Komodo Diving Liveaboard Trips

We do not yet have a source-checked shared-cabin or whole-trip minimum for a 5D4N+ Komodo dive package. The lower prices on individual vessel cards are broader operator starting rates whose exact dive itinerary and duration need confirmation. As a source-checked nightly example, The Maj Oceanic lists USD 13,000 per whole boat per night plus 12% VAT, with a four-night minimum; its listed inclusions include diving equipment and an instructor. Other boats vary on tanks, weights, guides, equipment, nitrox, taxes and park charges. Request a quote for the exact itinerary and full trip total.

For the north, effectively yes. Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and The Cauldron are current dives with negative entries and reef hooks, on slack windows measured in minutes. Advanced Open Water plus 30 to 50 logged dives is the common operator floor, and prior drift experience counts for more than the certification card.

The central sites are a different matter. Karang Makassar, Mawan, Siaba Besar and Tatawa Besar are within Open Water limits in normal conditions, and a competent recent diver will be fine on them. Every boat here runs a check dive on Day 1 precisely so the crew can place you honestly, and a crew that declines you the north is doing its job.

April to November covers the main season, and inside it the two halves of the park peak at different times. The north is at its best from April to June and September to November: warm, clear, and settled enough to reach the Gili Lawa sites reliably.

The south is a July to September proposition. That is when the upwelling is strongest, which is exactly what makes Cannibal Rock and Yellow Wall of Texas worth the cold and the reduced visibility. January and February are monsoon and most liveaboards reposition out of Komodo entirely.

Yes, and more reliably than almost anywhere else in Indonesia. Karang Makassar, universally called Manta Point, is a rubble channel where reef mantas come in to be cleaned; two to twelve animals on a morning is normal. Mawan is the second station and is often better when Karang Makassar is busy.

Manta Alley in the south is the third, a narrow channel between rock walls where the animals stack up in the current. Sightings track the tide rather than the calendar, which is why crews reorder the day around it. Settle on the sand and let them come — chasing them clears the site.

Grey reef and whitetip reef sharks are resident on the northern seamounts, and Castle Rock in particular reliably holds them hunting in the current alongside giant trevally and dogtooth tuna. Blacktips patrol the shallows almost everywhere in the park.

They are not the hazard on these dives. The current is. Every serious incident in northern Komodo involves divers being separated or swept, which is why surface marker buoys, audible signals and staying with the guide are briefed harder here than the marine life.

22 to 25 degrees Celsius, against 27 to 29 in the north, and the drop is abrupt rather than gradual. Upwelling from the Indian Ocean side is the cause, and it is also the reason the south is so productive.

A 3mm suit that feels generous on Day 2 will cut a southern dive short on Day 4. A 5mm plus a hood is the working minimum, and gloves are worth carrying. This is the single most common packing mistake divers make in this park.

Three to four a day is standard on a dedicated dive boat, with a night dive offered on at least one evening — so roughly 14 to 18 dives across a five-day itinerary. That count is what separates the dive boats on this page from the yachts that carry an instructor as one amenity among several.

The final morning is usually one easy dive or none, because of the flight interval. Allow 18 hours after a single dive and 24 after repetitive multi-day diving before flying, and Labuan Bajo departures make that a real constraint rather than a formality.

They can board, but it is rarely a good trip for them. A dive itinerary anchors at dive sites, not at Padar or Pink Beach, and four dives a day means long stretches on the boat with nothing scheduled. Some operators offer a reduced non-diver rate; ask before assuming it exists.

Mixed groups are almost always better served by a park itinerary with diving arranged separately. A 4 day 3 night Komodo tour covers the dragons, Padar and Pink Beach with snorkelling throughout, and suits a household where only one person dives.