Labuan Bajo
Komodo dragons grow to three metres and have venom glands confirmed in 2009, and they live wild on four islands and nowhere else — about three thousand survive. Labuan Bajo was a fishing village fifteen years ago and now has an airport, a construction boom and a national park of twenty-nine islands offshore where the manta cleaning stations are.
Why go
Komodo dragons — three metres, venomous, and found wild on four islands and nowhere else. A national park of 29 islands — dry savanna hills dropping into water full of manta rays. Pink Beach — coral fragments mixed with white sand, one of a handful in the world. A fishing town becoming a hub — the airport, the harbour and the change happening fast.
The character
Labuan Bajo is a harbour town at the western tip of Flores, and until recently it was a fishing village with a few dive shops. Komodo National Park, established in 1980, changed that: the dragons are the largest lizards alive, up to three metres and eighty kilos, with venom glands confirmed in 2009, and they exist in the wild only on Komodo, Rinca and two smaller islands. Around three thousand survive.
The park is more than the dragons. The islands are dry savanna — this is the driest part of Indonesia — with hills that go gold in the dry season and drop straight into some of the richest reef in the Coral Triangle: manta cleaning stations at Karang Makassar, currents that bring big fish, and visibility that regularly exceeds thirty metres. Labuan Bajo has grown accordingly, with an airport, hotels and a construction boom that residents view with mixed feelings. The correct plan is to sleep on a boat rather than in the town.
Places of character
Komodo and Rinca islands — ranger-guided walks; Rinca has higher dragon density and fewer visitors. Padar Island viewpoint — the three-bay panorama at the top of a 250-step climb; go at sunrise. Karang Makassar (Manta Point) — a cleaning station where mantas queue; snorkel or dive on the current. Pink Beach — coral fragments give the sand its colour; the reef straight off it is excellent. Kanawa and Sebayur — closer islands for a half day if the weather turns. Wae Rebo — a traditional Manggarai village of conical houses, five hours inland and worth the effort.
The way to do it
Sleep on a liveaboard for two or three nights — it is the only way to be at the sites at dawn and it costs less than the hotels. Follow the ranger rules with the dragons absolutely; they are fast and the venom is real. Dive or snorkel on a slack tide unless you are experienced. And go inland to Flores for a day if you have it.
One perfect day
Wake anchored off Padar and climb before sunrise for the three bays as the light arrives. Breakfast under way. Mid-morning ranger walk on Rinca among dragons, buffalo and macaques with the guide's forked stick as the only equipment. Snorkel at Pink Beach with the coral sand underfoot. Afternoon drift over the manta cleaning station, hanging in the current while five-metre rays circle. Sunset from the deck with flying foxes crossing from the mangrove islands in tens of thousands. Dinner on board, and the anchor chain the only sound.
Grand hotels
Ayana Komodo — the town's large resort on a private beach north of the harbour. A phinisi liveaboard — the traditional two-masted wooden schooners; the correct accommodation for this park.
When to go
Best expression: April to June and September to November — dry, calm seas and mantas present. Consider: August, peak manta season, though the town is at its busiest. Avoid if possible: January and February, the wet season, when many boats do not run.
The frame
Ideal stay 4 nights, most of them on a boat · Minimum 3 nights · Best arrival by air from Bali, ninety minutes · Airport LBJ, 3 km · Walkability the town only · Best without a car yes — everything is by boat