Komodo Islands Itinerary - Day 1

Komodo National Park is one of those places that I find hard to believe is a real place! There are so many amazing sights to see there and they are all accessible by boat. I was lucky enough to visit the incredible archipelago for the second time in just 1 year, this time exploring with Travass Life, on their newest boat- Papiton. We set off on 3 full days of adventuring & this post will include everything we got up to on our first day!

The first destination on our Komodo Islands trip, after leaving the port in Labuan Bajo was Siaba Island known as “Turtle Island”. Such a stunning stop among the dozens of islands in the National Park. It offers an idyllic, sheltered bay, perfect for snorkelling! We spent about an hour or two playing in the pristine waters along the coral reef, hoping we would see some ocean creatures & especially some turtles. We got lucky and spotted one giant sea turtle floating around and another lying in the hard coral on the ground. I’m always amazed how turtles can rest on coral without damaging it, they are such captivating creatures!

Our second stop for the day, after lunch was Manta Point- pretty self explanatory, we were on the look out for Manta Rays! These majestic creatures have always fascinated me, the way they swim through the water so calm and gentle, just rolling around in the waves. They are such huge animals but are harmless to humans as they only eat plankton. We spotted a bunch of them from the boat and jumped on in to experience them up close and personal, they are such curious creatures and had no problem swimming around us. Such an unbelievable experience!

After all our snorkelling and free diving activities, we headed to our third stop of the day- Taka Makassar which is a tiny sand bar. It is so small in fact, it is smaller than a soccer field! Since it features such shallow water, the bigger boats aren’t able to get too close to this island- which leaves it looking untouched and completely uninhabited. We caught the smaller boat over to check it out and the colour of the water here is phenomenal. It was the perfect place to relax and enjoy a swim in the shallow calm waters.

How Incredible is this Water!?

Our final destination for the day was one of the most idyllic and aesthetically mind-boggling locations I have seen, EVER! Padar Island is a very hard place to explain with any other word than magic. I remember the feeling I got the very first time I visited last year, this destination left such an insane impact on me - I just knew I would be back! We made it here just in time to hike to the top viewpoint for sunset and the views were insane. The beaches out here seem untouched despite the growing popularity, but the scale of these islands puts it all into perspective as it is massive.

Incredible Sunset From The Top of Padar Island

Different View Point on Padar Island

After sunset we headed back to the boat for some well earned rest! We spent the night anchored near Padar Island so we could head up again for sunrise! It was such an epic first day exploring, swimming and hiking around these beautiful islands. The next couple of posts will continue on from this one explaining what else we got up to on our trip to Komodo National Park!