My original plan to climb Mt. Rinjani on the Lombok “mainland” was sadly foiled when it erupted just a few days before (shutting down Indonesian airports for almost a week in the process). I made a very last minute decision to take a 4 day, 3 night boat trip from Gili Air to the town of Labuanbajo on the west side of Flores. I was anticipating a relaxing, maybe even boring (but beautiful) ride. The reality was….different. As always, the most important factor was the people, and I had a really, really great group. Everyone got along so well that 7 of us ended up traveling for almost 2 weeks together, and are still in touch.
Snorkeling around coral reefs, a sunset with dolphins, and midnight diving into bioluminescent plankton was a really good start. Then came the stop at Manta Point. Given the “disclaimer” that sightings are not guaranteed, we anxiously stared into the blue water looking for big, dark shapes. “Mantaaaassss!” We all jumped in, and without exaggeration saw around twenty full size mantas in about 15 minutes. We saw them playing, courting, and four of them making a head-to-tail circle going around and around. As soon as a few swam away out of view, I would turn my head and almost assuredly see at least two swimming towards me. The first time I’m pretty sure I somehow managed to jump and definitely shouted some things. On the final day we anchored at Komodo National Park in search of the famous “dragons”. It is a mystery how and why the only place these animals exists in the world is on one tiny island in the ocean. Again, we were not disappointed.
Boat crew!Afternoon chilling. We were blessed with this much blue for the extent of the voyage!It’s blue underwater too! I saw some really neat things while snorkeling, but most is on video. Coming soon!This was right after four dolphins swam with us for about 10 minutes. Might as well mention here that every photo on this blog is “true color”. I don’t put filters on anything.Unfortunately I shot video footage in too high a resolution to load onto my tablet. Also, I forgot to bring my camera for the really spectacular session. In any case, this guy was probably about 12 feet across and a lot closer than it looks!There’s three Mantas in this photo. Can you find them?Proof! I tried… These things move deceptively quick by “flying” underwater against the very strong current in order to feed.See a tall hill, gotta climb it! Here was one of a few stops we made to do just that.This is the cove we anchored at the night before Komodo Island. Late at night a group of us was hanging out on the front of the boat when someone casually spit overboard. And like that bioluminescent plankton was discovered! Soon we were all jumping overboard. It was surprisingly sensitive- a single spit caused on an outwardly expanding circle of sparkling blue and green about 3 feet in diameter. It really looked like aquatic fireworks. There was a lot of spitting that night…..These are seriously gnarly beasts. As you may know, they kill things by transmitting toxic bacteria through a bite into the prey. Then they casually follow it around for up to two weeks before it finally dies. Then they swallow it hole and digest for about a month. That’s a pretty unnerving, though admittedly successful strategy given the amount of time these guys have been around!On Komodo Island. That’s the boat captain in the middle there. His name is Yoyo, and his personality was exactly what is portrayed. That being said, he took really, really good care of us. The fact that we were at Manta Point when we were in the tide cycle was no coincidence, and that guy gave us all one of the most impressive experiences of our respective trips.Made it to Labuanbajo! Here was our view while we enjoyed some well-earned (??) beers on aptly named Sunset Hill.
Another display of the beautiful diversity of this little planet we occupy! From Mantas to Komodos to volcanos and serene tropical coves. God is good! Looks like you’re living the life Per! Once again, thanks again for sharing your trip with us.
XO
Hi, I found your post on google. Nice blog! We plan to do the same trip in March this year. Can you do the trip every day from Gili Air? And how much did it cost? I can not find an agent who sells or advertises this tour online. Thank you!
Hey man! Thanks for the compliment. There are a few different tour companies on the south side of the island near the docks where you will arrive. As far as I know none of them leave every day, but between them all I think they cover most days of the week. The 3 night trip should include all meals (actually pretty tasty and always plenty), a few stops and snorkeling gear. Just don’t expect a luxury cruise! I have no idea how familiar the guys selling the tickets are with the various boat captains, but I recommend asking around for a guy named Yoyo. He contributed a lot to the trip, really goofy but knows what he’s doing. The base rate is around 1,750,000 rupiah, or about $125 USD. I know some people got the price down to around 1,400,000 or so. Best of luck, and I’d be happy to answer any other questions! Enjoy
Holy smokes living the dream! Not just you, but that badass boat captain who does this all the time. Dragon looks incredible, lets for sure keep all of them on that island though. Hate to see one in the backyard!
potravels 
Another display of the beautiful diversity of this little planet we occupy! From Mantas to Komodos to volcanos and serene tropical coves. God is good! Looks like you’re living the life Per! Once again, thanks again for sharing your trip with us.
XO
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Hi, I found your post on google. Nice blog! We plan to do the same trip in March this year. Can you do the trip every day from Gili Air? And how much did it cost? I can not find an agent who sells or advertises this tour online. Thank you!
LikeLike
Hey man! Thanks for the compliment. There are a few different tour companies on the south side of the island near the docks where you will arrive. As far as I know none of them leave every day, but between them all I think they cover most days of the week. The 3 night trip should include all meals (actually pretty tasty and always plenty), a few stops and snorkeling gear. Just don’t expect a luxury cruise! I have no idea how familiar the guys selling the tickets are with the various boat captains, but I recommend asking around for a guy named Yoyo. He contributed a lot to the trip, really goofy but knows what he’s doing. The base rate is around 1,750,000 rupiah, or about $125 USD. I know some people got the price down to around 1,400,000 or so. Best of luck, and I’d be happy to answer any other questions! Enjoy
LikeLike
Holy smokes living the dream! Not just you, but that badass boat captain who does this all the time. Dragon looks incredible, lets for sure keep all of them on that island though. Hate to see one in the backyard!
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