Komodo National Park

UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscribed 1991; The Only Place On Earth Where Komodo Dragons Live Wild, Across Three Main Islands And The Surrounding Reefs · Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara

THE KOMODO DRAGON LIVES NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH. Up to three metres long and seventy kilograms, it is the largest lizard in the world, and the park created for it in 1980 covers Komodo, Rinca and Padar islands and the water between them. The animals are not a display - they range freely across dry savannah hills that look nothing like the rainforest Indonesia is imagined to be, and A RANGER ESCORT IS MANDATORY for good reason: they are fast over short distances, they hunt by ambush, and their bite is genuinely dangerous. The park's other half is underwater. The currents between the islands feed some of the richest reefs in Indonesia - manta rays at Karang Makassar, walls at Batu Bolong - and much of the visiting is done from liveaboards. PADAR ISLAND'S THREE-BAY VIEWPOINT has become the photograph that sells the whole region, though almost nobody who posts it mentions the climb in punishing heat it takes to stand there.

Komodo, Rinca and Padar islands, Flores Sea, Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

THE PARK IS OPEN YEAR-ROUND AND IS REACHED ONLY BY BOAT FROM LABUAN BAJO on Flores, which has flights from Bali. DAY TRIPS, OVERNIGHT TRIPS AND MULTI-DAY LIVEABOARDS all operate; the day trip is long and rushed and the overnight is the better value. PARK ENTRY FEES ARE CHARGED PER PERSON AND HAVE CHANGED REPEATEDLY AND CONTROVERSIALLY - a proposed steep increase in 2022 triggered a local tourism strike - so CONFIRM THE CURRENT FEE STRUCTURE rather than trusting an older figure, and note that fees differ for foreigners, for weekends and for diving. A RANGER ESCORT IS MANDATORY on the dragon islands and is charged separately and tipped. SOME ISLANDS AND TRAILS CLOSE PERIODICALLY for conservation. The rainy season, roughly January to March, brings rough crossings and some operators pause.

Komodo National Park on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos