
You should visit these places for the view. The view is wonderful, and the tacos are delicious.
Also try the breakfast in the Bakery.
Bajo Taco: www.tripadviso...
Bajo Bakery: www.tripadviso...
How to go diving in the Komodo National Park?
The underwater landscape in the Komodo National Park is awesome! You SHOULD go diving! The corals are wonderful, there are so many tips of fish and the chances are high you are going to dive with turtles and manta rays. So there are many diving schools in Labuan Bajo, and we compared the companies. Basically, we found three diving schools which looked trustful:
Komodo Diving
Red whale dive
Uber scuba
We booked our trip with Uber scuba. The prices they offered us were the following:
2.200.000 IDR for divers who are not certified like Lars (explore day)
2.400.000 IDR for certified divers who had not dived for a year or longer (refresh day)
1.800.000 IDR for certified divers who regularly dive
On top, each person has to pay a park fee (275.000 IDR on week days and 350.000 on a Sunday)
You need towels, warm clothes and sunscreen for sure. The tour was amazing, and we were diving three times on that day.
How to visit the Komodo National Park and where to book the boat trip?
So finding a good trip around the National Park is not that easy. Again, we compared many companies and talked to many people, and it really depends how much you are willing to pay to stay on good boat. We found companies like The Real Adventure or Red Whale but ended up booking with a very little company (the boat was not the best, but the tour was still awesome).
At the company, you could book the following rooms:
Basic - Deck: 850.000 IDR (not a real room, just on the deck)
Plus - Dorm (Shared Cabin): 950.000 IDR (you share rooms with several people)
Superior - Private Cabin: 1.100.000 IDR (this was our room - just watch the video ;))
On top, we had to pay the National Park fee of 550.000 IDR for 2 days.
Most of the tours include several stops. We booked a tour which included the following sights:
On day 1 you visit Kelor island (beautiful view and great snorkling), Rinca island (to see the Komodo dragons - we did not go to Komodo island) and the Flying Fox Point called Pulau Koaba.
On day 2 we went hiking very early in the morning on Padar island (stunning!!!), we snorkeled at the Pink Beach and went snorkeling at the Manta / Turtle Point (you need to do that - we loved it).
The price includes meals, water, coffee, tea and snorkeling equipment.
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