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It was another 5.30am start to my day as I had to hitch a ride on a dive boat that was heading to Komodo National Park at 7am. My plan was to enjoy 2 days of kayaking in the crystal clear waters around the islands in the National Park. Who knows, I may even throw in the odd dive too.

I had been in touch with Paul from Wicked Diving a couple of days before arriving in Labuan Bajo as the company he runs advertise kayaking trips on their website.  The bad news when I arrived in town and spoke to him was that he needed a minimum of two people to run the trip, and so far there was only me.

Paul, who was from California, was up for a bit of an adventure so he agreed to let me rent a kayak for 2 days as long as a couple of his guides could come along for the experience.  The dive shop runs a permanent dive boat in the National Park which we could use as a base to kayak off,  and at night we could kayak back to the dive boat that and sleep on it as it doubles as a kind of floating hostel. This also meant that I could get a dive in if I wanted.

First stop after an early breakfast was the Wicked Dive shop to drop my bike and equipment off as that night I would be sleeping on the dive boat in the National Park.

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Once my bike was safely stored in their basement, and the four divers from Columbia had arrived, it was time to walk down to the harbour and catch a fast boat out to the liveaboard dive boat which was moored somewhere in the National Park. Michael and Joe who were going to be coming kayaking with me are the two on the right of the first picture below:

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On the way out to the dive boat we saw a group of dolphins jumping over the surface of the water and generally frolicking about in the sea.  As the boat crossed between the islands you could see the ‘rip’ currents that were running in the deep channels.  The boat that we were on had trouble crossing these and so there would be little chance of kayaking across them without being pushed way off course.

After an hour we had arrived at the liveaboard which was anchored in the National Park.

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The dive boat was split into 2 levels – the front of the top deck as seating and day beds for relaxing between dives whilst the rear is staff accommodation and the kitchen.  The lower deck is accommodation for paying guests and the boat can sleep 12 passengers in bunk beds.

As we were getting settled in onboard Michael and Joe got the kayaks and safety equipment ready.  Our plan for the day was to spend the morning Kayaking around Pulau Tugas and then come back to the dive boat for lunch at around 1pm.  The dive boat would then move to Pulua Siaba Besar where we would continue kayaking and return to the dive boat at sunset.

Once ready we got into the single man kayaks and headed out into open water.

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The waters were crystal clear, and as we paddled across the reef I could see the fish swimming below us.  There were a fair few turtles feeding on the sea grasses below us which was an amazing sight to see.  When they looked up and saw us they would streak off at a startling pace.  In Asia, I am used to seeing the larger Green Turtles that are as big as a wheelbarrow and just amble along in the water.  In the water below us Michael said were Hawksbill turtles that zipped through the water when startled.

We then paddled through a channel that separated Pulau Komodo and Pulau Tugas and paddled along the mangroves that lined the shore on this side of the island.

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The amazing thing about kayaks is that you can get really close to the wildlife that is on the island as they do not hear you coming.  Can you spot the animals in the photo below?  They are well camouflaged and a clue is that they are in the center of the photo.

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In the tops of the mangroves, and stood on the shallow reefs. were stalks who stood absolutely rigid as they waited to spot a fish in the water.  It was amazing to see how still they could stand and wait.  Again, being in a kayak drifting along on the current mean’t that we could get close to them without spooking them.

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Michael and Joe were great and hung back behind me most of the time so that I would get to see the wildlife ahead of us before they got spooked and swam or flew away.

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On the backside of the island there was a fishing camp that local fishermen had set up.

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Michael and Joe spoke with them and said that they were from the main fishing village on Rinca Island, where I had seen Komodo Dragons the day before (click here to read this post), and would camp here for a few days whilst fishing and then return back to their homes.

The reef on this side of the island was only about a meter below us and the fish life was amazing:
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There was a pinnicle sticking out of the water in mid channel and so we paddled across to this and tied up our kayaks to do a spot of snorkeling

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Around the pinnacle the reef was very shallow and there was lots of fish, corals and marine life.  The snorkeling here was fantastic and easily spent the best part of an hour just lying on the surface watching the fish below.

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It was now time to head back to the dive boat for a spot of lunch and to catch up with the Columbians who had spent the morning diving.

During lunch the dive boat transferred across to Pulau Siaba Besar where we tied up to a buoy and would spend the night moored here.  Dive boats are not allowed to drop anchor on reefs in the National Park, instead they tie up to mooring lines which have been installed next to certain islands in the park.

About 500m off to our west were the islands of Pulau Parambah and Pulau Mauwang.  There must have been a deepwater channel between the dive boat and the islands as you could see the current ripping through the middle.

After lunch, we launched the kayaks and headed for shelter from the current behind the lee of a headland on Pulau Siaba Besar.  We paddled south along the line of mangroves watching the fish dancing under our boats.

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When we rounded the headland that had been sheltering us from the main current it was time to start paddling hard.  Even though our arms were spinning as the blades flashed through the water we made little progress as the current was dragging us backwards at an alarming rate.

Once we eventually rounded the headland we paddled within a couple of meters of the rocky shore as the water velocity was less here than out in deeper water.  Even so, progress was mighty slow and after paddling for a good 20 minutes we had only made a couple of hundred meters of progress.

It was now approaching 4pm and a storm was brewing in the distance as the clouds begin to darken over the mountains of Flores.  We decided that enough was enough and pulled into the next beach that we passed to have a rest from the current and a swim.

Swimming was like being in an endless lap pool where a pump blasts water at you.  The difference here was that if you lost your stroke you would soon be pushed out into the middle of the channel and have to be picked up by another boat.  It was great fun playing in the fast current but snorkeling was out of the question.

The clatter of thunder could be heard in the distance as the islands further south of us disappeared in a wall of rain and the wind picked up to turn the sea in front of us into a choppy washing machine with whirlpools forming out in the middle of the channel.

We decided that it was time to get back around the headland and out of the current.  This would mean that if the storm pushed our way we would be sheltered from the worst of the wind which was important as we did not have skirts on the kayaks and so they could easily get swamped if the waves picked up.

We got in our kayaks and pushed off from the shore into the current.  We had to paddle across the current for 50 meters to get out away from the rocky shore because as soon as we turned with the current it would be a very fast ride with no stopping until we got around the headland.

When we were all a good way out into the channel we turned and then had the ride of our lifes back towards the lee of the headland.  It was great fun as we speeded south and as we were all wearing life vests their was no real danger even if the kayaks somehow sank.

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Once around the headland and back into the mangrove swamp the surface of the sea was once again like a mill pond. The noise of the storm behind us was getting louder and as the daylight faded we paddled back to the dive boat.  It had been an amazing day of Kayaking through Komodo National Park.

Here is a video I shot on the first day of kayaking:

When we got back to to the dive boat the Colombians were just getting their gear together to head back to the mainland for the night.  The only paying guests staying over would be myself and a girl from California called Angie who was doing a mammoth 5 days of consecutive diving.  In total she had already clocked up four days and on some of these she had been doing 4 dives per day.  Now that is dedication for you.

After dinner it was time to sit back and have a beer while enjoying a game of cards with Tom, the dive master on the boat, Michael and Joe.

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This was followed by a game of card monopoly with Angie.  It was not a late night though as Tom and Angie would be up at 5.30am for breakfast and be diving by 6.30am.  I had decided to join them for the morning dive as they were going to be diving Pulau Mauwang which was a cleaning station for Manta Rays.

The following explanation is taken from Marine Megafauna Foundation’s website – a cleaning station is a specific section of reef that is home to a number of reef-dwelling cleaner fish, who literally clean large marine animals such as sharks, rays and larger bony fish. They do so by eating the parasites, dead skin, bacteria and mucus off of the body surface and gills of the larger fish, as well as from the inside of their mouth. This cleaning process is an example of mutualistic symbiosis, meaning that both parties (the manta ray and the cleaner fish) benefit from the interaction.

Cleaning helps to maintain the health of manta rays; cleaner fish remove any ectoparasites living on the skin and clean dead or infected skin from wounds, aiding the healing process and helping to prevent infection. Simultaneously, the cleaner fish are provided with a regular and easily accessible source of food.

If you have never slept on a boat there is something slightly hypnotic about the motion of the boat as it rolls gently in the water and I have always had a brilliant nights sleep. The exception to this was the one time, having never sailed before, I blagged a crew spot on a private 60ft sail boat out of Sydney Harbour in Australia to Brisbane.

The trip should have taken us just over a week to cover the 500 nautical miles but the whole way we had hit different storms.  About half way up the coast we had to pull into Coffs Harbour for repairs.  We had come into port with no engine to slow us down and when we hit the floating pontoon at 5am it sounded like a bomb going off and heads popped up from most of the boats to see which idiots had just rammed the pontoon.  It was a great experience but the waves up the coast were definitely not akin to the beautiful nights sleep that I had just experienced on the dive boat.

During the 6am dive briefing Tom said that the current should not be as bad as what we had paddled through the day before as it was approaching low tide.  However, when we arrived on site he would dive in to check.  We put our wet suits on and headed in the tender boat to the location where we would dive from.

Tom jumped over and was immediately pulled away from the boat by the current. It was obvious that the current was still running fairly strong.  When he swam back and got on the tender he said that once we went over we would need to get to the bottom quickly to get out of the current.

We zipped up our full wet suits, as the current meant that the water would be cold, donned our scuba gear, masks and fins and then sat on the side to wait the countdown.  Entry would be a backwards roll and once we were all in the water we would descend together.

We inflated our BCD’s to give us buoyancy and Tom counted us down from 3 and we rolled in together.  Once we were upright and together Tom signaled for us to descend.  You could see the reef below us whizzing past as the current took hold.  Until we reached the safety of the bottom we would be carried along on the fast current.

Tom had warned me about its strength but I never expected it to be so strong.  In the past when I had dived in current they had tended to be drift dives along reef walls.  This current was something else and we were only in about 10 metres of water.

Angie was quickly down on the bottom and she waited for Tom, who had stayed with me, and I to get down to her.  Once I was on the bottom the strength of the current disappeared, and as long as you stayed within a meter or so of the reef you could drift along at a safe speed.

The corals were mainly hard corals and were beautiful.  The fish life was abundant and we passed a few huge trigger fish that were munching on the coral.  The trigger fish were a good meter across and were busy destroying the reef around us.

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They are carnivores and feed by using their huge teeth and jaws to rip apart the reef in search of crabs, clams muscles and other shellfish.  They even eat sea urchins by flipping them over to get at their bellies, which are armed with fewer spines. Trigger fish wreak such havoc on less fortunate reef dwellers that smaller fish often follow them to feast on their leftovers.

If you are diving in mating season the males will also attack divers if they swim over their seafloor nests.  The males establish territories on the spawning grounds and prepare nests that will house tens of thousands of eggs. Females share care of the eggs until they hatch, blowing water on them to keep them well supplied with oxygen. In some species males are known to maintain a harem of female mates. (National Geographic)

As we drifted into the lee of the island the current completely subsided and the bottom of the sea became sandy.  This was where the cleaning station was for the Manta Rays and so we hovered on the bottom to see if they would come in while we waited.

We had been in the water now for over 50 minutes and were at about 18 metres.  When diving you start with around 200 bar of air and during the dive the dive master will signal to you to tell him how much air you have left.  A ‘T’ sign with both hands is 100, a fist is 50 and each finger is 10 bar of air.  When we were on the bottom I signalled that I had 1 fist and 3 fingers to show 80 bar of air.  The cutoff point when diving is 50 bar of air and when you reach that it is time to slowly rise to 5 meters to complete a safety spot.

As I had 80 bar of air this gave us around 10 minutes to wait and see if the Manta Rays would grace us with their presence.   I waited by looking at the other fish that were busy getting on with their days around me. I found a patch of soft coral with clown fish (think of the Disney film – Finding Nemo) dancing around to play with; if you stretch your hands out near them they will dance through your fingers.

My time was up as I approached 50 bar and signaled this to Tom, and the 3 of us headed to our 5 meter safety spot where we would just ‘sit’ in the water for 3 minutes of degassing.  It was then time to inflate our BCD’s to take us up to the surface to await the safety boat to come and get us.

Although I hadn’t seen Manta Rays the dive had been fantastic and the currents had made it one hell of an adrenaline rush at the beginning.  The vast amounts of nutrients that the currents bring, and the ban on fishing within the boundaries of the National Park, mean that the fish species grow to a huge size.  Diving here definitely was a unique experience.

It was nearly 8am as we got back to the dive boat and tucked into the breakfast that was waiting for us on the top deck.  As we were eating breakfast the dive boat pulled its line and started to head for Pulau Sebayur Besar where we would meet the new divers who would be coming out by fast boat from the mainland.  The plan was for the dive boat to moor there for the rest of the day and so we would kayak around the island from there.  By 10am it was time to get the kayaks back in the water and head out for another days Kayaking.

The previous day I had worn a long sleeved rash vest to protect my body from the sun but I had worn my usual triathlon cap which meant that the top of my head had been uncovered and so had burnt.  Angie had some factor 50 which I put on my head:

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I would also kayak with my neck bandana pulled up over my head like a cagoul to keep the worst of the sun off my head.

When we kayaked away from the boat the water was crystal clear and as there was no wind the surface was like a lake.

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First order of the day was to paddle over a breakwater that stood at the edge of the reef that we were passing over and once over this we were in 10 metres of water.  The visibiity was crystal clear and you we just drifted along on the tide watching the fish swim below us.

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We were now in the lee of the island and there were a few local line fishermen who were hand fishing in the crystal clear waters.

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As we rounded the back of the island we came upon a jetty and so stopped here for a spot of lunch and to snorkel as in front of the jetty was a coral wall that was alive with hard coral and teeming with fish.

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It was a beautiful spot and the snorkeling was superb. We spent a good hour here enjoying the peace and quiet and a chance to get out of the midday sun.

We had to be back on the dive boat for mid afternoon, and so at just after 1pm we started paddling back to the boat.  We were on the backside of the island and were not really sure how far we still had to paddle as neither Michael or Joe had kayaked here before.  We figured that if they wanted us back sooner then they would come looking for us.

We were once again following mangrove along the coastline and kayaked through an inlet into a sort of lagoon.  There was another channel leading us on through the mangrove so we took this without knowing whether it would lead us back to the open ocean or to a dead end.

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After about 1 kilometer the channel opened back up on the open ocean and had led us to an area of floating fish farms.

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Like the dive boats these were not anchored to the reef below.  Instead, thick ropes led from the pontoon across the surface of the ocean and were tied to trees on the shoreline to our right. The Indonesian obsession with TV even extended to the sea as the pontoon had its own satellite dishes.

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It was that time of day for the rain clouds to gather and the familiar sound of thunder could be heard crashing off the islands around us.  We were now paddling over an area of open water but, thankfully, the wind never picked up so the sea surface stayed calm.

We rounded one final bend and there about a kilometer in front of us was the dive boat.  We had to cut through a channel between two islands to get to it and the current was with us as we glided through the channel we didn’t need to paddle. On our right was the first sign of ‘land based tourism’ that I had seen in my 3 days of adventures in the park as we passed a lovely looking hotel on the beach.

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When I come back to visit Flores again with Deirbhle this would be a fantastic place to unwind for a few days but on my current trip I knew that I couldn’t afford to stay there.

Here is a video I shot on the second day of kayaking: (if you only watch one of my kayaking videos watch this one as there was no wind so the visibility on the second day was spectacular)

Once back on board the dive boat we hauled the kayaks onto the boat.  The dive boat stays in the park for 8 days before heading back into Labuan Bajo to replenish its fresh water tanks, take on supplies and refuel. This was its day to head back to port and so we set sail for Labuan Bajo and dry land.  The divers would come back on one of the tenders when they had completed their last dive.

We were heading directly into the storm that we had heard building whilst kayaking.  We were about 3 kilometres from port when the storm hit us and the boat was being pounded by waves whipped up by the strong winds.

The sun shade tarpaulins on top of the boat were ripped off as the wind and rain battered the boat.  Visibility was nearly zero and so the captain had to idle the engines as the chance of hitting another boat was fairly high given that we couldn’t see.

I went below as the upper deck was now swimming in water and even here the rain was coming in through gaps in the boards from above and the floor was soon like a swimming pool.  I decided that the easiest way would be to just sit on my bunk and wait out the storm.

After 10 minutes I could see the island off to our right through the window which meant either we were about to be shipwrecked or the intensity of the rain had eased.  Luckily for us it was the latter.

Another 5 minutes and, although it was still lashing down with rain, the captain could see far enough for us to safely make our way into port.  I made my way back to the upper deck to find the crew busily clearing up after the storm.

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The ripped tarpaulins were being brought down down and the job of mopping up was in full flow.

As we anchored in the port the divers on the small tender boat came along side.  Everybody on it was soaking wet and freezing cold as they had got caught in the same storm.  I know which boat I would rather have been on.

It was then just a case of heading ashore and paying my dues for the dive and beer that I had drunk onboard.  I met Paul at the shop to give him a debrief of our adventures as the trip was a kind of feasibility trip to see if they could run it as a full trip for guests.  He was really happy with my feedback and shouted me the beers that I had drunk which was a great gesture.  So, if you want to do some kayaking in Komodo National Park go and see Paul at Wicked Diving and mention cyclingstew for a bit of a discount !!!!!!

There was only one thing left to do and so Angie and I headed off to get a pizza and a couple of beers to celebrate the end of her 5 days of diving and my 3 days of adventuring in Komodo National Park.

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Kayaking and diving Komodo National Park
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One thought on “Kayaking and diving Komodo National Park

  • October 19, 2016 at 6:22 am
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    Hi Stew. Forwarded this to my 12 and 13 yo sons with the commitment that as soon as they have their dive tickets, we’ll do an adventure to KNP. Chris

    Reply

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