Komodo Trip Report, October 2016
For our exclusive 2016 Komodo charter on Indo Siren Liveaboard we headed first to Bima Bay on the eastern edge of Sumbawa Island, before continuing on to the volcanic island of Sangeang and the islands of Komodo National Park. At Bima Bay and Sangeang Island we were treated to an amazing array of critters including Coleman Shrimps, Zebra Crabs, Orangutan Crabs, numerous types of Nudibranch, Seahorses, Frogfish, Moray Eels, Thin Ghost Pipefish, Ornate Ghost Pipefish, Snake Eels, Hairy Squat Lobsters, large Cuttlefish, Bobtail Squid, Mantis Shrimps, Jawfish and the highlights – three Mimic Octopus and three Blue Ribbon Eels!

For our next dives we moved to North Komodo, an area known as current city. Here you will find some of the strangest currents on the planet and they make fascinating viewing from the surface. Diving the sites in current city is easy if you are on a good liveaboard as they will know where is diveable and where should be avoided at any given time. Siren did an excellent job of this on our trip and during our trip we dived all of North Komodo’s best sites, including Crystal Rock, Castle Rock, Batu Bolong, Makassar Reef, Tatawa Besar, Secret Garden, Siaba Kecil, Big Nose and Golden Passage. At these sites we encountered thousands of fish, especially at Batu Bolong where the water is literally filled with orange Anthias. In amongst the smaller fish are many larger fish, including Pufferfish, Giant Trevally, Bluefin Trevally, Batfish, Whitetip Reef sharks, Grey Reef Sharks, Blacktip Reef Sharks, Manta Rays, huge Marbled Rays, Blue Spotted Stingrays, Thorny Stingrays, Fusiliers, Sweetlips, Surgeonfish and Mackerel. On some of the dive sites we also found many Giant Frogfish, Leaf Scorpionfish in a variety of colours, a free-swimming Blue Ribbon Eel and numerous Green and Hawksbill Turtles. In North Komodo we also did an excellent hill climb from where we could take great photos and watch the sun go down!

During our transition from North to South Komodo we took the opportunity to have our first Komodo Dragon encounters of the trip. During our walk on Komodo we encountered Dragons first at the ranger’s accommodation, then in the forest and finally on the beach where were able to get very close to the Dragons! Arriving in South Komodo we headed straight for Manta Alley where we had two dives with many, many Mantas. At one point we could see at least eight Mantas at one time. On the second dive the Mantas stayed with us for the whole dive which was a very special experience!

Following our encounters with the ocean and land giants it was time to head to South Rinca to dive in the bay around Nusa Kode Island. Here we would be looking for critters rather than big fish! We dived a number of sites here including Cannibal Rock, Rhino Rocks, Yellow Wall of Texas and Torpedo Alley. The walls around Nusa Kode have spectacular corals where you can find Ladybug Amphipods and lots of different types of Nudibranch, Crabs and Shrimps. For one of our night dives in Nusa Kode bay we went to Torpedo Alley and here the highlights were a free-swimming Conger Eel, hunting Lionfish, Spanish Dancers and two beautiful Torpedo Rays. In Nusa Kode Bay there are also a number of Komodo Dragons living close to the beach, as well as many eagles soaring in the sky. During our trip we visited these Komodo Dragons at the beach and had them swim out to our dinghies. This is one of the best encounters you can have with the Dragons in Komodo and a must do when you visit!

Leaving South Rinca we retraced our steps back to Bima diving sites in North Komodo and Sangeang Island along the way making for many more memorable encounters with both big and small fish. This was my sixth trip to Komodo and it never fails to deliver a great mix of wonderful diving and on land animal encounters. We will certainly be coming back to Komodo soon for more amazing dive adventures!