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Komodo Escape
Snorkelling over the reef at Siaba, Komodo

SNORKELLING · FIVE SITES

Booked for Dragons, Home Talking About Mantas

The park sits in a throat of water between two seas, and the tidal currents that run through it feed some of the densest reef left in Indonesia. Those same currents decide which sites you get.

Plan the Water Days See the Sites
Manta wingspan
3 - 4 m
Manta peak
Dec - Feb
Dry-season vis
20 m +
Snorkel fee
Per person, per day

The sites

Five Sites, Ranked by What They Ask of You

Easiest last. The current is the variable, not the depth.

Snorkelling over the reef at Siaba, Komodo

Karang Makassar · moderate

Manta Point

A kilometres-long rubble channel where reef mantas gather at cleaning stations. Snorkelled as a drift: dropped up-current, collected down-current. On a good day you pass several without kicking once.

Overnight cruise boat at anchor in Komodo National Park

Slack tide only

Batu Bolong

A pinnacle the size of a house with walls dropping away on all sides. The fishiest square metre in the park — and the site most governed by tide. If the crew says no today, that is competence.

Padar Island ridge in the green season

Easy · good for children

Taka Makassar

The white sandbar beside Manta Point, ringed by coral heads in two to four metres. No current inside the lagoon line, turtles on the seagrass, occasional juvenile reef shark.

Pink Beach from the air, Komodo National Park

Gentlest of the marquee sites

Pink Beach house reef

Terraced hard coral starting thirty metres off the famous sand, sloping to about twelve. Light current, easy entry from the beach. Where nervous snorkellers find their confidence.

A boat sailing between the islands of Komodo National Park

End of day

Kanawa & Sebayur

Broad coral gardens just outside the park core. Kanawa jetty reef is a nursery — staghorn fields, clownfish every few metres, reliable turtles. Sebayur suits a longer, lazier line.

Gear, Fees and Manners

The etiquette column is enforced, not suggested.

Practical

  • Snorkelling carries its own daily fee on top of park entry
  • Shared-boat masks vary wildly — bring your own if your face is hard to fit
  • Dry-season visibility routinely passes twenty metres
  • A rash vest beats sunscreen for a full day in the water

Rules rangers enforce

  • Never chase or touch a manta — let the animal set the distance
  • Stay near your group on any drift
  • No standing on coral, ever, including to adjust a fin
  • Listen to the briefing at Manta Point; it is the one that matters

In the water

Questions About Snorkelling

Anything not here, send it over on WhatsApp.

Build the Trip Around the Water

Tell us your dates and how confident everyone is in the water. We will put the sites in an order that works for the weakest swimmer aboard.

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