The most popular daily tour in Komodo National Park goes to Padar Island, Komodo Island, Pink Beach and Manta Point.
Padar Island:
Padar Island is around one hour by Red Whale Speedboat from Labuan Bajo. Usually we start at 8 o’clock in the morning when the wind and the wave are less strong. If it’s falling tide, the boat can take advantage of this to sail faster. On the way from Labuan Bajo to Padar, we can see many small islands. Some of them are with names while some still remain unknown. The inhabitants on those islands are muslins and they mainly live by fishing.
Padar Island is featured with classic dry savannah vegetation. The moment we land on it, we can see the grassland extending to the edge of all directions. Padar Island is relatively smaller than Komodo Island and Padar Island, but it’s the only place that we can overlook the three islands at the same time. To reach the view point of Padar, usually it takes around fifteen to twenty minutes by walking in a leisure pace. For some people it’s a tough challenge, but when you get to the top, every drop of the sweats worth a try. With the cool breeze gentling blowing on your face, with all hills of green in your eyes, with a clear blue sky over your head, try to embrace yourself into this virgin nature and you will feel the breath is fresh and different.
Now, look further out. Do you see? There are three different colors of beaches inside three different bays: white beach, black beach and pink beach. In fact, over ninety percent of the beaches in Komodo National Park are pink color. The famous pink beach, however, is not the one in Padar Island but it’s located in Komodo Island. The black beach traces back to the volcano activities many years ago, which resulted in crushed stones afterwards. Now, there is no volcano activity here but the volcano stones set down there in the bay.
It’s time to go to the next destination. On the way, there is still some amazing topography that we will see on the open sides of Padar island. It looks like there are mysterious caves up on the top, but no one has ever climbed up that part, since it’s quite dangerous and not an ideal place for hiking at all. Anyway, that’s the beauty of nature. We can’t measure every inch by foot today, but we still look forward to discovering it more in future.
Komodo Island:
Tale about “ PUTRI NAGA KOMODO”– quoted from Komodo National Park
“Long, long ago, a mythical princess lived on Komodo, whom people called Putri Naga or the Dragon Princess. The princess married a man named Majo and bore him twins: one was a baby boy and the other a baby dragon. Her son, she named Si Gerong, and raised him amongst men; the dragon, she called Orah and reared her in the forest. Neither knew anything of the other. Years later, manly Si Gerong shot a deer while hunting in the forest. But as he stepped forward to take his quarry, a large lizard appeared from the thicket and seized it hungrily. Si Gerong tried to chase the beast away, but in vain. It stood firm over the carcass, warning him off the bared teeth. Si Gerong raised his spear to kill the lizard, when suddenly a radiant woman appeared: the Dragon Princess. Swiftly she parted the foes, telling Si Gerong, “Do not kill this animal; she is your sister, Orah. I bore you together. Consider her your equal because you are twins.” From then on, the inhabitants of the island treated the Komodo with kindness. The animals roamed freely in the surrounding woods, feeding themselves on wild pigs, deer and other animals of the forest and old Komodo who could no longer fend for themselves were fed by their human brothers. “
The tale is quite interesting. Then we get to know the intimate relationship between Komodo Dragon and us human being. Komodo Dragon is, in fact, largest lizard in the world. Meanwhile, the Komodo Dragon is also cannibal creature by eating their own kind. Don’t be shocked when you hear the ranger telling you that the komodo mother eats her kid when she is hungry. No wonder, the Komodo Dragon is really cold blooded animal and they can’t even recognize their own kids. When it comes to interesting stories and facts about this giant lizard, there are so many to tell.
Nevertheless, you don’t have to worry about being swallowed while visiting them in the wild forest, since there will be ranger accompanying you the whole trip. Please keep alert and stay behind the ranger, because there are cases that Komodo Dragon attach tourists before. Yes, the tourists who looked down upon those seemingly lazy but fast action Komodo Dragon.
There are three types of trekking in Komodo Island to encounter the Komodo Dragon, short trek, medium trek and long trek. Depending on your time, you can choose any trek that suits you. However, there is no guarantee that we can see the dragons even though there are more than one thousand five hundred dragons living on Komodo Island, because it’s a preservative area, not a zoo. Whenever we appreciate anything we see, there are a lot more that we will see.
Pink Beach:
Around eight minutes by speedboat from Komodo Island jetty, we will arrive at one of the seven pink beaches in the world. The Pink Beach is well known for its romantic color, remarkable bay view and colorful underwater world.
There are two things that you can’t miss in Pink Beach. The first one is climbing up to the highest view point where you can see, on the left side, the pink bay in the arms of the blue-white sky and blue-green sea water; on the right side, endless sea connecting to the endless world. You will be thrilled by this unique scenery. Every top that you reach spreads different view. The second thing is snorkeling in the coral garden where you can find various types of fish, groups of snapper, fusiliers, banner fish, batfish, angel fish, turtle and shark if you are lucky enough. In fact, Pink Beach is also a famous dive site in South Komodo.
If you are good at swimming, try to explore the underwater coral garden by following the shallow shoreline. If you are weak at snorkeling, try to stay close to your snorkeling guide and feel comfortable with the water first. Trust me, snorkeling will open a new door to you to know more about the blue planet.
Manta Point:
Next, let’s move to Manta Point, which is one of the highlights in Komodo either for diving or snorkeling. Manta Point is also called Karang Makassar (Indonesian name). Karang means coral, and Makassar is the capital city of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The story has it that the fishing men from Makassar discovered this place and the dive site is named by them later.
Manta Point is not a point, but a huge area covering around four hundred meters in width and two kilometers in length. It’s the home to manta rays, the gentle giant in the sea. During raining season, manta rays are very active. They are chasing each other, playing with one another, and dancing together here and there. Most of the manta rays here are reef manta, with length to be around three to five meters maximum. If you are lucky enough, there is possibility to encounter the ninja manta ray, which is also called melanistic, featured by black belly. Unlike sharks, manta ray eats mainly plankton. If you are confused about this word, then look into the sea. If the sea water is crystal clear, it means there is little plankton. If the visibility is poor, it means there is a lot of plankton. So it will be the perfect timing to spot the manta ray swimming in the shallow waters.
Above all, manta rays are wild creature and there is no guarantee that they can’t be seen for sure, unless you go to the aquarium. However, you won’t see freedom and happiness in their smile.
Above is the classic daily tour to see the dragon and go for snorkeling. Not every day like this can be repeated. Let’s cherish every moment that is not repeatable.
For more details of the trip, feel free to contact us via email as below
info@redwhaledc.com
