While planning our trip through Indonesia, we came across the option to a boat tour from Lombok to Flores: the 4-day Komodo tour. It’s a tour passing by various islands with viewpoints, snorkeling spots, beautiful beaches, and of course Komodo Island. It sounded amazing! I didn’t meet a lot of people who did it, but the ones who did were very positive about it. So we signed up for this trip, with very high expectations. A little too high as it turned out. We did still enjoy the tour, but I would have probably enjoyed it more knowing better what to expect and doing a few things differently. Which is why I wrote this blog post.
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Table of Contents - 5 things I wish I knew before joining the 4-day Komodo tour from Lombok to Flores
1. It's a mass tourism tour
I think that first and foremost it’s important to know that this is not an off-the-beaten-track experience. It’s a mass tourism tour. I didn’t expect this, as I didn’t think so many people were making their way to Flores. So I expected something more unique.
Instead, it was quite obvious in many ways, that they were handling big groups of people on a daily basis. They were just going with the routine and the goal was to get us from A to B. There was also no time for more unique experiences. It was all quite basic, picture stops and continue. Which was a shame, because the area is so beautiful and interesting.
2. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is not the point of the tour
So our reason for joining this tour was exactly this. We wanted to see animals in their natural habitat. This tour focuses on two animals: the whale sharks and Komodo dragons. However, the goal is not to observe these animals in their natural habitat and appreciate them for what they are. The goal is to have a quick look and to get a picture with them.
Whale sharks
The whale sharks are being fed for example. Which didn’t surprise me much, to be honest. But what did surprise me, was that there was really no respect for these animals. Early in the morning, fishermen drop what they don’t need in the sea, and whale sharks know this and come over to feed. This is when all the tour boats pull up and closely surround the area where the whale sharks are coming to eat. Then people get to go in the water. But instead of entering the water slowly, many people just jump off the boat, right on top of these animals.
For many people “swimming” with whale sharks was their favorite part of the tour, but we didn’t even go in the water. It just didn’t seem right. We have swam with them in Australia and Mexico, in places where their natural behavior was not disturbed, and those experiences were incredible. Going in the water here just didn’t seem right to me.
Komodo dragons
As for the Komodo dragons, we only got about 1 hour on one of the islands with them. Of this hour, we spent at least half the time waiting on a ranger to take us or at the souvenir shops. The “hike” was just a short circle around the ranger cabins where we did get to see some but it was just kind of, here is one, everyone take turns for a photo with a dragon and done. For me, it felt more like being in a zoo than seeing the animals in their natural habitat. Even when we got to what was supposed to be their hunting ground, there was one just chilling next to a deer which was also just chilling, lying down, and not at all afraid of the dragon.
We were supposed to visit Rinca island the next day, and where hoping for a better experience there, but we just skipped that one without any explanation.
3. Most activities are on the third day
Another reason we wanted to do the 4-day tour was to see a bit more on the way. However, most activities were on the third day, making it not so different from a day trip.
On the first day, our tour left so late we missed the sunset hike to a viewpoint. It did look more like a stop that was added to the tour to offer something on the first day, rather than an actual must though. On the second day there was the snorkeling with the whale sharks just after sunrise and we stopped for a swim somewhere.
The third day started with a beautiful sunrise hike. Then we visited Komodo Island, Long Beach (pink beach), and Padar Island for sunset. We were supposed to stop at Manta Point too, to see manta rays from the boat (some of them can be aggressive so it’s not allowed to swim with them), but we skipped that.
On the last day, we were supposed to visit Rinca island to see more dragons, but as mentioned before we just skipped that part. And we made two snorkel stops. At one place we saw a lot of star fish, at the other one there were some baby reef sharks. We didn’t see them, we were just swimming around hoping to spot one as we didn’t know where to go. Apparently, they are at the mangroves, but the people working on the boat didn’t bother to tell us.
So with the main activities all concentrated on the third day, this 4-day tour isn’t so different from a day trip from Labuan Bajo. During a day trip, you also get to visit the dragons, pink beach, and Padar Island which for me where the highlights of the tour.
4. Most people do this tour from Lombok to Flores
Most people doing the 4-day Komodo tour take the boat from Lombok to Flores. This means that boats leaving Lombok are generally full (and get filled up more). The boat was supposed to have a limit of 40 people, but we were definately more.
There are a few cabins on the boats, but most people sleep on the deck. On our boat, the sleeping part of the deck was full (and when I say full, I mean mats lined up without spaces between them all pushed together) and we ended up sleeping on the other part of the deck. Which was quite nice in the end, because it got really stuffy and difficult to get in and out in the sleeping part whereas we were under the stars and had a breeze. It did get a little cold at night, so make sure to have a jumper handy if you’re planning ot do this.
When we were in Labuan Bajo, we found out that the boat was going back with only 12 people! Had we known this, we would have taken a flight to Labuan Bajo and taken the boat to Lombok instead.
5. April to June is the best time to visit Komodo National Park
April to June is the end of the rain season and Komodo National Park is very green and beautiful this time of year. We visited early July, which is the mating season. This time of year it is harder to spot the dragons as most of the adults are hidden further inside the park, where you don’t go on this tour. We did see some smaller ones on the beach and around the ranger establishment though. September to November is also good to see the dragons, the island is just more arid this time of year, as it is the end of the dry season. July and August is the mating season and also the busiest time of year with tourists. December to March is the rainy season.
Things I would have done differently, had I known what I know now
Knowing what I know now, I would have taken a flight to Labuan Bajo and looked at small group tours or private day trips from there. Our main goal was to see the dragons, so I would have preferred to spend a little more for a better experience. As I mentioned before, the private tours did go deeper into the national park to see them in a more natural habitat. I would even consider doing a general day trip to Komodo National Park or the 4-day Komodo tour and a private day trip to either Komodo or Rinca on top of that.
I would also have tried to visit between April and June. We would have needed to swap some places around on our itinerary (especially also trying to avoid the Indonesian holidays), but I think it would have been worth it.
If I were to take the 4-day Komodo tour again, I would take it from Flores to Lombok. Our boat was just too full, the sleeping situation was far from ideal and there was not enough food for everyone on the buffet. I would have definitely enjoyed a tour with 12 people a lot more than the 40+ we were now.
Lastly, I would have avoided the agency we booked with (Leong the Explorer). We felt like the crew didn’t really care much about us. They stuffed the boat with more people than they should have, there was not enough food for everyone and places were just randomly skipped from the itinerary. I can’t say for sure other agencies are better, but I know this one is not a very good one and I wouldn’t go with them again.
5 things I wish I knew before joining the 4-day Komodo tour from Lombok to Flores
If you’re heading this way, definately take some time to explore more of Flores. This 10-day itinerary for Flores is a great way to discover the beauty of this island. And if you’re looking for more interesting things to do in Indonesia, keep an eye out for next weeks article, where I will talk about 5 awesome places in Indonesia that are not in Bali.