Your day starts before sunrise, with a pickup from your hotel anywhere in
Labuan Bajo. We leave the harbour early on purpose — reaching Padar Island
ahead of the crowd is the difference between a photograph with twenty people
in it and one with nobody.
The climb up Padar takes about forty minutes on a stepped path. At the top,
three bays open out below you in three different shades of blue. Your guide
knows exactly where to stand for the view you have seen in photographs, and
will take it for you.
From Padar we head to Pink Beach. The colour comes from red coral fragments
mixed into white sand, and it is at its strongest along the waterline. This
is your first snorkelling stop. Our guide goes into the water with you — not
to supervise from the boat, but to swim alongside, point out what is worth
looking at, and stay close to anyone who wants company. If you have never
snorkelled before, this is a good place to start. If you cannot swim, tell us
in advance and we will put you in a life jacket and keep a guide with you the
whole time.
On Komodo Island a licensed park ranger takes over. Komodo dragons are wild
animals and the ranger decides the route, the distance, and the pace. You
will usually see several, often near the ranger station and the watering
holes. Your guide translates and answers the questions the signage does not.
Lunch is served on board while we sail to Taka Makassar — a curved sandbar
that appears and disappears with the tide, with reef on both sides. The
snorkelling here is shallow, calm, and full of colour, and it is where most
guests take the photographs they end up keeping.
Manta Point is the stop people remember. Manta rays feed here in the current,
and when they pass beneath you the wingspan is wider than you are tall. We
cannot promise them — no operator honestly can, they are wild — but our
captains know the tide windows that give you the best chance, and our guides
are in the water with you the entire time.
Our last stop is Siaba Bay, a quiet cove with a resident population of green
sea turtles. It is the calmest water of the day and a good place to finish
slowly before the ride home.
Throughout the day, our onboard photographer films with a GoPro. You do not
pay for the footage and you do not have to ask for it — we send the full
gallery to you the same evening, free.
One more thing worth saying plainly. Your park entrance ticket of IDR 400,000
per person, the ranger fee, and all crew tips are already paid inside the
price you see. Many day trips from Labuan Bajo collect these in cash on the
morning of departure. We do not. From the moment you book, you owe nothing
further.
Arah Pesona is a licensed Indonesian tour operator, PT Arah Pesona Indonesia,
with a physical office and a full-time team in Labuan Bajo. We are not a
booking agent reselling somebody else's boat.
