Komodo Diving and Photography Trip – 2025

Komodo is one of my favourite tropical dive destinations, so I was really excited to get back there – I hadn’t been since 2023. Must be making some poor life choices.

Anyway, this was a research experience trip with our regular MMF travel partner, Aqua-Firma, so we prioritised sites that were good for manta rays and sea turtles – the goal being to photo-identify them – while also visiting a selection of the really nice sites for diving and photography throughout the park. I shot wide-angle the entire trip – fisheye on the Sony A7R IV – which is ideal for Komodo’s big animal encounters. (More on the camera setup in my Underwater Photography Gear for Komodo notes.)

MMF has had a research presence in Komodo National Park since 2012 . The park itself was originally established in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragons, and then expanded to become a marine national park in 1984. It’s a fascinating place where the terrestrial and marine conservation stories intertwine.

We stayed at Purisari Resort for the first part of the trip, diving with Dive Komodo. Then we moved to Dragon Dive Resort in Labuan Bajo proper, diving with Dragon Dive for the second portion of my trip.

We’re heading back to Komodo with Aqua-Firma at the same time next year, and there are spaces available for both snorkellers and divers on that trip.

There’s so much going for Komodo: big animals, beautiful coral reefs, warm clear water, and excellent visibility. The mantas here are incredibly relaxed around divers, and you can get great photos. Many of the animals are habituated to humans, including the sea turtles – this trip gave me some of the best sea turtle photography I’ve done. I love turtles and mantas, so that’s always a highlight.

Conditions

Most of the diving we did maxed at around 20 m, sometimes a bit more or less. Visibility was consistently great—probably over 20 m on most dives. The water in the central and northern areas of the park was about 29°C when we visited in late October/early November. Nice and warm, which meant I could dive in boardies with my Sharkskin vest and not need a wetsuit. (More on exposure protection in my Dive Gear for Komodo – 2025 notes.)

Komodo diving is mostly drift diving. The currents are strong here—due to the Indonesian Throughflow from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean—but that’s what makes the diving so rich and exciting. Stick with your guide, keep an eye on your buddy, and don’t get separated—you’ll be fine. I always carry a large SMB as standard safety gear.

Marine Life

There are lots of interesting animals around Komodo. On this trip, aside from the reef manta rays, we saw blue-spotted mask rays and blue-spotted ribbon-tail rays. My colleague Madalena saw a mangrove whipray as well – I missed it, dammit, but I’ve seen them before in the Park. The only place I’ve ever seen them diving is at Karang Makassar (Manta Point). We also saw some mobula rays, and other people saw eagle rays. I didn’t personally see any eagle rays this trip, but they’re around.

Mantas

The mantas were incredible. They’re so relaxed around divers. We were there right at the shoulder season, which is actually a really nice time to visit. There was a lot of manta action, quite a few pregnant mantas, and some courtship behaviour. It’s definitely some of the best reef manta ray photography I’ve done – I think I got some of my all-time favourite manta shots on this trip. Blue water, lots of mantas, fascinating behaviour, and they’re relaxed around divers. Perfect for wide-angle photography.

I might write a separate article specifically about the mantas of Komodo—what’s known, what we’re learning from photo ID work, and how people can get involved.

Turtles

One of the coolest things about Komodo is just the number of turtles. The green turtles tend to be really relaxed, and the hawksbills are even more so. They have interesting behaviours – like eating coral with fish following them to pick up scraps. I love the hawksbills; that’s one of the things that makes Komodo so special to me.

Coral

The coral is brilliant, as you’d expect—it’s part of the Coral Triangle, so the coral diversity is among the highest anywhere.

Favourite Dive Sites

Manta Sites: Mawan and Karang Makassar

Two of the best-known sites in the park. Most boats will visit one or both as a second or third dive, so you’ll usually be sharing the site – but it’s still great, especially if you can avoid high season.

Batu Bolong

An isolated little pinnacle that just emerges above the surface. It’s one of the park’s most famous dive sites. You’re unlikely to get it to yourself, but it’s a nice site – amazing coral and lots of fish. We only dived it once on this trip because it’s not really good for snorkelling, but we saw a manta ray cruise through, which was a bonus.

Tatawa Besar and Tatawa Kecil

Both really cool sites. Tatawa Besar in particular had beautiful soft corals—orange ones that lit up really nicely under strobes. There were also plenty of hawksbill turtles cruising around. Both Tatawa sites can have big stuff show up too.

Siaba Besar and Siaba Kecil

Excellent for turtles – both hawksbills and greens. One of the neat things about Siaba Besar is that you can often see green turtles feeding on seagrass out on the sand, which makes for really nice photo opportunities. I got my favourite hawksbill shots of the trip there.

Pink Beach

Quite a bit further south than the day boats usually go. The beach itself is really cool—the sand has a pinkish hue from crushed red coral. It doesn’t look like much from the boat, but once you’re onshore you can see it clearly. The snorkellers really enjoyed that site, and I liked the diving as well. It’s a slightly different environment, with more soft coral, feather stars, and some different fish species. The water was a little cooler there, at about 27°C, but still very comfortable. We also saw a cuttlefish at the dock, which was a nice surprise.

When to Visit

It does sound like Komodo can get very busy in the peak season these days – July and August in particular – so I’d suggest avoiding that time of year if possible. Even on our trip at the end of October, some sites were pretty busy. It’s a popular dive area, so you’ll almost always see other groups in the water. It’s rare to have a site completely to yourself, especially for land-based diving, since everyone leaves Labuan Bajo and returns around the same time.

Macro and Muck Diving

There’s some great macro diving and muck diving in Komodo too, but we didn’t do any on this trip. If you’re really into that, a liveaboard is probably the best option.

Liveaboard Options

We’re already full for the next liveaboard trip, but I’ll try to organise another one. We’re diving with Coralia in 2027. My friend and MMF colleague Lisa Auditore just went with Scuba Junkie on their new liveaboard, and she really enjoyed it—they’re an excellent operator, so that’s a solid option as well.

Rinca Island and Komodo Dragons

Rinca Island is a good place to stop off and look for Komodo dragons. There’s a good chance of seeing them, and the interpretation centre there is excellent—quite new, very well done. There are a few small shops selling trinkets and t-shirts, and cold drinks, which are very welcome after a hot walk. Bring some cash, and definitely tip your guide if they’re good.

We were lucky with our guide—he was really engaged and offered to take us on a longer walk because he knew there were a few dragons feeding on a buffalo carcass further up the track. That was great to see.

It’s definitely hot on the island, so wear covered shoes—not because the tracks are rough, but because there are sticks and bits you could kick that would hurt your feet, which would be annoying when you’re diving again later. I brought my running shoes just for that and was glad I did. Bring a small shoulder bag, plenty of water, and a hat. You can easily overheat on that hike.

You’ll probably see a few other animals around—water buffalo, macaques, maybe some birds—but it’s mostly about the dragons. The best dragon photography is usually around the interpretation centre, but we did get a few good looks at dragons up in the forest too.

Overall, Komodo is just a brilliant dive destination—great reefs, relaxed mantas and turtles, warm clear water, and loads of photo opportunities. It’s one of those places that always delivers.

Dive Gear for Komodo – 2025
Underwater Photography Gear for Komodo
Travel Tech Gear for Dive Trips