Labuanbajo

We walked around Labuanbajo, in the land of Komodo dragons, and enquired about dive trips. Day trips are common and overnight trips require the right numbers in the travelling party. Every shop had the same offerings at the same price … except Labuan Bajo Dive Club which was IDR50,000 cheaper. That little difference in price shouldn’t have made a difference but we couldn’t be bothered backtracking to the other shops.

Today we did a full day’s outing from 0800 to 1700 with two dives.  Like many people, we skipped the optional third dive but couldn’t return until everyone was done.

First up was Manta Point (Karang Makassar) where we saw four manta rays and an eagle ray. It was truly aweseome. This was my first experience with mantas and I didn’t know what manta rays were before this … I thought they were just normal sized rays! I never realised they were so big … about 15ft (5m) across. If it weren’t for the mantas, the site is rather desolate.

The second dive was a new experience for me … a drift dive. This was at Tatawa Besar, the most beautiful coral garden I’ve ever seen. There were plenty of yellow cauliflower, purple cauliflower, brain … as you can see I’m highly technical with the description of corals!

Due to the strong current, I felt like being on a runaway train or a dive in fast motion.

Anke, the German boss-lady had the professionalism, patience, eagle-eyed alertness and nicety of a first-class air hostess. When we first met her the night prior, I thought she might be just really good in putting on an appearance but I was so wrong. She took time with briefings, answering questions and de-briefings. She also worked with her local boys to clean and put away all the equipment after the dive.

I was a little hesitant at first as my wetsuit was rather tatty and one of the highly-experienced divers seemed unhappy about something. But at the end, it was a great day. But I’m sure your experience will depend on who you have on the day.

Price-wise, we paid IDR750,000 for two dives. That’s rather expensive compared to other parts of Indonesia (eg. Pulau Weh) but it seems to be cheaper than the standard in Labuanbajo.