Komodo – the very name conjures up visions of giant lizards, remote islands and for divers, strong currents and epic diving. I’d always been interested in this area but I had dismissed it as a ‘liveaboard only’ destination which usually worked out to be very expensive. I had also longed to dive Raja Ampat further to the east, but have been put off by the need for a further day’s travel (each way). From all reports the diving in the Komodo region is some of the best in the world, similar to that in Raja Ampat and arguably in the ‘epic’ category. But after a bit of research a small resort in the Komodo islands caught my eye – Angel Island Eco Resort. Situated only 60 minutes from some world-class dive sites this promises to offer some exciting diving. One of the features in the area that stands out is just how healthy the reefs are. The Komodo region gets tidal flushing each day with slightly cooler water (26 degrees) coming up from deepwater in the Indonesian trench, hence thriving marine communities and no sign of coral bleaching. Visibility appears to be consistently spectacular. With everything from macro-wonderland type dives to Mantas, barracudas and turtles on current washed walls, Komodo offers a lot for all but novice divers, who might find some dives a little challenging. A nice aerial view of the resort and the island - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp0a8D_KMKs Diving from the resort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDNJvwskCtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64t-EHbNtRM For an amazing overview of diving in the area, watch Alex Lindbloom’s HD film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHMddh5_Oj0 Recent reviews of Angel Island Eco Resort Reviewed 30 June 2017 via mobile
Great experience in the heart of the Flores region We had planned for a short stay and we really would have enjoyed staying longer. The resort is in a beautiful tiny island just a Short boat trip away from Labuan Bajo. The team there makes you feel truly welcomed and they take great care to ensure a flawless experience. The room-bungalows are large, clean and comfortable and the "all inclusive" menus offer a good variety of good food to meet all tastes. Snorkeling around the island is great and we could see just meters away from the shore baby black tip sharks, puffers, sting rays, scorpion and lion fish, to name a few. SCuba diving with Kate (one of the owners and the Dive Master) was a great experience and she took us to fantastic places in the Komodo area where we had some of the best dives yet. We can only thank Kate, Frido, Albert and the rest of the team for making us feel welcome and at home. We'll be back!!! Jaume and Juan Stayed: June 2017, travelled with family Reviewed 18 January 2017
A wonderful and environmentally conscious resort break from the world This place is paradise. Based in the Komodo region, this private dive resort Island is just amazing. With 10 rooms on the island, each private, you can feel as though you are here on your own. There is a beautiful house reef to snorkel off and dive trips heading out daily. You can also organise private trips (and if you want to share the experience they are happy to put it out there if any other guests are interested). The rooms are very clean and tidy with a coffee pod machine that makes good coffee. There is an airconditioner for those that don't cope with the heat so well. The outdoor bathroom area is spacious and clean. The grounds are kept clean and tidy too. The diving is phenomenal in this region but I suppose any google search would have already told you this. There is a dive master on site and you can book in to do a course, plan to do dives around Komodo, or house dives around the resort (day or night). The thing I loved the most was the effort put in to try and inspire divers to take another look at what is usually taken for granted. I also loved the way that dives were planned, to be enjoyed for as long as possible, not just over with to check it off the list. The food is good. There is a really nice variety so you do not get tired of the same food all of the time. The menu includes fresh veggies which I imagine are hard to source, but really nice to be able to eat. Overall we had a fabulous stay and hope to go back again. We visited on a full board deal which included dives and made everything easy (pay for own alcohol but all else included).
Reviewed 3 June 2017
Great experience and amazing diving ‌.What really surprised me, however, was the diving operation! Angel Island has one of the nicest dive boats I've ever encountered - huge deck space, freshwater shower, spacious bathroom, and tea/coffee on demand. The owner, Cate (or Kate, sorry!) was an excellent dive guide - she gave thorough briefings, kept things fun, and was amazing at finding beautiful creatures for us to look at. Like all of her staff, she was very friendly and helpful.
Located between Bali and Timor Leste we fly Melbourne-Bali, overnight and then fly Bali -Labuhan Bajo followed by a 30 minute boat transfer to Angel Island Eco Resort.
LAND ARRANGEMENTS Hotel B Bali 22SEP18 - 23SEP18 Hotel B Bali 1 Nights Twin Superior room Breakfast pack included Return airport transfers Important information: Note names must be supplied on the booking form exactly as per your passport. Please check that your passport has a minimum of six months validity from your return date. Angel Island Resort Komodo 23SEP18 - 01OCT18 Angel Island Resort Komodo 8 Nights Twin Deluxe cottage All meals Return airport transfers Optional extra: Rinca Island Komodo Islands Tour including snorkelling at pink sand beach payable onsite: $85 pp. Marine Park charge: 175000 IDR (approx. $17 AUD)
THE ISLAND: (from http://www.angelisleflores.com/ ) Pulau Bidadari (translates to Angel Island) is named after the Bidara trees which grow on the island. 15 hectares in size, with 3 beaches and surrounded by coral reef it is a varied and interesting island. Local government licenses have been acquired to turn waters surrounding the island into a protected area, allowing the reef and marine life to thrive. On land, life is also thriving with extra native trees and flora being planted; it has created a haven for birds, butterflies and insects. While the island changes appearance from wet to dry season, the wildlife drawn by the abundant plants stays the same. Many species of birds inhabit the trees, including woodpeckers, kingfishers, Megapodes, and eagles all being sighted regularly around the island. The many native plants that have been added over the years have acted as a magnet to many types of butterflies that drift past on the breeze. Also attracted in are numerous Sunbirds who can often be seen feeding on the flowers surrounding the restaurant, as well as the cheeky Flores white eyes, endemic to the area which will try and join you for breakfast.
A fantastic in touch with nature feel is on the island as walking around the resort you are almost certain to spot an interesting bird or insect going about its daily life. A few metres off the beach is protected coral reef, providing spectacular soft and hard corals to snorkelers. Certainly even sitting on the beach can be an experience in itself, with those who are watching the water often treated to a passing baby shark, one of the many stingrays that come out in the late afternoon or maybe even a passing pod of dolphins or a jumping sailfish for the very lucky. Those who explore the waters around the island either by snorkelling or diving on the house reef will find varied marine life under the surface. Seahorses can be found in shallow water, along with pufferfish, stingrays, snake eels, moray eels, cuttlefish, nudibranch, pipefish and much, much more. Some guests barely make it out of the water they are so impressed with what they find!
THE RESORT: This resort has the advantage of being offshore from Labuhan Bajo and closer to the Komodo Dive sites. It is a boutique eco resort set in the rainforest back from the beach. There are three beaches on this small island – one for sunrise, one for sunset and one for just chilling! Please note that there is no pool but a beautiful beach with excellent snorkelling.There are only 10 cottages with a total capacity around 20 so I expect this trip will fill in a matter of weeks. (from http://www.angelisleflores.com/ ) The Cottages at Angel Island are often described as a hidden gem, and one of the many highlights of a stay. Offering true value, the hand crafted cottages nestle amongst verdant gardens, giving an amazing sense of private nature. Constructed from the finest materials, the cottages provide all modern facilities, including air conditioning, hot water, free WiFi, private open air bathrooms, Pod style French Espresso coffee machine, flat screen tv with a selection of films, mini bar, safety box, Many customers have told us our cottages eclipse the standards offered by surrounding establishments – when asked how they like the cottages, the most common response is ‘wow’!
Semi-outdoor bathrooms in cottages set under the rainforest canopy are a feature of this boutique resort:
DINING: Meals are served throughout the day in our beach front restaurant. With inspiring views of Flores and the surrounding archipelago, and positioned to catch the amazing sunset over the National Park, you can listen to waves lapping at the shore while birdlife can be watched going about their daily life. Angel Island is unique in the area as we are the only island resort offering all-inclusive a la carte meals as standard. For every meal you will get a full choice from a wide and varied menu, and you are able to choose exactly how much you would like! Also included in the room rate are all soft drinks and refreshing fruit juices, and a hand-picked selection of teas and coffees from around the world. In fact the only thing that is not included in the room rate is alcohol, which is served in local and imported beers, a choice wine selection and cocktails for those looking to relax in style! All of our food is 100% organic and freshly sourced from local suppliers, and we can offer an extensive Western, Asian and vegetarian menu.
The Diving: Yes – there will be currents! But…speaking with the dive operation, there are always ways to avoid currents From resort management – “Most of the dive sites can be dived 2 ways, the easy way in the lee of the current or the adrenalin way, so you can usually do all of the sites in the park.”
(from http://www.angelisleflores.com/ ) - Dive the best sites in Komodo National Park with us. We make
daily dive trips into Komodo National Park with our Traditional boats, we dive here all year around, so our Instructors know the sites, currents and critters well;o) We leave Angel Island 8.00 am and return around 2:00pm depending on which sites we visit, it takes between 60-90 mins to reach the sites in the National Park.
• There is plenty of shade on the boat and places to catch the sun, onboard toilet •
Emergency equipment Oxygen, First Aid, Radio
Dive Sites We can give easy access to the North and Central areas of the park. As conditions in Komodo can vary dramatically, we only dive sites when the conditions are right for the divers on the boat. Some of the sites we visit are: •
North Komodo – Gili lawa Laut Area •
Crystal Rock is marked by rocks which just break the
surface at high tide, a wonderful dive site with lots of coral of all varieties, a dive to see big and small marine life, white tip reef sharks, Giant trevallys with schools of fusiliers, hawksbill turtles and often an eagle ray can be spotted gliding in the current, a good place to spot many nudibranchs, scorpion fish and octopus, sometimes we get a quick glimpse of dolphins swimming in the current and checking us out. •
Full Moon further north is a submerged sea mound. This site is covered in many varieties of hard corals, heading down, bat fish will come to greet you and try to swim between your fins and catch your bubbles as you exhale, you find Hawksbill turtles and processions of bright luminous blue fusiliers, it’s not a surprise to see white and Black tip sharks checking out the action for their next meal, a couple of big grey sharks hang out deep on this site and sometimes come into the shallower depths, dolphins again have been seen here, good place to see blue ribbon eels and Crocodile fish.
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Lighthouse Reef A couple of Huge Napoleon wrasse make their home here, designated as a Coral Trout aggregation area there are certainly some huge specimens patrolling the waters, a huge underwater rock is the entry point of the dive going down to the depths, we swim along the wall and gradually make our way up into the shallows with groups of red tooth triggerfish and Palette Surgeons, often Mantas come into the shallows to be cleaned, you find a comfortable spot, then wait for the procession to begin.
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The Cauldron as the name might suggest to you, it is really something to see when the current is running, it looks like the top of a boiling pot, once the current abates, we drop down into the centre of the cauldron onto a sandy bottom at 24mts the edges of the cauldron are rock faces with huge ledges gouged into them covered in every colour of hard and soft corals you can imagine, Black and White tip sharks play here, with huge giant, big eye and blue fin trevallys stalking us and glaring at us with their grumpy faces.
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Stingray City again the name suggests lots of blue spotted mask rays and blue spotted fan tail rays, a big group of bumphead parrot fish live here and 2 giant frog fish, off the steeper slopes we often see white tip reef sharks, lots of anemones with their colourful clown fish, sometimes Mantas feeding in the shallow water.
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Coral Garden Steep wall turning into a slope of coral then up to a sandy ledge with big coral heads leading up to a wonderful coral garden in the shallows, we often see white tips sleeping in the sand with many varieties of rays including jenkins whip rays, porcupine rays, blue spotted and of course everyones favourite the Manta. Good place to find crocodile fish and leaf scorpion fish.
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Aquarium a ledge at 5 mts shelters us from the current we stay a while and watch the fusiliers feed, we’ve often had manta moments here with them staying most of the dive and feeding in the current then swooping in to take a look at you, we spent one dive in the same place here for 105 mins, never moved and only went up as we were running low on air; but if it’s quiet, we swim over into the current and take a ride to end up in a sandy plateau at about 12mts and spend the dive searching the coral heads for leaf fish and critters of every variety, white tips sleep in the sand with the smaller ones hiding under table corals, bumphead parrot fish always seen here, hawksbill turtles, pipe fish and garden eels popping up from the sand like a field of wheat.
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Gold passage a drift dive starting in the shelter of the bay with slope leading to a steep wall, then moving along to catch the current which sweeps us along at some rate of knots passing giant trevallys, bumphead parrot fish, schools of fusilers to end up on a sheltered coral slope to look for the crocodile fish, leaf fish and any other little critters that catch our eye.
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East of Komodo Island
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Sebayur kecil walls and slopes of every kind of coral you can imagine, with a wide variety of marine life to be seen at this site, a great place for macro photography with leaf scorpion, Ornate ghost pipe fish, robust pipe fish, banded pipe fish, blue ringed octopus, crocodile fish to name a few.
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Tetawa Besar Orange Grove a gentle slope runs the length of this dive site with an orange soft coral garden changing to hard coral along towards the end of the slope, lots of schooling fusiliers, usual to see a lot of Hawksbill turtles and white tip reef sharks, lots of Mantas in the rainy season and a huge variety of beautiful coloured nudibranchs. Manta Corner another nice coral covered slope with the hope of spotting mantas in the rainy season, nice coral with leaf scorpion fish, blue ribbon eels, turtles, white tips and lots of nice coral heads in the shallow to check out the smaller critters.
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Tetawa Kecil a small island that is in an area that gets a lot of current in Komodo so not an easy site, but it’s another that is among one of the many world class sites here, schools of pelagic fish patrol the waters, a huge school of bat fish live here near a coral encrusted overhang, Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrot fish with nurse sharks and bamboo sharks found hiding in cracks and crevices in the coral encrusted boulders, the shallows again are a vibrant colourful picture of hard corals that hide the sea snakes, coral file fish and baby sharks.
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Batu Bolong A small rock outcrop with a hole through it is the surface mark of another world class site, these giant slabs of rock which disappear into the depths are an amazing sight to see, covered with every form of marine life and patrolled by giant trevally, Napoleon Wrasse, sharks and turtles with many pelagics sweeping in to check out the divers.
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Siaba Kecil Beautiful coral slope with currents along the edges which bring in the bigger fish, lots of life, water is sometimes chilly here, black tips, white tips, barracudas and a host of nudibranchs and flat worms.
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Airstrip the strangest dive site in the park! a very long stone rubble road stretching forever along the East coast of Komodo, it gently slopes off and has big coral heads at intervals along the road, we tuck in behind these to hide from the current and to check out the marine life there, then take off in the current again, often seeing manta rays, white and black tip sharks, nurse sharks and bamboo sharks under coral ledges and one sighting of a leopard shark, dugongs have also been seen here, it is a manta cleaning and feeding station, bumphead parrot fish like the area and many strange nudibranchs can be found.
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Penga Dead mans island. Stunning coral covers the reefs of this small island, sea snakes, turtles, frog fish, Leaf fish, nudibranchs, long nose hawk fish, octopus sometimes Eagle rays and a wide variety of the usual reef fish.
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Wainilu Critter hunt special at this sandy slope, frog fish, seahorses, juvenile Zebra bat fish, mandarin fish, picture dragonets, ghost pipe fish, ribbon eels, zebra crabs, fire urchins, you never know what will pop up.