Diving the Komodo

Have been spending 9 days in a row in the water in Komodo National Park, 22 dives, which I think is a new record for me. It have been from good to awesome diving. It sounds like holiday, but it is hard work, getting up every morning at 6.20 and be on the boat and on the way around 7.40, spending from 8 - 11 hours on the boat and 2-3 hours under water, depended on if we did 2 or 3 dives. Get tired off it, and have most night been to bed at 21.30 trying to read but just have to give it up after a short time and just go to sleep. Are being ironic, it have been great, spending the time on the boat and off course mostly the time spent diving.

Have been diving all my dives with Dive Komodo, and are very happy with the company. Great guides, great crew on the boat and an awesome lunch after the second dive of the day, and other divers on the boat have been good company, some more than others. Not saying that anyone have been unpleasant, just that have talked more to some than others. Tried to get an short dive safari, but was fully booked, just to hope for a chance an other time, well, it is just go back down, not a big problem really. 
 
Dive sights dived:

• Castle Rock, 3 timers
• Batu Bokoy
• Manta Points, 5 times
• Tatawa Besar, 2 times
• Tatawa Kecil
• Saiba Kacil
• Pengah Island
• Crystal Rock
• Batu Bolong, 2 times
• Batu Sabun
• Police Corner
• Passage Calderon
• Kerang Makassar
• Waenilu Island

Some fish that have been spotted one or more times: White tip sharks, black tip sharks, Manta rays, turtles, giant moray, other morays, lionfishes, leaf scorpion fishes, scorpion fishes, frogfishes, orangutan crabs, unicorn fishes, mandarin fish, manta scrimps, crock fishes, Banda ribbon snakes, blue spotted rays, napoleon wrasse, eagle ray, pygmy seahorse, waahoo, cleaning scrimps, lobster, tuna, cuttlefish, bump head parrotfishes, greyspotted ray, flounder, clown fishes, marble ray, nudibranch and some 100´s other kinds of fishes.

Highlight of the diving have off course been to dive with the manta rays, and on 2 occasion had a big, a really big fish, swimming just a meter or so over my head when I have been laying on the bottom of the sea wanted to dig a hole for my self, and thy really look big when you get them so close. They are big, they are of the size of a small car, so it is just to stay calm and cool and lay still when the glide over you. Been awesome, best underwater encounter with animals since I dove with dolphins in Egypt years back. on the very last dive and after I reach my 50 bar we came across 2 mantas staying together, and in need of holding on to something in the current I was holding on the the hand of our eminent guide, trying to get some photos struggling to hold the camera steady in the current. Was also very cool to see to white tip sharks hunt for some fish under some corral, they where going under the corral for full speed, really cool and I must admit a bit scary to be up close to some hungry sharks going for their lunch.

 

When it comes to fish life in general and color of corals and amount of them, it have been plenty and I will think the best I ever have seen in tropical water, and I have been diving a few places in the last years. And for sure, it is other great dive sights as well around. Komodo have been totally amazing and not possible to record on any photos since the real thing is so much better than you ever can get on any memory stick in a camera. Will nevertheless try to show a bit of it on the Flickr album where the photos you see here are placed.

Have also been on some of the speediest drift dives I ever have tried, really cool, and have been dangling in a line after a reef hook in the current trying to take photos, which also was an new experience. Fun, when I finally made it even if the photos was not that great. But the fish life around us was amazing

 

 

I am very happy that I choose to come here to Labuan Bajo and dive in the Komodo. The price for the fun have been almost 7 million rupee, or a bit over 4000 NOK, and that is not bad. Got some discount, for many dives and for holding the black instructor card from Padi, always good to show that one when you come for diving somewhere around the world. At the moment I really want to get back here for an other time, and as mention above also do a live aboard out here and get to the south Komodo, time will show. Have been 9 very good days diving here.... happy happy happy.

Surface current.