Unless you’re
backpacking slowly overland across the entire Indonesian archipelago, Komodo
Island is one of those ‘out of the way’ places for most backpackers. Lying far
away east from the major Indonesian tourist zones of Bali, Lombok and the Gili
Islands, the Komodo
Dragons are the
biggest draw to the area.
Let’s look at
this from a regular backpackers perspective, your starting point for a trip to
Komodo will probably be in one of the main tourist areas, so let’s look at how
to get to Komodo Island from Bali.
Tickets can be
purchased in Bali to get you close to the Komodo National Park, and you have
options here, these are land, sea and air. Tickets for all these are available
at many travel agents around the backpacker area of Bali, Poppies Lane 1 and 2,
look in a few ticket offices, shop around and do some bargaining.
Bali to Komodo by Boat
The only
option that can take you all the way without stopping at Labuan Bajo is by
boat. Perama tours, the most popular boat trip option, have a range of tour
options. Their trips can involve stopping to snorkel, and to see sights and
activities on the way. For divers, there is plenty of liveaboard trips that
will take you to dive spots, and onto
Komodo to see the Dragons.
Most boat
trips to Komodo from Bali sail to the north, past the Gili Islands, Lombok and
Sumbawa onto the Komodo National park near Flores. Keep in mind that this area,
mainly the Makassar Strait and the Flores Sea, is notorious for being difficult
to navigate.
Due to shallow
rocky areas and currents going every direction you can imagine,accidents
and shipwrecks in this area do happen, even with the most trusted
tour companies. Make sure for yourself the vessel has life jackets and they are easily accessible,
not tied down or secured to anything. A waterproof bag is a good idea, you can
use it to carry any electronic items, such as your camera. Most guest houses in
Bali will allow you to store your big heavy luggage whilst you are on the trip.
There has been
two or three accidents sailing to Komodo in the past nine months, you shouldn’t
worry about it too much as these tours leave daily. But keep your wits about
you, and ask questions before you had over any money.
Flying to Komodo
A flight
leaving from Denpasar in Bali will take you to Labuan Bajo Airport, which is a
short taxi to the pier where you can take boat trips to Komodo Island, and
around the national park. A flight is the simplest and fastest option, prices
go from 650,000 to over 1,000,000 Rupiah. I took this flight and it was 950,000
Rupiah.
The Bali to Komodo Island Bus
The bus is the
cheapest and the way to go for the most adventurous. It’s not a straightforward
bus ride by any means, multiple buses, ferry crossings and random stops all
over the place. I believe the price was 350,000 – 400,000 Rupiah.
The overland
bus ticket from Bali will take you to Labuan Bajo Harbour in Flores, which is
right in town. Labuan Bajo has guesthouses, internet cafes and restaurants,
although all these are very basic.
When taking
the bus, three ferry crossings are are required, from Bali to Lombok, Lombok to
Sumbawa, and Sumbawa to Labuan Bajo in Flores, make sure to ask if these are
included in your ticket and ask them to write it down – they should be.
After you have
booked your ticket, ask for the phone number of the company so you can call
them at any time, nothing should really go wrong. Your biggest worry on this
trip should be stamina and comfort, below I have described in bullet points how
this overland bus trip from Bali to Komodo Island goes.
§ Pick up from your guesthouse in Bali.
§ Minibus ride to the the ferry for Lombok
§ Catch the ferry from Bali to Lombok
§ Arrive in Lombok, then a minibus to the big bus station.
§ Get on the big bus across Lombok
§ The bus will drive onto a ferry to Sumbawa
§ The ferry ride from Lombok to Sumbawa
§ Epic bus journey across Sumbawa
§ Stop somewhere in east Sumbawa and change to a crazy minibus.
§ The minibus will evetually take to to the ferry to Labuan Bajo
§ Take the ferry ride to Labuan Bajo.
When I took
this journey, it took around 44 hours in total. Not only is each leg of the
journey quite long, there’s often a lot of waiting in between each change of
transport. I’m glad I took this trip by land, it was a great but draining
experience, we flew back even though it was double the price.
Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island
Now you have
got yourself to Labuan Bajo, be it by land or air, how to you get to Komodo
Island? It’s actually quite simple, and you have two main options.
I recommend a
a two day tour of the Komodo National Park as there is lots more to see than
the Dragons.
1.
Take a walk down to the harbor and ask around, you
can negotiate a price with the captain yourself.
2.
Look for a a ticket office in town, they should be
able to sort you out.
When I made
this trip, we did a two day trip through Komodo, which had these activities
included;
§
Trekking on Rinca Island
§
Snorkeling at ‘Red Beach’ (which was spectacular)
§
Watching Flying Foxes in the Mangroves
§
Overnight on the Deck of the Boat
§
Trekking on Komodo Island
§
Snorkeling with Manta Rays (we got lucky on the
boat ride home)
This trip cost
2,000,000 Rupiah for the whole boat, there were six of us who met in Labuan
Bajo and got together for the trip, making it 400,000 each. You can look around
the town for other backpackers and get together to share the cost of the trip.
All food and
water was included in the price, the captain stopped at villages for fresh
ingredients and cooked for us. These prices are negotiable, we bartered down
from 4,000,000 RP and cut the price in half.
Ask a lot of
questions when you are negotiating, ask if food and water is included, ask
about safety, life jackets and anything else that you are not clear about.
I would
not recommended booking a Komodo Island tour together with your
flight or bus ticket. As a savvy backpacker it’s better to go down there and
see for yourself what’s going on, putting yourself in a negotiating position
for the best deal.
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