On the westernmost tip of the Island of Flores sits the town of Labuan Bajo. It was only a small fishing site but flourished to become the gateway to many exotic destinations in East Nusa Tenggara. There are quite a lot of adventures that awaits you from Labuan Bajo.
We landed in Labuan Bajo, set out to explore parts of Flores and Nusa Tenggara Timur. As always diving in Komodo National park was always there on my bucket list. Went straight to Uber scuba from the airport to book our dives for next few days.
After doing the formalities at the dive shop, we explored the local food and market. The fish market next to the jetty was something not to be missed. But had a feel like Labuan Bajo is little more developed than a tiny fishing village with many guesthouses, hostels and handful of luxury resorts.
Morning started early and reached jetty to get onboard the dive boat. The journey to Komodo national park is about an hour and a half, it was beautiful sailing alongside the mountains on the pristine waters.
Our first dive was very calm. Not much current and it was more about checking our buoyancy, skills and not much challenging. Then on next dive was at mawan, known for it’s Mantas. But unfortunately we couldn’t see mantas but saw lot of turtles, reef sharks, giant puffers and many more. Next dive was the most challenging and beautiful dive of the day.  It’s called Batu Bolong one of best dive sites in the world.
Corals were amazing, lot of fishes and deeper we went it was more beautiful. Currents seemed really strong and it was cold as well. I was literally severing at one point of time. After the dives we surfaced quickly and got on the boat, grabbed a cup of hot tea sat on the deck to get some sunshine. Best part about diving is after your dive you get to spend some time talking to your dive buddies and spend some quality time discussing dive/travel.
We stayed at Seaesta it’s one of the best hostels i’ve ever stayed. Very happening and lively. Beautiful place to sit relax during sunset at the rooftop restaurant after your dives.
Night markets are lovely place to take a stroll and grab some local stuffs to eat. We had fish soup and gado gado.
Next day our dive was at Sibaya Besar, Manta point and Tatawa Besar. As usual the first dive was very calm dive with lot of turtles, puffer fishes and many more. The highlight of the day was Manta point. Lost count of how many mantas we saw, it was challenging and also one of the most beautiful dives I have done. Saw black morph manta for the first time, some huge mantas very close by.
Currents were strong, hence we kept moving away constantly and had to hold on to the rock to get good sight of them.
During safety stop there were more than 4-5 mantas circling around us. Last dive of the day was at Tatawa Besar, the corals were beautiful but the currents were strong again. Saw frog fish for the first time.
As usual after the dive i went to the boat deck and relaxed. The view was beautiful with gorgeous mountains and the evening sunlight making ocean look golden color. We had a long travel conversation with co-divers and it was fun.
Back in LBJ some us met for dinner and had amazing local food and desserts. Teran Bulan was one of my favourite  had it after nearly a decade. And following day we planned to do the Komodo national park tour.
Morning had some tasty Indonesian style breakfast at the jetty from the local stalls. Got the ferry to the first destination of the day, Padar Island.
Padar Island is surrounded by three turquoise bays, all of the bay’s beaches have different colored sand. Black, pink and white sand beaches. To reach the summit from beach, it takes around 30 minutes. It is not a hard trek and there are great views all along the way up to the top. It is also home to the Dragons. We saw some wild deers too on this island.
The view from top the summit was stunning with all three colored sand beaches visible and it’s should be in everyone’s to do list if visiting Komodo national park.
Our next stop was the pink beach. The color is pink in color due to presence of microscopic organisms that live in those sands. The coral reefs around pink beach were just amazing. Loved the colors! There are black color of the sand in some beaches which is definitely due to the volcanic activity in this region.
Then the most awaited part of trip was to see the Komodo dragons in wild. We reached the island where they roam freely.
We saw a couple of them and learnt a lot of facts about how the humans here co-exists with the Komodos. Lot of stories to listen from the guides as well as facts. But the place was heavily crowded.
Then had lunch on the way to Tatawa Kecil. It’s a beautiful sandbank and it looked magical. You can enjoy the clear water and view around this place. It’s very close to Manta point. We saw few mantas while snorkeling on the same day.