Komodo Island is located in Nusa Tenggara islands. The island is included in the Komodo National Park along the island of Rinca, Padar Island, Mota and many other smaller islands. Administratively, the island is located in the District of Komodo, West Manggarai regency, and directly adjacent to the West Nusa Tenggara province.
This island is the habitat for native animals dragons, giant carnivorous lizard. On the island there are more than 2,000 Komodo dragons live in the wild. You can see the Komodo dragon is chasing prey in many locations in this place. It's important to shop around together a guide for safety reasons for being here.
In 1986, UNESCO set Komodo Island and other islands in the Komodo National Park as a world heritage site because of the existence of dragons that can only be found in this region. The habitat of the endangered animals are outdoors with grassland, white sandy beaches and tropical rainforests.
Komodo reptile itself is a kind of giant carnivorous lizards that can reach 2-3 meters and weigh 100-165 kg. This animal has a scientific name Varanus komodoensis, while the local people call this beast as the 'Ora'. If seen, the Komodo dragon creepy, with a great body, sharp nails, scaly skin and has a forked tongue always stuck out. The main prey dragons are pigs, horses, deer, raccoons, buffalo and monkeys.
Komodo island's history at a glance
1912 was the year the first time the existence of dragons known to the public through a journal written Peter A. Ouwens and published in daily newspapers belonging to the Dutch East Indies. Ouwens is Director of the Zoological Museum in Bogor. Then in 1915, the Dutch government began to ban hunting dragons for fear of these animals will become extinct.
What can be done on Komodo Island?
1. TrekkingKomodo Island is not only contains animal dragons, dragons addition, there are many other animals that inhabit this island such as horses, deer, various species of birds, snakes, lizards and more. One way to enjoy this island is to do trekking. You can see the animals when trekking in Komodo Island.When trekking, you will be invited to climb Mount Ara which has a height of 538 meters above sea level. You will also pass the Water Hole is a place to drink and rest dragons. You can see the komodo-dragons yanng drinking or shelter under a tree in the vicinity.There are four trekking trails to choose from, ranging from short, medium, long to adventure. The trekking path length is 1-8 km depending on the type you choose. If you choose a long and adventure, you will be invited through the forest, the river and the beautiful hills. As for short, the trip will end up on a hill with amazing views of the bay. However, all four lanes will pass trekking Water Hole so you never have confused to choose either path.During the trekking, you and the group will be accompanied by a ranger or guide once the handler dragons. Ranger will equip you with a forked stick that ends. It is said that the stick is made from a single tree species that could become a weapon to weaken the dragons. If the dragons attack or pursuit of a sudden, the forked end of the stick is used to suppress the neck dragons, dragons in a short time will weaken and stop attacking.
2. Diving and SnorkelingKomodo Island is not only offer the natural beauty of the land only. The underwater world in this island is equally beautiful. There are about 386 types of coral, 70 species of sponges, seaweeds as a home to thousands of species of fish, green turtles, whales, sharks, dolphins and others.The underwater world of Komodo Island and the Komodo National Park known as one of the best dive locations in the world. When diving or snorkeling here, you can see the beauty of marine life that is very rich and diverse. Of the many diving spots there, here are the three best diving spots in the island of Komodo by many divers:
3. Stone SamsiaSamsia stone is one of the favorite diving spots. You can walk along a series of waterways and can interact with turtles, sharks and a wide variety of other small fish.
4. StoreStore referred to as stone palace in the water. Located at a depth of 7 meters below sea level, you can enjoy the beauty of coral reefs with a variety of colors and the fish that swim among the coral.
5. Crystal RockThis point is also a favorite of divers. Was at a depth of 5 meters, you can find a frog fish, Barramundi Cod, Parrotfish and several other fish species.
The best time for diving in these waters is the month of March to December. This is because the wind direction, water temperature, strong currents and seasons that affect visibility when diving starting either in these months.
What else is interesting on Komodo Island?
Pink Beach Komodo IslandOn this island there is a very unique beach that is Pink Beach. The beach is also known as the Pink Beach, but local residents prefer to call as Red Beach. Pink beach has sand pink, the color will become increasingly apparent during the wet sand by the waves.
According to the research, the color pink on this beach due to the coral fragments were crushed and mixed with sand. In the world there are recorded only seven beaches with pink sand and on the island of Komodo is one of them.
Pink Beach Komodo IslandThe beauty of this beach not only on the color of sand is unique. Under the sea here is also famous for the beautiful. The beach is also often used as the location of diving and snorkeling.
transportationTransportation on the island of Komodo can be done by air, land and sea or a combination of all three.
Air If using a plane, you will fly from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo. After that you can continue the journey by ferry to the island of Komodo. seaYou can leave from Tanjung Benoa, Bali, heading to Labuan Bajo. From Labuan Bajo, a trip to Komodo Island continued by using the ferry
.
LandThere are buses from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo. The bus will cross by ferry. Arriving in Labuan Bajo, the journey can be continued by using the ferry again to Komodo Island.In addition to these three options, you can also select Live on Board. If you choose Live on Board, you will stay on the ship for a few days to get to Komodo National Park. During the trip you can dive with a group and a guide. Facilities provided any complete accounting from the bedroom, dining and toilet. The price charged ranged between 175-10000 USD per night depending on how the package you choose as well as existing facilities. Boats depart from Bima, Bali, Lombok and Labuan Bajo.
AccommodationMany tourists choose to stay at a hotel in Labuan Bajo. But apart from the hotel in Labuan Bajo, there are other lodging alternatives:
Boat rentalIn addition to touring, you can also use the rented boat to stay. Most ships have been equipped with a bed, toilet and dining packages. The cost of rent and facility depending on the size of the vessel you hire.
The house keeper Komodo IslandYou can homestay in home guard or ranger Komodo Island. This house-shaped house on stilts with a limited power supply. Generally, electricity will be extinguished at 22:00.
Tips for Komodo Island
• When trekking, please do not make any sudden movements or noise. Komodo is very sensitive to movement and sound
.• For women who are in the menstrual period, are required to report in order to give more attention ranger. This is because dragons can smell blood from a radius of hundreds of meters.