The largest and most diverse area of the park is the centre. This part of the park offers incredible diving all year round. From dives surrounded by manta rays to searching through the sand for rare and beautiful macro, the diving in the centre of the park is fantastically diverse and will be sure you to keep you entertained!
With the resort being right on the doorstep of the Komodo National Park we can access these sites all year round, with the closest site being less than ten minutes away!
The centre of the park is accessible and wonderful all year round!
From April - September the water temperature is 28-29 degrees and the visibility ranges from 20-30m.
From October - March the temperature drops a little and can range from 24-28 degrees and the visibility can range from 15-20m.
Otherwise known affectionately as 'Fish Soup,' this is surely one of the most spectacular dive sites in Komodo. An exposed pinnacle, this site is extremely subject to current and must be dived at a specific time. The side of which we dive it depends completely on the tide. Clouds of fish surround the corals here, often making it hard to see your hand in front of you face - even though we have crystal clear conditions!
This site is truly mind-blowing. Descend down the pinnacle and you’ll be blown away by the stunning array of colours. It's easy enough to just stay in one spot for the whole dive and just watch the fish life surround you. If you can tear your eyes away from the mass of schooling fish, great macro can be spotted at this site too! From pygmy seahorses to crazy nudibranchs; from huge moray eels to tiny orangutan crabs - you'll find it hard to bring yourself up from this dive without wanting to change tanks and drop straight back in again!
This wonderful wall dive has unique topography for the dive sites located in the centre of the national park. A mixture of sloping reefs and flat bottomed dive sites singles out Polis Point for it's beautiful sheer wall which stretches down to around 35 metres. Beginning on the sloping coral reef, this site is best dived left shoulder at the end of a falling tide so as best to avoid strong currents.
The reef gives way to the beautiful wall replete with huge whip corals and teeming with marine life, and towards the latter half of the dive the wall transforms into a stunning overhang where eagle eyed divers can tuck in and spend their time hunting for macro critters, from nudibranchs and leaf scorpionfish to xeno crabs and frogfish. In addition, it's always worth keeping one eye into blue as this dive site has proved an excellent spot for passing eagle rays and devil rays.
Translated from the local dialect Mangarai, this dive site is named 'cold water,' but don't let that put you off, it’s not actually much colder than the rest of the park - you just move a lot slower! A sloping sand and soft coral reef that plateaus at around 25 metres, this is another of Komodo's critter-hunt dives.
Performing a zig-zag pattern up the reef, our eagle-eyed staff spot the elusive mandarin fish and picturesque dragonets with regularity here. A photographer's dream, this calm dive site sees lucky divers frequently coming across Coleman shrimp, zebra crabs, ornate ghost pipefish, mototi octopus and the rare rhinopia on this not-to-be-missed muck dive.
This drift dive is one of Scuba Junkie's favorites as it's a fantastic place to dive throughout the year. You can even spot the mantas easily from the boat before you jump in and it’s common to see them breaching during the dive site briefings.
The reef has the feeling of being on the surface of the moon as it is quite rubbly and sparse on first glance with craters and dunes; but while you are hoping for a manta to pass by don't neglect to look around you as you can see some incredible macro in the rubble. This is actually one of our best dive sites for blue ring octopus! We often see bumphead parrotfish, eagle rays and the occasional black tip reef shark and if you are very lucky you may spot a deil ray or dugong!
Up to 50 mantas can be seen here at one time displaying mating and feeding trains in the right season. It is a very humbling experience to witness this magnificent creature gliding and somersaulting their graceful dance above your head. The best approach is to quietly watch their incredible display from the bottom of the reef and not to chase after them; these inquisitive creatures are sure to come in for a closer look!
One of the great macro dive sites located in the Komodo National Park, this sloping soft coral garden is blessed with a whole host of peculiar critters. Generally unaffected by current, this is best dived at a nice slow relaxed pace to better locate the hidden treasures within!
Divers on this site have been fortunate to encounter blue ringed octopus, wonderpus and flamboyant cuttlefish and frequently encounter mushroom coral pipefish, seahorses and a whole host of ribbon eels. An absolute must for the macro enthusiasts!
This sloping coral reef is home to some of the most beautiful coral in the Komodo National Park. A dive that can be done with no current at all affords the luxury of searching the amazing coral bommies, tube sponges and sea fans for all manner of macro delights. Conversely, if dived on the correct tidal change, this site can be an exhilarating drift dive with white tip and black tip reef sharks common as you hurtle through crystal clear waters.
When the current dies down, the corner of the island welcomes you with a seemingly never-ending stretch of amazing hard corals, home to hawksbill turtle and thousands of schooling fish. As an added bonus, this reef has proved one of the best in the park for manta encounters.
This stunningly beautiful dive site has an impressive array of huge vibrant coral gardens, boulders, drop offs, caves and swim throughs; it's a place where divers can be treated to almost anything both big and small, which definitely adds to the excitement! The topography of the site is one of the most impressive and unique in the park.
We regularly see amazing schools of fish including blue fin trevally, fusiliers, bumphead parrotfish, sharks, turtles and wrasse. The odd Manta Ray and Dugong have also been spotted here. Along with soft coral and anemones, this site is a must see! This dive site, like many in the park, is notorious for its strong currents so again take care and listen to your dive briefing carefully.
This extraordinary seamount is amongst the closest dive sites to the resort, and boasts a stunning variety of schooling fish and macro. Awash with enormous whip corals rising from the depths of its steep sloping reef, a venture to the deeper sections of this site will prove fruitful with schools of bluefin trevally, blue and yellow fusiliers and white tips casually cruising by. Searching amongst the nooks and crannies of this reef along the various plateaus will reward keen eyed divers with all manner of colourful nudibranchs and flatworms. Depending on the currents here it can be possible to make your way around the whole pinnacle; in stronger currents a safer method is to zig zag your way along up the reef. Both are fantastic!
One of the most relaxed dive sites in the National Park, this beautiful island actually allows for two very distinct dives. If one were to head right shoulder from the mooring line you will quickly come across Mini Wall, which, as the name suggests, is a spectacular wall that meets a sandy bottom at around 35 metres. The wall itself is filled with schooling fish, with blue streak fusiliers and red tooth triggerfish regular guests. Nudibranchs, lionfish and cuttlefish can be seen working their way up and down this drop off, and you can often barely see the reef for schools of anthias in the hard-coral garden which comprises the shallows.
An expansive sandy slope separates Mini Wall from an amazing coral garden. Along the slope our guides spot garden eels, flamboyant cuttlefish and skeleton shrimp. If you continue left shoulder the sloping reef meets the sand at around 16-18 metres, and here we have a wonderful opportunity to photograph pygmy seahorse, leaf scorpionfish and a variety of frogfish. An excellent dive for both inexperienced and experienced divers alike!
The gorgeous reef sits opposite it’s sister island of Siaba Besar, but boasts a unique and beautiful topography. The slop coral reefs drops into an incredible overhang where schools of harlequin sweet lips like to congregate. This site can be dived in a few different ways.
We can choose to hit it when the current is flying and enjoy it as a Superman style drift - flying along the reef for 15-20 minutes before coming to the lee side. Or we can aim to dive the site at slack tide, taking our time to explore the topography. Keep an eye out in the blue for various species of rays, and up in the shallowing schooling trevally!
Either way we dive the site we end the dive at a stunning coral garden with the chance to see white tip reef sharks, hawksbill turtles, schooling snappers, fusiliers and possibly even the elusive Dugong!
This sheltered bay is fantastic for all levels of diver! The sand of the bay plataus out at 10-12m before hitting an outer reef. Within the sandy area there is a chance to spot frogfish, seahorses, ghost pipefish and huge green turtles!
Sheltered from the stronger currents this is the perfect spot for new divers who are feeling a little nervous, or for more experienced divers wanting to find the small and bizarre critters hidden away in the same. It’s also a great spot to practice your photography skills
