https://www.southeastasiadreams.com/https://www.southeastasiadreams.com/assets/templates/sead-new/images/logo.png Komodo Island - Divesite Description - Part 4
Komodo Island - Divesite Description - Part 4

Komodo Island - Divesite Description - Part 4

The Komodo Marine National Park in Indonesia is part of the Lesser Sunda chain of Islands and forms part of the Komodo National Park. There are great dive sites to be found in our Komodo Island Dive Site Description Part 4

 

Dive Site Pillaarsteen - Payung Island

Scuba diving at PillaarsteenVery interesting reefscape. Large schools of fusiliers can be found here along the reef slope, which is covered in an interesting variety of soft corals. Sharks and the odd turtle are often encountered. Pillaarsteen is a rock pinnacle located on the shore of a small island east of Padar Besar. Best diving entry is just off the point below the rock where there is a nice wall. Continue swimming to the west towards interesting caves and swim-throughs at different depths. Diving is particularly good at around 30-40m depth. This site is a good choice when other sites have too much current. This area may be effected by surge when there are swells from the southwest.

 

Dive Site Nusa Kode

Scuba diving at Nusa KodeThe south western tip of Kode island is characterized by large, coral-encrusted boulders and huge groupers. Amongst the boulders are some of the largest reef fishes residing in the Park such as gigantic potato cod and malabar grouper. Schools of large red snapper are normally prevalent. Diving entry is west of a small island at this site. Swim down to a depth of about 10 m and follow the ridge, which juts out in a southerly direction. Swim along the crest of the ridge and down to a max of 50 m depth

 

Dive Site Crinoid Canyon

Scuba diving at Crinoid CanyonMany kinds of small invertebrate life can be found here on very colorful walls carpeted in featherstars. This site is located in a small cove just outside the southern entrance of Loh Dasami on the island of Nusa Kode, almost directly opposite Yellow Wall. The diving entry point is just south of the cove then continues along the wall in a counter-clockwise direction. Best to start the dive at 25 m depth and then continue swimming back and forth up along the wall to the surface. This is a easy dive location with no current and is good in the early morning as it catches the morning sun.

 

Dive Site Boulders

Diving at Boulders
Scuba diving at Boulders
Your dive begins with forests of soft coral at 30-35m depth. Along the way to the boulders is the best place in Loh Dasami to find fire urchins with Coleman shrimp. The boulders themselves have good coral, invertebrate and fish life. Quite often manta rays can be seen in this area as well. This site is located on Nusa Kode where the bay widens just northwest of Crinoid Canyon. Directly below this point there are several big boulders laying on the bottom. The shallowest boulder is in about 8 meters of water and the deepest one is in about 30 m of water. A torch is useful on this dive. The best point of entry is 100 meters south of the point where the reef slopes down to soft coral forests on a dark sandy bottom in 30 to 35 m of water. Continue the dive to the boulders by ascending to 20m with the reef to the left. This is also a good night dive location.

 

Dive Site Yellow Wall - Rinca Island

Scuba diving at Yellow WallA very good place to see invertebrate diversity, especially during a night dive. Walls are packed with a mind-boggling array of marine life and colors including colorful sea urchins, bright red sea apples, beautiful soft corals, Spanish dancer nudibranchs and a great variety of tunicates. Crevices in the wall reveal sleeping fishes, spiny and slipper lobsters, cleaner shrimps, and decorator crabs. Nighttime fish life include sleeping coral trout, cat sharks, all kinds of cardinal fishes and parrot fishes in their mucus cocoons, as well as sleeping turtles. Yellow Wall is an excellent day or night dive spot just inside the southeastern corner of Loh Dasami Bay. It is also one of the best areas in Loh Dasami for snorkeling. The current usually flows south to north so the best entry point is just around the western-most tip of the headland; the dive should then continue into the bay along with the current.

 

Dive Site Cannibal Rock

Scuba diving at Cannibal Rock / Batu BuasThis site is famous for its varied and colorful invertebrate life. Rich soft corals abound as well as sea apples and other sea cucumber species. Amongst many surprises are flamboyantly colored nudibranchs, and fire urchins with Coleman shrimp. The fish life can also be quite good at times with an array of scorpion fishes, schools of red snappers and surgeon fishes. Unusual fishes such as pygmy seahorses and frogfishes may also be seen. Cannibal Rock is a small seamount in wellprotected Loh Dasami Bay, between Rinca and Nusa Kode, which allows for easy diving with little current. Night dives are excellent, especially on the sandy slope of the northern side of the island starting at about 25 m depth.

 

Dive Site Torpedo Point - Rinca Island

Scuba diving at Tropedo PointAn excellent place to find unusual critters such as torpedo rays, Bobbit worms, flying gurnards, frogfish, and ghost pipefish. Located north of Cannibal Rock, critters can be found on a patchy rocky reef at a depth of 15m. A great low environmental-impact dive for photographers as most of the rocky habitats are surrounded by sand.

 

Dive Site Toro Sie - Rinca Island

Scuba diving at Toro Sie around Rinca IslandOn the south west coast of Rinca you will find a point marked Toro Sie. Adjacent to the point is a rock awash. This rock has a ridge that extends to the west that is covered in crynoids and softcorals. On the seabed around the rock lots of interesting critters can be found. If you swim out over the sand southwest of the rock there is a patch reef that usually has excellent fishlife on it and quite often a few big grouper. This dive is usually has better vis during the NW monsoon along with most of the parks other southern sites.

 

Dive Site Sebayor Kecil

Scuba diving at Sebayor KecilLarge boulders shelter groups of giant trevally, whitetip reef sharks, coral trout, snappers and emperors. The northwestern corner of Sebayor Kecil is one of the better dive sites near Labuanbajo. A small reef extends northwest from the island where it drops off to greater depths along the northern coast of the island. A few hundred meters from the shore there are some large boulders with notable fish life. Currents can be quite strong at this site.

 

Dive Site Mini Wall

Scuba diving at Mini Wall
Scuba diving at Mini Wall
The whole north face of this island is good diving. There are garden eels on the sandy slopes, and shrimp gobies and sweetlips are common. Occasionally, mandarin fish have been spotted in shallow water. This site also features beautiful coral gardens with a high abundance of both hard and soft corals. This dive is an excellent refresher/check-out dive or just a nice easy dive with good visibility, calm conditions and no current. The diving entry point is marked by a long, low, rocky point east of the beach, which is at the center of the island’s northern coast. Enter just on the eastern side of the point and swim counter-clockwise around the point at 20-25 m depth . Once around the point the reef slope will turn into a wall that drops to about 35 m depth. The wall continues to a sandy slope in front of the beach, which marks the end of the dive. A second dive can begin at the sandy slope and continue counter-clockwise across the front face of the beach to where the reef turns north and juts out to another point.

 

Dive Site Sabolan Kecil

Scuba diving at Sebolan KecilThis is another good site within easy reach of Labuanbajo. On the west side of the island there is a small white sandy beach. At the northern most point of the beach where the sand meets the rocks is the best point to enter. The reef slopes down to sand and there is a patch reef isolated from the islands fringing reef . The Water clarity is usually good and so is the dive. Once you have seen the patch reef you can return to the fringing reef slope to finish your dive.
 

Explore more of Komodo Island Dive Description:

enter Komodo Dive Site Description part 1 which includes the divesites: Tanjung Rusa, Toro Oi, GPS Point, Letuhoh Reef, Toroletuhoh, Nisaleme Island, Batu Saloka, Banana Split, Tukoh-lehokgebah, Tukoh-serikaya
 
enter Komodo Dive Site Description part 2 which includes the divesites: Lohwenci, Langkoi Rock, The Alley, German Flag, South Tala, Tanjung Loh Sera, Indihiang, Loh Namu, Pantai Merah/ Pink Beach, Darat Passage South

enter Komodo Dive Site Description part 3 which includes the divesites:Darat Passage North, Gililawa Darat Island, Crystal Rock, Castle Rock, Gililawa Laut, Tatawa Besar, Tatawa Kecil, Batu Bolong, Karang Makasar, Batu Tiga, Payung Island, Three Sisters/ Tiga Dara

 

Or what about the Raja Ampat Archipelago?

Explore the amazing Dive Sites of Raja Ampat

Comments (0)


Add a Comment