Komodo National Park 6th- 16th April 2013

Dive Crew on board:

Cruise Director: Fin                 Dive Master: Gede                  Dive Master: Komang

Day 1: 6th April

                This trip we had a mixed group of divers from America and Great Britain with some of them new to the Komodo area. After a red snapper lunch Ombak Biru cruised west to the Island of Sebayor. Here we anchored for the evening while we had a sunset dive and ate our first three-course meal together. Underwater the group encountered 30 meter visibility along with two large cuttlefish camouflaging against a coral rubble bottom. We witnessed their stealthier side as they began the evenings hunt. Also spotted were giant moray, common and banded cleaner shrimp, bearded scorpion fish and nembrotha nudibranchs. After dinner the boat was visited by a large banded sea krait that was using the boat lights to hunt small fish on the surface.

Seen: Giant moray, large cuttlefish, common cleaner shrimp, bearded scorpion fish, nembrotha nudibranchs, unicorn and surgeon fish and great visibility.

Day 2: 7th April

                During the night Captain Kasim moved the boat over to the Volcanic Island of Sangeang, north-west of KNP. This circular island provides different dive sites around its perimeter with our first choice showing off some volcanic sulphur vents. Hot Rock showed the beautiful colours of the soft coral which were made even more vibrant by the black volcanic sand background. Everyone on the dive saw various nudibranchs on the wall section of the site with some people snapping pictures of their mating procedure. Snake and ribbon eels, soft coral swimming crabs, a hawksbill turtle and schooling fusiliers were all seen on this dive. As the current picked up during the end of the first dive we decided to dive at the Estuary site which is sheltered and offers a steep sloping topography along with various soft corals. Some of the wire corals were a very impressive size. Common and commensal shrimps were found in the bubble anemones along with a juvenile many-spotted snapper. The third dive again offered 25 meters plus visibility with soft coral pinnacles bordered by black sand. One meter long garden eels were watched picking up passing food as wart slugs, scorpion fish and fire gobies were seen on the reef. Bapak Kasim then eased the boat further west and anchored just off the only village on Sangeang Island. Along with a few presents for the village of Bonto we took the speedboats over to the beach to have a look around. It was a very humbling experience for all to witness how these traditional Indonesians were living with no electricity and surviving off the land. The main points of interest were the dilapidated wooden shacks, water wells, their crops and livestock which consisted of water buffalo, goats and chickens. Once back onboard it was time again to jump into the water for a night dive within the same bay as Bonto Village. On this dive the reef and black slope was home to bumble bee shrimp, starry octopus, Spanish dancers, box and decorator crabs.

Seen: Sulphur vents from Sangeang volcano, soft coral swimming crab, banded snake eel, ribbon eel, nudibranchs (soft coral imitator, leopard, neon dragons), hawksbill turtle, various anemone fish with common and commensal shrimp, mantis shrimp, bearded scorpion fish, bumble bee shrimp, starry octopus, box crab, decorator crabs.

Day 3: 8th April

                Ombak Biru traveled from Sangeang to Gili Banta early morning for the first dive at K2. This was a great early morning dive with lots of soft coral pinnacles but could have done with a little extra sun. The weather had turned on us over night and the sky was grey and the rain had started. So we warmed up from the return tender ride with a hot breakfast and prepared to for dive two of the day at Roller Coaster. The medium current allowed us to descend onto the east wall and follow the reef on the right shoulder. At the beginning the current was pushing us through colonies of orange and purple anthias as they picked up the passing marine snow. On the wall sections there were various species of nudibranchs, leafy file fish hiding in fan corals, spotted box fish sheltering in small overhangs and a large puffer fish hovering above the coral garden on the safety stop. Star Wars was chosen for the third dive as it provided a good drift around the corner and protection for our phinisi schooner as the wind had picked up and there were white capped waves all around. Chromodoris nudibranchs were found on the sponge pinnacles here and thick schools of anthias of all varieties. We stayed sheltered inside the bay for the night dive at Circus. It was a pity that the current was at medium strength for this dive as it made it hard for us to stay on the sandy area. Before allowing ourselves to drift to the coral reef bobtail squid, white v octopus, flounders and snake eels were photographed and then crabs of all sorts including decorators and box were found on the reef. A good end to a good days reef diving.

Seen: Black cowrie eating leather coral, giant morays, banded cleaner shrimp, nudis (wart slugs, nembrotha, chromodoris) leafy file fish, giant porcupine fish, porcelain crabs, colonies of anthias, damsels and chromis, spade fish, giant puffer, emperor snapper, hunting jack fish, decorator crabs, white V octopus, peacock flounders, marble shrimp, snake eel, scorpion fish, bobtail squid.

Day 6: 11th April

                With Manta Alley on top form a vote was cast in favour of another two morning dives in Langkoi Bay. At the beginning of the first dive nearly twenty mantas were flapping about on the surface and then proceeded to disperse as the morning current brought their breakfast to them. The small channels here provide excellent playgrounds and bottle-neck the plankton for the rays so it was easy for the guests to just hook in and watch the action. The second dive saw cold and clear upwellings from the west sending the mantas into a frenzy with the odd reef shark passing by too. This time there were uncountable sightings of these amazing creatures as they cruised the shallows and queued up at the cleaning station.

                It was then at last time to move on to Nu Sakode, Horseshoe Bay on south Rinca Island. With the weather still cloudy we opted for the shallow dive on Cannibal Rock with the abundant soft corals, fire urchins and shoals of fish. Listed as one of the best macro sites in the world it also offered the divers many white tip reefs sharks and various groupers on the point. While schools of blue-lined snapper swirled in the mixed current frogfish blended near-perfectly into the reef. With a huge population of crinoids this site showed us commensal shrimps, zebra crabs, morays and nembrotha and flathead nudibranchs. It was then time for the night dive on Torpedo alley. To start the group descended onto a waiting blotched stingray and then proceeded to search the dark sand and soft corals for decorator and soft coral crabs, basket star commensal shrimps, miniature morays and flounders.

Seen: Too-many-to-count manta rays, black tip and white tip reef sharks, bumphead parrot fish, trevally, hawksbill turtles, frogfish, nudibranchs (nembrotha, flat heads), feather star squat lobsters, soft coral and sea pen crabs, octopus, blotched stingray.

Day 5: 10th April

                By 6am we had reached the Bay of Langkoi, south Komodo Island and the home of the famous Manta Alley dive site. The current allowed a steady drift from east to west and showed the guests how much life is on this reef. A school of bumphead parrot fish were there to greet us in the shallows, then upon descending there were a few sleepy white tips and mantas to start the show. It was easy for people to use their reef hooks and gaze up at the rays playing in the gullies and then unhook and drift to the next section. Most of the mantas were gliding around in ten meters of water or less with a few in the channel quite clearly feeding with mouths stretched open wide showing off their impressive barrel-like chests. As planned we “dove” Manta Alley a second time but this time jumping in on the west side. On descending to the main cleaning station there were manta rays fighting for the attention of the black-lipped butterfly fish and the cleaner wrasse. People counted in excess of fifteen rays circling the station with more than forty plus on the site in total. Luckily the experienced dive guides were on-hand to be able to relieve the boredom of the divers by pointing out some sea apples and blue spotted stingrays! All guests came out amazed.

                As the current had become strong in Langkoi Bay we cruised east to the bay of Lok Sera for a walk on the beach and a sunset dive on a small phinisi wreck. On the top of the wreck there were glassfish and young fusiliers being hunted by blue-fin trevally from above and bearded scorpion fish from below. On the latter part of the dive we searched for the ever illusive mandarin fish with success and also came across three very pretty ringed pipefish.

Seen: Over 30 reef manta rays, white tip reef sharks, bumphead parrot fish, schooling fish (giant sweetlip snapper, blue-lined snapper, fusiliers, ) hawksbill turtle, sea apples,

Day 4: 9th April

                So after all the coral reef diving we wanted to change to something a little more fishy. Bapak Kasim delivered the boat to the northern islands of Komodo National Park and by 7.30am we were back in the water. This time on the submerged seamount of Castle Rock in 25 meter viz and 29C warm water. Amazingly the large sponge corals on this site were spawning timing it perfectly with the upwelling as low tide started to move to high. The reef was busy with millions of fusiliers and reef indicator fish being hunted by GTs and small dogtooth tuna. By looking into the current you could see whitetips cruising back and forth while schools of banner fish, various sweetlips and surgeon fish kept a tight formation. The second dive at Crystal Rock was more of the same; great visibility once again and very low current allowing the divers to swim a figure of eight around the pinnacle and seamount which is rarely done. One particular highlight was the arrival of two large napoleon wrasse chasing each other. After lunch the tide was falling providing an opportunity to dive between Gililawa Laut and Gililawa Darat on the notorious Shot Gun dive site. The groups slowly drifted through the channel steering their way from bombie to bombie. The current started to pick up as we approached the fish bowl which the striped trevally seems to enjoy along with several male white tip reef sharks. As we entered the bowl itself we watched two large female white tips guarding the exit (I think we will have some juvenile reef sharks in the shallows soon enough) and then it was time to fight the current to get over to the lush soft coral garden in the shallows. This area proved to be a feeding ground for the turtles with one large great barracuda watching over all. As a night dive two of the divers still had energy to photograph a long-arm octopus and a few Spanish dancers.

Seen: GTs, blue-fin trevally, dogtooth tuna, spawning sponge coral!!, whitetip reef sharks, mapper and giant puffers, schooling fish  (unicorns, surgeons, banners, horse-eye jacks, black snapper), napoleon wrasse, striped trevally, Spanish dancers, long-arm octopus.

Day 7: 12th April

                To wake up and re-energize the guests we all dropped in on Pelican’s Head for the morning dive using torches on the deep wall to spot various chromodoris, sea apples and ladybugs. While ascending towards the end of the dive a large hawksbill drifted by as orangutan crabs and a false stone fish hid on the reef. Once again Cannibal’s Head was repeated on slack tide offering a complete aquarium-like scenario for the guests. With no current we were free to roam the shallow reefs taking pictures of frogfish, bearded scorpion fish and paired fire urchin commensal shrimps. This dive site has to have one of the best safety stops in the world with carpets of various soft coral while schooling fusiliers and juvenile snapper surround the divers. A slow easterly current coming into Horseshoe Bay provided a good opportunity to drift on Yellow Wall. There were many red-tooth triggers, surgeons, unicorns and fusiliers to be seen in the blue. As divers shallowed their dive profile a few hawksbills were caught munching away on broccoli corals one with numerous barnacles living on the shell. On the Torpedo Alley night dive small orange frogfish were found along with many different nudibranchs, crustaceans and bobtail squid.

Seen: Hawksbill turtles, octopus, sea apples, ladybugs, orangutan and zebra crabs, paired commensal shrimps, frogfish, false stone fish, nudibranchs (various chromodoris, nembrotha), comet fish.

Day 8: 13th April

                We headed back to Gililawa Laut for repetitive dives on Castle and Crystal Rock in an effort to seek out warmer and clearer water and that is exactly what we got. All the dives were 29-31C with at least 20 meters visual range. We even had the sun breaking though the cloud finally! Castle and Crystal Rock gave what they do all the time, fantastic fishy dives. Huge bait balls of fusiliers were the main part of the action with white tips, trevally and the odd grey reef circling them. The fusiliers were so densely packed that communication between buddy teams was difficult. The third dive was a drift on Tatawa Besar that showed off the stunning coral garden and schooling spade fish and oriental and diagonal-lined sweetlips. It was almost as though the group had had enough of the sun so it was back to storm chasing down at Wainilu for the night dive. The guests came out with stories of tiny orange frog fish, various crustaceans and starry octopus.

Seen: Grey and white tip reef sharks, GTs, blue-fin trevally, dogtooth tuna, napoleon wrasse, snapper (black, twinspot and blue-lined), scorpion leaf fish, hawksbill turtles, schooling fish (various sweetlips, humphead snapper, blue and robust fusiliers), groupers,

Day 9: 14th April

                So it was back to Current City for the last full day of diving to see if the currents had calmed down. We had a window of opportunity in the morning and were able dive Batu Balong on the sheltered side of the powerful northerly current. The reef was alive with schooling fusiliers swimming away from trevally while napoleon wrasse were shadowed by blue-fin trevally whilst hunting. As the sun lit up the shallows it was like swimming in an aquarium. The next dive was Makasar reef for a drift on the soft coral garden and rubble slope on the lengthy marine structure. Guests saw juvenile nurse sharks, sleeping white tips, many turtles, cuttlefish and blotched stingray. To seek shelter from the rising tide current we moved Ombak Biru to Gililawa Darat to dive The Passage. Even though this area was more sheltered is still provided a very healthy drift with our divers flying by turtles, sharks, GTs and a school of blackfin barracuda. For some the dive was ended out in the blue as their safety stop nearly took them back to the boat while some managed to kick to the north coral reef. As the sun was setting most of the guests came on a walk to for a panoramic view of the bay showing the coral reefs, currents and gliding fish eagles.

Seen: GTs, blue-fin trevally, hawksbill and green turtles, napoleon wrasse, millions of anthias and chromis, white tip reef and nurse sharks, blackfin barracuda.

Trip Route 6th—16th April 2013

Day 10: 15th April

 For the last two dives of the trip we chose Lighthouse and Tatawa Kecil. The first presented the divers with a beautiful shallow soft coral garden bathed in the morning sunlight. Lobsters were tucked away under the bombies, pyjama chromodoris nudibranchs were having some hanky-panky and soft coral imitator crabs were eating plankton caught by the host coral. The safety stop was best of all though with various soft and hard corals living in harmony bordered by bright white sand, quite a sight. Then it was back to Current City for the last dive of the trip. The guests saw large schools of snapper, horse-eye jacks with fusiliers and banner fish maneuvering away from GTs and blue-fin trevally.

It was then onto north Rinca for the Dragon Walk at Loh Buajo and a sunset cruise back to Labuan Bajo for our final meal.

                Thank you to all our guests on board for the last 11 days. It has been a very successful and enjoyable trip for all. We hope to see you again.

Seen: Mating chromodoris nudis, flatworms, GTs, schooling fish (horse-eye jacks, twin spot and black snapper), soft coral crabs.

Thank you all so very much!