The Lombok To Komodo Sailing Tour

Heading into the final stretch of this trip through SE Asia I visited a place that I had formerly planned to go in April of 2020 — Komodo Island, Indonesia. I reminisced on my past working on cruise ships with a 4 day/3 night sailing tour departing from the island of Lombok and ending in the port town of Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores.

Comparing this tour to a cruise experience is a bit misleading — absolutely nothing about our boat was luxurious, and I was fine with that. The price for four days came to around $180, making it the most expensive tour I have taken in SE Asia (but still far cheaper than a similar trip would be in a developed country).

The tour was a bargain for what’s included: a 3-hour overland bus transfer to the ship, three meals per day, free coffee/tea, accommodation onboard in a covered deck or private cabin (a little more $$ for the latter), hours and hours of sailing views, entrance fees to Komodo National Park, and finally the opportunity to both swim with Whale Sharks and walk alongside Komodo Dragons in their natural habitat.

The tour met at the port of Bangsal on Lombok. The whole morning was spent checking in and then driving across Lombok to the port. On board there was a surprising mix of ages, with both young backpackers and some of retirement age. The demographic was all Europeans, Australians, and then me … the one American.

There was no safety briefing, and with 40+ travelers onboard I’m pretty sure there were more people than would otherwise be legal for such a small boat. I found the lack of space worked in our favor, as it facilitated a social environment that would benefit the relatively long span of the tour.

On the second day we were woken up around 5:30 AM — “It’s whaleshark time!” said a crew member. By the time I had changed into a swim suit there were plenty of people already in the water with the provided snorkel gear. A local fishing boat poured food to attract the sharks.

I had been scared of the idea of swimming in the open ocean, where I couldn’t see the bottom. But considering how many of us there were, (including people from two other sail boats), I felt safety in numbers. There also didn’t seem to be a risk of anything more fearsome than a whale shark in these waters.

Sadly I didn’t get any whale shark photos — this was a moment that I took in without the distraction of technology. We swam with two whale sharks and I probably spent about 45 minutes in the water. I was surprised with how comfortable it felt to swim right alongside or above these massive creatures. This was surely a sunrise memory I’ll never forget.

With the whale shark viewing done so early we had almost the entire rest of the day to sail towards Komodo. Being at sea with the breeze and distant land views had me reminiscing on cruising — though the boat experience was a lot more rustic. We couldn’t wear shoes/sandals onboard, and the deck ladders were somewhat difficult to maneuver in spots. That afternoon we made a brief stop near a beach for snorkeling — many of us conquered our fears of heights by jumping/diving repeatedly from the upper decks of the boat.

The third day was also an early one. That morning we ate banana pancakes onboard before disembarking for the main attraction of the tour — to observe Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island. Note: in 2023 the entrance fee to visit Komodo National Park will balloon to a ridiculous $200/day for conservation purposes, meaning my otherwise “cheap” tour will also likely increase drastically in price.

Seeing a few Komodo Dragons in their home environment was awesome, and we were able to get a lot closer to them than I had imagined. But I think this part of the tour would have been more enjoyable in a smaller group, as we felt like a mob surrounding any dragon we came upon. Park guides stood nearby with sticks for protection, and to talk about the animals. The dragons’ saliva is poisonous and they can run extremely fast, so getting close to them felt scarier than swimming with the docile whale sharks …

My one complaint about this tour was the relatively short amount of time we actually spent on Komodo Island, considering it was the main focal point of the itinerary. After less than two hours we set sail again for the nearby Padar Island. Still within the national park, Padar is the location of one of SE Asia’s most inspiring viewpoints — the image of which can be seen on the 50,000 Indonesian bank note (and in the opening photo to this post). This is a spot I would have loved to have had to myself (wouldn’t we all!), but given the remote location it would’ve been difficult and/or very expensive to come alone.

Our last night on board was a chance to unwind a bit and party on deck as we anchored just off of Padar Island’s Long Pink Beach. Somehow I wound up singing karaoke for half the boat (without a mic and with lyrics on Spotify that struggled to load because of bad cell service). That evening we lit up Komodo with a bit of Taylor, Britney, and Adele — followed by house music and dancing.

The next morning we spent a couple hours snorkeling and chilling along the pink beach. The color is only faintly pink, created from broken red coral that’s washed ashore. A clock without hands floating amongst the pink sand seemed to be a reminder that not only was the tour nearly over with, but so too was my trip through SE Asia. The lack of hands had me further questioning my relationship with travel — for how long would I be setting out on these types of trips before finding a more settled life that I crave?

The whale sharks and Komodo Dragons may have been what lured me to this tour, but it was ultimately the quieter moments and those spent in pleasant conversation beyond initial small talk that made it a highlight of my trip. It also felt really good to engage with the same people for multiple days in a row, something that is rare in my backpacking experience.

Up Next: “The Ijen & Bromo Volcano Experience From Hell“