Is Komodo good for beginner divers?

Yes, partly: 5 of the 20 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Pink Beach (Pantai Merah), Sebayur Kecil and Tatawa Besar. The others need more experience or a higher certification.

What is the water temperature in Komodo?

The water is usually between 20 °C and 30 °C over the year.

What marine life can you see in Komodo?

Divers regularly see manta rays (all year), grey reef sharks, reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, turtles and eagle rays.

How do you dive Komodo?

The nearest airport is LBJ. Ways to dive here: dive resorts and liveaboards.

Komodo

Diving in Indonesia

20 documented dive sites, 5 of them for Open Water divers. Known for manta rays, grey reef sharks and reef sharks.

Best months: Apr–Oct
Water: 20–30 °C
Levels: Open Water, Advanced, Experienced
Diving from: Dive resorts, Liveaboards
Nearest airport: LBJ

Photo: Devagonal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When to go

Pick a month: the diving season, from published sources, and the typical weather.

Pick a month

Best
Good
Possible
Closed
Not documented yet

Komodo in October

Best season

Sea: 29 °C; at the surface
Air: 32 °C; 26 °C at night
Rain: 20 mm; one of the driest months
Wind: 12 km/h; on average

Typical weather, not a forecast: averages for 2021–2025 (air, rain, wind) and 2023–2025 (sea), data from Open-Meteo (ERA5 / Copernicus, Météo-France). Covers an area of roughly 10 to 25 km around the destination.

North route best Apr–Oct (visibility 30 m+). Dec–Mar: manta peak, visibility 10–15 m. South is cold (21–24 °C).

Source: liveaboard.com

Dive sites in Komodo

From the easiest to the most demanding. Levels with a dashed outline are estimates we are still verifying.

Open Water friendly

usual dive down to 18 m5 sites

Macro

down to 25 m

Pink Beach (Pantai Merah)

A healthy shallow reef off Komodo's Red Beach, home to frogfish and mantis shrimps on a slope down to 25 m.

Open Water
Frogfish

Macro

down to 25 m

Sebayur Kecil

Gentle, coral-rich sloping reef about 15 km from Labuan Bajo with bumphead parrotfish schools, green turtles and mandarinfish; a noted night dive.

Open Water
Turtles

Drift

down to 25 m

Tatawa Besar

Colourful drift past soft corals and clouds of anthias, with reef sharks and grazing turtles along the way.

Open Water
Manta rays

Wall

down to 30 m

Yellow Wall

Wall from 5 m to more than 30 m blanketed in soft corals, colourful fire urchins, featherstars and sea squirts.

Open Water
Nudibranchs

Muck

down to 20 m

Wainilu

Shallow critter dive for all levels with frogfish, seahorses, blue-ring and mimic octopus and mandarinfish.

Open Water
Blue-ringed octopus

For Advanced divers

usual dive down to 30 m10 sites

Batu Bolong

Tiny Central Komodo rock pinnacle with clouds of anthias, bigeye trevally and sweetlips, whitetips on the deeper slopes and common hawksbill turtles.

Advanced
Pinnacle
Whitetip reef sharks

Drift

down to 35 m

Castle Rock

North Komodo site where grey, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks cruise the blue alongside big schools of giant trevally, dogtooth tuna and barracuda.

Advanced
Grey reef sharks

Manta Point (Komodo) dive site, Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Makassar Reef (Manta Point)

Shallow manta cleaning-station drift where reef mantas show up year-round, peaking December–April with 4–12 on a good dive.

Advanced
Drift
Manta rays

Macro

down to 25 m

Siaba Besar

Sheltered sandy bay nicknamed Turtle City, where green turtles are everywhere, resting on coral and cruising past.

Advanced
Turtles

down to 30 m

Manta Alley

South Komodo site where 20–40 reef mantas gather in feeding trains in the December–March plankton season.

Advanced
Manta rays

Drift

down to 30 m

Mawan

Advanced
Manta rays

Wall

down to 27 m

Pengah Kecil

Slope and wall with turtles, morays, eagle rays and bumphead parrotfish, plus pygmy seahorses and whip-coral shrimp.

Advanced
Whitetip reef sharks

Drift

down to 30 m

Siaba Kecil

Current-swept reef with sweetlips, batfish and giant trevally, where turtles, morays and octopus are also seen.

Advanced
Turtles

down to 35 m

Batu Tiga

Very strong-current site for advanced divers with massive groupers, schooling barracuda and giant trevally.

Advanced
Barracuda

Pinnacle

down to 30 m

Cannibal Rock

South Komodo site known for macro: nudibranchs, frogfish, rhinopias and pygmy seahorses among soft coral, crinoids and sea apples.

Advanced
Bamboo sharks

For experienced divers

usual dive down to 40 m5 sites

Rock formations

down to 35 m

Police Corner

Strong-current corner off Siaba Besar with a crack wide enough for one diver at a time and rays and sharks passing in the blue.

Experienced
Batfish

Drift

down to 35 m

The Cauldron (Shotgun)

Channel drift between Gili Lawa Laut and Darat: drop into a giant bowl, then ride the current through a small rocky channel with mantas and reef sharks.

Experienced
Manta rays

Drift

down to 30 m

Crystal Rock

Komodo site where divers scan the blue for large tuna, giant trevallies and grey reef sharks.

Experienced
Grey reef sharks

Drift

down to 30 m

Golden Passage

Channel drift with schooling sweetlips and trevally, three reef-shark species, and chances of mantas, devil rays and eagle rays.

Experienced
Manta rays

Drift

down to 35 m

Tatawa Kecil

Central Komodo hard-coral shelf in strong current, where giant trevally hunt, sharks cruise the drop-off and hammerheads sometimes appear.

Experienced
Manta rays

Marine life

When the big encounters happen, month by month.

Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Manta raysSource: divetribekomodo.com
Whale sharksSource: divetribekomodo.com
Hammerhead sharksSource: divetribekomodo.com
Mola mola (sunfish)Source: divetribekomodo.com

Peak season
Seen

Also reported here, season not documented yet:

Grey reef sharks
Reef sharks
Whitetip reef sharks
Turtles
Eagle rays
Tuna
Barracuda
Trevally
Frogfish
Nudibranchs
Pygmy seahorses
Bumphead parrotfish
Napoleon wrasse
Dolphins
Mobula rays

Where is Komodo?

View on OpenStreetMapLocation: Komodo (island) (Wikipedia)Map: Natural Earth

Nearest airport: LBJ
How people dive here: Dive resorts, Liveaboards

Komodo: frequently asked questions

When is the best time to dive Komodo?: The best months to dive Komodo are Apr–Oct. North route best Apr–Oct (visibility 30 m+). Dec–Mar: manta peak, visibility 10–15 m. South is cold (21–24 °C).
Is Komodo good for beginner divers?: Yes, partly: 5 of the 20 dive sites we document are suited to Open Water divers, including Pink Beach (Pantai Merah), Sebayur Kecil and Tatawa Besar. The others need more experience or a higher certification.
What is the water temperature in Komodo?: The water is usually between 20 °C and 30 °C over the year.
What marine life can you see in Komodo?: Divers regularly see manta rays (all year), grey reef sharks, reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, turtles and eagle rays.
How do you dive Komodo?: The nearest airport is LBJ. Ways to dive here: dive resorts and liveaboards.

About this page

Seasons and marine life come from the sources below. Site levels and depths marked as estimated come from our original catalogue and are being checked one by one. Conditions change: always confirm with a local dive centre.

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Photo: Sarah Lee on Unsplash

Photo credits

Pink Beach on Padar Island, Komodo National Park, Devagonal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Batu Bolong dive site, Komodo, Indonesia, Alexander Vasenin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Manta Point (Komodo) dive site, Komodo National Park, Indonesia, Siharaditia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sunlight and bubbles in deep blue water, Sarah Lee, Unsplash License, on Unsplash