Komodo National Park is both a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site comprising 29 islands (the largest, most notable three are Komodo, Rinca, and Padar), with a total surface area (land and sea) of 1,817km. But it’s best known for two things: the Komodo dragon and some of the best scuba diving in the world. 

The park is smack-dab in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, between the Flores Sea, Savu Sea and Indian Ocean, a channel prone to very strong currents. (Some of the currents also result from upwellings smashing into the continental divide.)

Although currents can make diving difficult or even potentially dangerous, they also bring tons of nutrient-rich water to the area, which results in abundant sea life, from the smallest nudibranchs to the biggest sea turtles and mantas you’ve ever seen. 

It was, without a doubt, among the top diving we’ve ever done. We stayed in a room at the dive shop in Labuan Bajo (on the adjacent Flores Island) and went out on the boat every day. On our first day, after two morning dives, we stopped by Rinca to trek a bit and see the dragons to “get it out of the way.” Because they don’t move around much, the dragons don't require tons of time. Plus, despite knowing they're the largest lizards in the world, they were bigger than we'd anticipated and, despite the rangers with their long, pronged-at-the-end sticks, I nervously worried that one might lunge at any moment. 

(Side note: I asked one ranger, "Have any of the lizards ever attacked before?" expecting reassurance. What I got was a nonchalant, "oh, yes, all the time. But no one has ever been bitten." The reason you don't want a Komodo to bite you? Their bite is venomous and their saliva contains more than a few strains of bacteria, which can be quite the lethal combination. Lovely.) 

Back to the main event, the diving. Not trying to make anyone jealous, but it was really, really, really, really good. We got lucky with weather and the water had near-perfect, 30+ m visibility every day. (Look at those photos! You'd think it was a swimming pool, not open water!) But the main reason it was oh, so good is that we saw everything.

Unlike other diving destinations, Komodo isn't only known for this or that. On one dive, you can see it all, such as:
Hard corals, soft corals, green sea turtles, hawksbill turtles, black- and white-tip reef sharks, giant mantas (you know how much we love those), mantis shrimp, gobi fish, bat fish, file fish, napoleon fish, frog fish, scorpion fish, stone fish, alligator fish… I could go on and on like Bubba in Forest Gump talking about shrimpin'. 

Long story short, we love us some diving. And if you do too, take our advice, Komodo National Park is the place to be.

In addition to the diving, we met some cool people, ate some yummy food (Made in Italy is some of the best Italian food in one of the last places you'd expect to find it!) and had fun at night learning about the island from dive guides born and raised there, as well as adding a few more items to our “to do in Indo” list. Finally, we couldn't leave (they literally wouldn't let us) before popping our “vodka joss” cherry. (It's an Indo thing. Thanks again for that, Vero and Rachel!)

Shout out to the best dive guide with the best hair, the awesome Stefanus, and to our new friend Rachel for giving us photos and videos from her GoPro so we had some with us in them for a change! A few of the shots in this gallery (probably the better ones...) are hers.