Introduction.
“In the west of Flores, buzzy, coastal Labuan Bajo is the destination du jour of divers and dragon-seekers, and the gateway to the pink-sand beaches and gin-clear waters of Komodo National Park.” — Lonely Planet Indonesia
Labuan Bajo’s glossy marina and ever-expanding number of restaurants aside, the jumping-off point for Komodo National Park and its famous dragons is perhaps a smidgen short on sights. However, that’s not why I was there.
Everything you need is along the one-way Jl Soekarno Hatta, from Western restaurants and local rumah makan (eating houses) to coffee shops, accommodation, travel agents, ATMs and dive centres.
I chose Dragon Dive Komodo as my dive centre. It’s a five-star PADI outfit with fabulous accommodation.
Background.
Twenty five years ago, to the month, I set off on an 8-month journey around Asia. The trip kick-started my passion for travel.
I managed to tick off a huge junk of this amazing part of the world – apart from the Philippines and Indonesia.
This year I get to clock up 60-years on this planet, it seemed like a good reason to finish off my South East Asia exploration.
January 2025.
With the Philippines now covered off, it was time to visit Indonesia. Again, it was a huge challenge deciding just where to start and what to do in the 30 days allowed by my visa.
After a lot of research, and some excellent recommendations from fellow travellers, I managed to narrow it down to three regions of particular interest to me.
Indonesia Part 1 of 3 – Flores.
Having flown from Manila in the Philippines to Denpasar on the island of Bali, I then took the next flight out to Labuan Bajo on Flores.
I was happy to move straight on from Bali. If surfing and partying are your thing, then by all means stay there, but for me there was simply too much else to explore.
The scuba diving around Flores is reputed to be some of the best in the world, and then, of course, there are the Komodo dragons to check out.
I spent four days diving with the extremely well-run dive centre, Dragon Dive Komodo. They have a great team, and while I was there, I also completed my PADI Nitrox course.
I met some fabulous people on the daily dive boat, and the diving was amazing. I also managed to achieve a lifetime wish: diving with manta rays.
And, of course, it was pretty incredible to get up close to Komodo dragons.
