Komodo snorkeling is really pretty incredible. We visited in 2019, and spent about a week venturing out into Komodo National Park, exploring a variety of reefs and habitats from a boat. We visited with a group of snorkelers, organized by our friend and trips partner Ben.
The reefs are stunning in Komodo, both for their overall health, and the variety of sea life you can see in the area. While not all the reefs we saw were super dense with life or perfectly healthy, the majority were extremely abundant and full of life, with very healthy corals, sponges, and a plethora of anemones.
Komodo is known for having bigger creatures, and lots of reef fish also. We were able to see some really unique creatures like cuttlefish, manta rays, eagle rays, and big sea turtles.
Many times we saw the biggest examples of fish, like Giant Trevally, Napoleon Wrasse, angelfish, and puffers, we have ever seen.
Although we have seen lots of squid, until this Komodo snorkeling trip we had never seen a cuttlefish in person, which was a real treat. This one changed color and shape rapidly when Galen dove down to take some pictures of it.
Of course, Komodo is famous for its Komodo Dragons, and on our walking tour in the national park on Rinca Island we were able to see a number of them, in mating season no less! They were pretty frisky, and fantastic to see. There were also deer and water buffalo near the ranger station.
Komodo Snorkeling Video
Watch our Komodo snorkeling video below. It will give you a sense of what fish and larger creatures you will see, as well as some of the interesting and colorful coral formations.
Where Is Komodo?
Komodo National Park encompasses three Indonesian islands, Komodo, Padar and Rinca, and 26 smaller ones. It protects the largest lizard on the planet, the Komodo Dragon, and the park also is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a large marine area.
These islands are within the Coral Triangle, which is the most bio-diverse marine environment on earth.
Komodo Snorkeling – What Are the Reefs Like?
Our Komodo snorkeling experience was filled with variety, in terms of the types of reefs and underwater ecosystems we visited, and the types of creatures we saw. And we were happy to see almost no trash in the water.
For about a week we ventured out each day on a boat from a resort to explore reefs within Komodo National Park, and a few locations just outside the park. We would have lunch on the boat and move to a new Komodo snorkeling spot after. The temperatures in Komodo were so hot that we were grateful to be on the boat most of the day, with the cooling ocean breezes.
Komodo is known for having a number of manta ray cleaning stations, and several times we were able to witness these giant beautiful fish gliding easily through the water, and frequently saw smaller rays, and eagle rays in the same areas. The mantas we saw were in a little bit deeper water, but another Komodo snorkeling group a week later saw them near the surface.
We also visited a reef known to be a sea turtle area, and probably saw twenty, either resting in the hard corals or coming up for air. They were Green Sea Turtles at this reef, but on other reefs we would also occasionally see rarer Hawksbill Sea Turtles too. They were quite large turtles, generally bigger than we see in Hawaii.
Fish life was pretty spectacular on the reefs in Komodo. There were lots of parrotfish, many types of which we had never seen. Other reef fish were in abundance, like angelfish, damselfish, gobies, and many varieties of anemonefish.
Redbreasted Wrasses were a treat to see. And giant Titan Triggerfish were common. Numerous species of lionfish were commonly seen, and are native to these waters, so not a scourge.
Beautiful small nudibranchs were fairly common, as were gorgeous colored tunicates, giant clams and some cool little crabs.
We found giant moray eels a number of times. And we often saw large colorful mantis shrimps.
As mentioned above, we saw some of the biggest trevally, and pufferfish we have ever seen. They were easily two or three times the size of similar fish that we have seen in the Pacific.
Large schools of brightly colored fusiliers were on many Komodo snorkeling reefs. They are always a treat to see, and one of Nicole’s favorite fish.
On one snorkel we found a Crocodilefish, that was about two and a half feet long, which we had never seen before.
Feather Stars were very abundant in a broad array of stunning colors, and so were a variety of beautiful sponges and algae.
Coral life is amazing in Komodo. Massive fields of both soft and hard corals covered every surface of the sea floor and walls on some reefs, in stunning colors and variety. And from spot to spot the coral life and overall reef appearance was very different.
The picture below is one of the largest and oldest table corals we have ever seen. Nicole got a picture of Galen hovering over it to help show the scale of it (he was not touching it).
To be fair, not every Komodo snorkeling reef we visited was full of live corals. There were signs of some destructive fishing that had harmed some reefs. And there were reefs we visited that likely don’t get as strong of currents, and they were less dense, and slightly less healthy. But looking back, the reefs overall were in excellent health.
Komodo is a popular destination for divers, so the reefs often have other dive boats on them. At a few Komodo snorkeling locations it felt slightly crowded, although there were few snorkelers. But we also had the reefs completely to ourselves at many locations.
Komodo Snorkeling – Strong Currents Prevail
One of the reasons for the healthy reefs in Komodo is because they are constantly flushed with strong currents from big tidal movements. So we think that Komodo snorkeling should be done with an experienced guide, because the currents can be moving much much faster than you can swim. So your guide needs to time your snorkeling for when the tide is slack, or as often happened on our trip, we did a drift snorkel with the current. Sometimes we did this entirely around an island.
Komodo Water Temperatures
Depending on if you are snorkeling more in the north or south you may want to have a lightweight wetsuit. The water temperatures can get a bit chilly at times. The majority of our trip the water was warm, but a few times we wore our wetsuits.
Snorkeling Komodo – How to Do It
The main airport for the Komodo Islands is on Flores Island, outside the national park, in the town of Labuan Bajo. It is a bustling little town that feels like a step back in time. The port is packed with wooden boats, both diving liveaboard and day boats, and there were several hundred more liveaboard boats anchored in the harbor. The streets are full of dive shops and tourist centers wanting to take you out on the water.
Needless to say, you could do your Komodo snorkeling via day boats or a liveaboard from Labuan Bajo. But it would be a bit of a challenge navigating it and deciding what services to use without a guide. And, on a day trip, you will have a hard time reaching the national park.
Labuan Bajo and the east side of Komodo is very popular and can be crowded. When we visited this area we went with an all snorkeling group organized by our trips partner Ben, and stayed at the Komodo Resort, which we no longer recommend (more below).
Our partner is now offering resort based trips in West Komodo, staying at Kalimaya Resort. You fly into Bima, on Sumbawa Island, and are driven to the resort. They also offer liveaboard options in Komodo, which would be a good way to go.
Ben currently has these guided Komodo snorkeling trips:
- Alor and West Komodo
- West Komodo and Alor
- Alor West Komodo and Raja Ampat
- West Komodo Bangka and Raja Ampat
- Best of Komodo Liveaboard
- Komodo and Beyond Liveaboard
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Please note, we do not recommend booking a snorkeling trip by yourself to visit Komodo Resort. The resort has changed ownership and management and they no longer offer sufficient service for serious snorkelers. Our trips partner was providing the snorkel guides required to visit the good snorkel spots safely, and that will not be available without them. If you want to visit Komodo to snorkel on your own, we now recommend seeking out a liveaboard in Labuan Bajo that is friendly to snorkelers.
Blurry Fish, Rotten Colors, Garbage Pictures
That does not look like what I saw! See our snorkeling camera pages for tips on selecting a good snorkeling camera, and how to use it for great pictures.
Traveling and Culture in Komodo
Komodo has certainly been discovered, but it still feels like a place back in time. As mentioned above, the marina in Labuan Bajo was just packed with boats, but they are all wooden boats of traditional style, making it feel like a much earlier era. It seems you can get by speaking English in this town because of the tourism.
Once you get out into the islands, fishing villages are fairly common, and are predominantly Muslim. We were whisked away to our resort so quickly that we did not have many cultural interactions, but everyone we encountered from the staff at the resort, to the guides at the national park, were very happy folks, welcoming and nice to be around.
