How many nights should I stay?

Two at the absolute minimum: one before the boat and one after. Three is more comfortable, and four if you are taking a liveaboard, because docking times and flight times do not line up neatly.

How do I get to Labuan Bajo?

Fly into Komodo Airport. Direct services run from Bali in about an hour, and from Jakarta and Surabaya. There is no ferry worth taking if your time is limited.

Can I visit Komodo National Park without a boat?

No. Every island in the park is reached by sea and there is no scheduled public service. A tour boat or a charter is the only way in.

Is there an ATM and a pharmacy?

Both, in town. Take out what you need before you sail: there is no cash machine, no shop and no signal at most stops in the park.

What is the weather like?

Hot and dry from April to September, which is the reliable season. The wet season runs November to March, and January and February bring seas rough enough to cancel crossings.

WEST FLORES

Labuan Bajo

The harbour town every Komodo trip leaves from. How to get here, when to come, and what to do with the days either side.

Plan my trip See the trips

Airport to the harbour: 15 min
Direct flight from Bali: 1 hr
By speedboat to Padar: 2 hrs
Minimum worth staying: 2 nts

Why everything starts here

Labuan Bajo is a harbour town on the western tip of Flores, and it is the only practical way into Komodo National Park. There is no airport on Komodo, Rinca or Padar and no ferry to any of them, so every boat that reaches those islands leaves from this one pier.

Komodo Airport takes direct flights from Bali, Jakarta and Surabaya.
The harbour is about fifteen minutes from the terminal by car.
Hotels run from hostel to resort, most within walking distance of the pier.
Plan two nights minimum: one before the boat, one after. Day trips leave before dawn.
ATMs and pharmacies exist in town. On the water there is nothing, so stock up here.

Nearby

What is within an hour of the pier

Places worth the afternoon before your boat, or the morning after it.

Bidadari Island

Twenty minutes out. Reef straight off the beach, which makes it the easy half day when you land late.

Sebayur Island

Further out and quieter. Good snorkelling and a beach that stays empty on weekdays.

A tidal sandbar in the water of Komodo National Park

Taka Makassar

A sandbar that appears and disappears with the tide, on the way out to Manta Point.

Pink Beach

Red coral fragments in white sand. Inside the park, so it comes as part of a boat day rather than alone.

Getting here and getting out

The order that works, from booking the flight to casting off.

01
Fly to Komodo Airport
About an hour from Bali. Book the morning flight: afternoon services get cancelled for weather more often.
02
Sleep in town the first night
Do not try to land and sail the same day. Boats leave before dawn and the crossing is not the place to be tired.
03
Board at the pier
Hotel pickup, briefing, life jacket and snorkel handed over. Speedboats and phinisi leave from the same harbour.
04
Keep the last night free
Liveaboards dock early afternoon and flights out are unreliable. A night on the safe side of that is worth it.