With over 1,000 dives logged across some of the world’s most-loved dive destinations – including the Red Sea and Great Barrier Reef – you might forgive this dive instructor for occasionally being… underwhelmed when visiting new dive sites as a tourist. A Komodo liveaboard has always been top of my bucket list, but working in the industry has made my trip standards tough to meet (and honestly, near impossible to beat).
Yet my recent dive trip to Komodo National Park aboard Busy Girl with Scuba Republic, proved that with the right crew, even a seasoned diver can be awestruck by our ocean. Fellow instructor Nico at Ocean Earth heard my long wish list – including my first manta ray – and rose above my high expectations. This article offers a sneak peek into what to expect for your own trip.
TL;DR – Busy Girl gave us VIP diving on a shoe-string budget; unrivalled biodiversity, a custom itinerary thanks to tiny group size, and more tasty, nutritious food than my wetsuit size could handle. And yes, wildlife galore; from magic carpets of coral to majestic mantas and everything in between.
Busy Girl, Relaxed Diver – a crew just for you
Despite a habit of teaching others, there’s no better place to embrace being a guest than Komodo National Park’s infamous currents. Whether a new diver appreciating reassurance, or a scuba veteran seeking adrenalin pumping reef-hook drifts, everyone needs skippers and guides who are attentive, experienced and know the local tides and topography.
In peak season (July 2024), we lucked out on hiring out Busy Girl as the only two guests onboard and each got private rooms. Yet even maximum capacity is just four guests, overseen by a dedicated crew of five – including divemaster, captain/skipper, and chefs – meaning plenty of shaded bean bags for taking mid-dive naps on deck!
In addition to clear pre-dive briefings, we’d review the day over freshly-made meals with our divemaster Yano while the crew ate separately. They gave us space, yet were always kind, attentive and knowledgeable. By the last day, we snorkelled and joked together, sad to say bye.
My dive buddy, Joel, is both a marine biologist and divemaster. At our request – more adventurous diving, less crowds – over five days and four nights, we managed to log 15 dives (around 60 minutes long each). If you prefer downtime, the crew accommodate snorkelling and beach trips using the zippy RIB too.
Plain Ol’ Liveaboard Economics
Food and accommodation in “Komodo’s gateway” Labuan Bajo, can be pricier than in neighbouring Bali and Lombok. However, this does mean diving on a liveaboard makes great financial sense.
With 5D/4N on Busy Girl costing around 16,000 IDR for three daily meals (each with 2-4 dishes), fresh snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, spacious sleeping quarters, 13-15 dives and a trek to meet the Komodo dragons included, you’d be hard pressed to get better value doing daily trips from the mainland. There’s even a 10% discount for repeat trips.
Plus, the red sun rising through your porthole, a glowing night sky from the middle of the ocean and being rocked to sleep by gentle waves is what some might call: priceless.
The Diving Experience
Day 1: The Sky is Just the Start
We had already checked our gear at Scuba Republic the day before, so on Monday – while the crew loaded equipment – my buddy and I got to know divemaster Yano on the short walk to the marina. After waving goodbye to the mainland, 90 minutes later, we were at our first dive site, the chilled Sebayur Kecil. Underwater, we were welcomed with the shy waves of garden eels shrinking in the sand which later opened out into a thick coral forest where Yano spotted a swaying leaf fish.
Dive 1: Sebayur Kecil
Time: 59 mins
Max Depth: 22.8 m
Now comfortable with one another’s dive skills, things ramped up for our second dive at Pengar – we witnessed the strangest phenomenon; our bubbles forming a horizontal, whirling vortex where upwelling and down currents converged. With strong currents come abundance; several giant trevally stalked the blue, while the rich reef sheltered a delicate pygmy seahorse.
Dive 2: Pengar
Time: 59 mins
Max Depth: 25.1 m
As the sun dipped below the horizon, we were treated to an insane rainbow sunset, but the picturesque first day wasn’t over – it was night dive time! During a relaxing muck/macro dive, we treasure hunted for nudibranchs. Cephalopods can be rare in Asia, and we were delighted to see 4-5 cheeky octopuses and squid.
Dive 3: Wainilu Night Dive
Time: 58 mins
Max Depth: 19.6 m
Day 2: All the Big Things
Day two began with an early hike to meet the region’s namesake Dragons. We opted for Rinca island instead of Komodo and were rewarded with a passionate local guide, great photo ops with the dinosaur-esque giants, stunning lookouts and an informative museum.
After appetites were soothed with a generous brunch on the boat, underwater was just as rich; high coral cover and variety of reef fish, including rare butterfly fish and rockmover wrasse. In the blue, we spotted our first sharks; blacktip reefs, as well as a female humphead wrasse.
Dive 4: Mawan
Time: 68 mins
Max Depth: 18.7 m
Do you like drift dives? Yano grinned and Police Corner delivered. In deeper, cooler 26°C waters, our familiar sweetlips and snappers were in XXL. This advanced site features an impressive overhang full of soft coral, flatworms, lady bugs and, so-called “confused fish swimming upside down” which was worth the strong currents to explore with our dive lights.
Dive 5: Police Corner
Time: 63 mins
Max Depth: 30.4 m
Next we visited “turtle city” or Siaba Besar. Home to at least 10-15 hawksbill and green turtles, we caught mammoth grandmas napping between acropora and shy, ornate mandarin fish sheltering in the reef.
Dive 6: Siaba Besar
Time: 58 mins
Max Depth: 20.7 m
Who knew coral can make you cry?! Well, the saltwater of Siaba Kecil does, courtesy of Joel and I, stunned by the site’s endless carpets of luxurious soft coral, a patchwork of 90s girlband music video sets. Then, dark pelagic shadows… ‘just’ huge regal eagle rays passing for a flyby goodnight.
Dive 7: Siaba Kecil
Time: 61 mins
Max Depth: 23.8 m
Day 3: Schooled by Fish
Neither of us had seen fish behave like day three. At Manta Point, we saw predating napoleon wrasse, longnose emperors, and trevally collaborating to ambush critters shrinking into the reef’s protection. A history of dynamite fishing left just pockets of live reef; a sobering juxtaposition with previous sites’ abundance, but nature’s adaptations were amazing to witness.
Dive 8: Manta Point
Time: 67 mins
Max Depth: 11 m
At Current City, we harnessed buoyancy control to sneak into whirling schools of bigeye trevally over 1000 fish strong, this time catching a nurse shark hunting alongside a moray eel which dipped in and out of the hollows in the reef during our safety stop.
Dive 9: Current City
Time: 58 mins
Max Depth: 21.7 m
At the famous Batu Bolong, I saw the value of our small group. Yano warned that the currents left a short window for diving, so underwater, we met the fifteen divers from a neighbouring boat. I felt the fish we saw here were more skittish as a result, though enjoyed seeing grey reef sharks stalking the blue for scarpering prey.
Dive 10: Batu Bolong
Time: 49 mins
Max Depth: 30.6 m
Day 4: “Special Current” Ray Day
Our penultimate day started with an early morning dive at the famous Castle Rock. Where open water met the pinnacle buzzed with so much action that we heard a thump on Joel’s tank as he was caught in a hunting tuna’s line of fire!
Dive 11: Castle Rock
Time: 57 mins
Max Depth: 25.6 m
At Golden Passage, Joel nursed his tuna slap, while Yano and I braved the 24C water to pay a visit to a large marble ray and for the first time, test out my reef hook to enjoy the current whooshing past.
Dive 12: Golden Passage
Time: 62 mins
Max Depth: 22 m
Fortunately for Joel, my buddy rallied for the afternoon’s dive at Cauldron/Shotgun. A school of trevally occupied the namesake’s fishbowl that funnels the current into a “shotgun” rip. Here, a precisely placed reef hook on bare rock gives a unique, horizontal skydiving sensation as we whipped in current so strong it triggered regulator purge buttons. On the count of three, we synchronised releasing into the ripping water into endless reef, where my long-awaited first manta ray patiently hovered at a cleaning station to the delight of filming divers.
Dive 13: Cauldron/Shotgun
Time: 61 mins
Max Depth: 18.5 m
Though not all the crew spoke English, over a couple of beers and a portable speaker, we watched sunset giggling on a deserted beach and for afters, watched from the surface as familiar fins hunted in the boat’s night lights.
Day 5: A Sharky Send-off
Sleep, eat, dive, repeat was coming to a bittersweet end. Offered a choice of where to go again, one site in particular had felt like three in one. Jumping in at a different entry point, this time as we hooked into the Shotgun, we watched as Cauldron was mobbed by seven blacktip reef sharks, pack hunting with a large male napoleon wrasse; behaviour Joel thought extremely rare. During our safety stop, the mantas seemed to wave us farewell.
Dive 14: Cauldron/Shotgun (again)
Time: 63 mins
Max Depth: 22.6 m
Last of all, we dove Crystal Rock; a seeming nursery site for white-tip reef sharks. We saw large pregnant-looking females, big schools of trevally, and, cowering beneath the table corals, perfectly formed juvenile white-tips at around 12 metres depth, teasing our computers’ well-worn no-deco limits.
Dive 15: Crystal Rock
Time: 61 mins
Max Depth: 24.4 m
Reflections
Diving in Komodo National Park captured the best of a great love for the ocean and its inhabitants. No number in a log book could harden a diver against the quirks of Komodo’s unmatched biodiversity, unique adaptations and cinematic landscapes. I may be biased but if you’re considering diving in Komodo, I wholeheartedly recommend the Busy Girl liveaboard with Scuba Republic. At the very least, a chat with Ocean Earth about your personal dive wish list is a worthwhile WhatsApp exchange. Whether you’re a professional diver or wanting to gain more experience, Komodo has something up her sleeve waiting for you beneath her waves.
Meet the Author: Sam Symonds
Samantha Xia-Quan Symonds (she/her) is an international writer-editor, content strategist & communications consultant; often working through her agency Writing Everywhere.
She started her writing career applying advertising agency knowledge to pen copy for nonprofits, and has since covered stories for start-ups up to Fortune 500s on food to finance – though as a British Singaporean-Chinese Scuba Instructor and Scientific Diver, her favourite beats are culture and nature. Her prize-winning short stories, op-eds and articles feature in Financial Times, Canadian Geographic, Alpinist Magazine, Well+Good, Culture Trip, and elsewhere.
She posts on most platforms @samxsymonds.
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