Manta Mae 8D7N

Our staff will prepare and check everything for the trip

Arrival & Boarding: A 1 hour flight from Denpasar, Bali and you will arrive in the small port town of Labuan Bajo, Flores. Mantamae staff will pick you up at the airport for immediate boarding and departure. After snack/lunch we have the boat briefing and depending on the time of arrival, also the diving briefing and we will get ready for our check dive.

Only a few miles from Labuan Bajo’s harbour, lies the small island of Sebayur with nice diving, Sebayur Kecil and Mini Wall, including bronze sweepers, lionfish, eels, and possibly the resident ghost pipefish which makes the perfect “warm-up dive”. The staggered tiers of the neighbouring patch reef is home to many different species of nudis, pipefish, sea fans, sponges and even a few twin-spot lionfish. During the night dive, we might see nurse sharks, nudis and crustaceans.

Sebayur Kecil: Morning dive in Mini Wall and snorkeling activity in Sebayur Kecil. After the first dive in twenty minutes with the Mantamae we arrived in Tatawa Besar. Amazing diving or snorkeling alongside the shallow reef water.

Tatawa Besar: This is a thrilling drift dive that starts off from the northwestern tip of Tatawa and continues down the western side towards 15 to 20 meters of depth. The surrounding fish life is profuse and you will see an endless field of stunning orange soft corals as you glide along. Swim past coral heads inhabited by schools of sweetlips and batfish and look out for turtles feeding on the reef. Mantas have been encountered here as well.

Tatawa Kecil: The West side of this small rocky outcrop presents a fantastic underwater terrain with enormous slabs of rock that have been worn down to form channels, canyons, caves and swim-throughs. On the north plateau crocodile fish lie on the scenic reef among a whole host of reef fish and schooling fusilier.

In 20/30 minutes we cruise to Siaba Besar and we spend the night at the mooring buoy in front of her.Perfect place for a sunset barbecue is the close white beach of Mauan.

Siaba Kecil: One of the most famous drift dive in the north of Komodo.
Amazing overhangs with soft coral/hard coral and a lot of fishes. Bumphead parrotsn fishes, different kinds of sweet lips and bamboo/white tips sharks.

Batu Bolong – Underwater this rock is covered in a huge amount of soft and hard corals and full of fish life. In the shallows watch anemone fishes and look out for turtles munching on the corals. Giant trevallies, white tip reef sharks, snappers and emperor fishes tend to congregate here. This site presents particularly good opportunities for both macro and wide-angle photography. Batu Bolong have one of the best shallow reef for snorkeling.

Makassar Reef (Manta Point) – This is an exhilarating drift dive along the shallow flat bottom interspersed with patches of coral reef teeming with life. There are chances to see manta rays, turtles, eagle rays and white tip and black tip reef sharks. Also appreciate for the snorkeling. We spend the night in this area.

Gili Lawa Laut: Two celebrated dive sites await you, just north of Gili Lawa Laut Island. Crystal Rock and Castle Rock are both incredible locations, boasting the key elements for any impressive dive site: a wide variety of healthy corals covering the reef, plus tons of fish – both big and small and all sizes in between! There are two more exhilarating dives in this area, Cauldron and Gili Lawalaut Lighthouse, along with good night dives on healthy hard coral reefs off the island of Gili Lawa Darat. Between the dives there is a chance to visit Gili Lawa laut Island and take a short trek to the top of the hill for a wonderful view over the Komodo-Flores channel.

Crystal Rock – The rock jutting out of the surrounding crystal clear waters explains how this site got its name. But what is truly memorable here are the large schools of fusiliers and anthyas flitting over the gorgeous soft corals and impressive table corals. In the deep blue, you can also see at times large tuna, mackerel and other fish schooling around a small mound to the northwest. A lone eagle ray is often spotted here cruising in the currents.

Cauldron – The channel between Gili Lawa Laut and Gili Lawa Darat forms a dive site with interesting topography. The dive starts with a drift along a sloping reef and sandy bottom. Corals heads shelter crocodile fish and lionfish hunting in the small schools of glassfish. Pygmies and frogfish have been seen here as well eagle rays and reef sharks. The dive site then shallows out with the ‘bull ring’ circle opening out and ending in a flat rock plateaux. There is also a chance to see manta rays playing in the surface.

Castle Rock – Castle Rock is a submerged pinnacle situated a kilometer further north from Crystal Rock. Its exposed location means strong currents but experienced divers will love the thrills to be had on this dive. In fact, the main action comes from watching the staggering amount of fish such as batfish, groupers, midnight snappers and impressive schools of fusiliers and surgeons whipping past. Of course, divers aren’t the only ones interested in the huge amount of fish here, which explains the giant trevallies as well as whitetips, blacktips and grey reef sharks hunting around for their next meal.

Komodo-Flores – MAUAN: This is one of the most beautiful beaches inside the Komodo National Park. With its pinkish sand and turquoise waters, it’s the right place for stunning pictures and an amazing dive or snorkeling spot. It’s another Manta Rays spot and it featured with an amazing coral garden where you can spot a lot of macro and beautiful live hard and soft corals. Special encounters with sleeping black tip reef sharks can happen.

Pulau Pengah: This dive site is located in the middle of the Komodo National Park, 12 nautical miles to the north and 12 nautical miles to the south. The translation of Batu = Rock, Tengah = Middle. With a slope to the east of the site and a coral garden to the west Batu Tangah is a beautiful site where we often get to see turtles, cuttlefish and juvenile white tip reef sharks that hide under the table corals among the hard coral garden. Napoleon wrasses and big groups of snapper swimming on the slope with all the colorful decoration of the soft coral make Batu Tengah a high quality dive site.

Wainilu – This sunset dive is situated off the north of Rinca Island. In the shallows, the hard coral reef is home to many different critters, including juvenile harlequin sweetlips and batfish. Away from the reef, the sandy slope is scattered with pulsing soft corals that hide demon stingers and starry night octopus, plus a moray eel that has not yet been classified by scientists and is only found here in Wainilo. We dive at 17.30 for the Mandarin Fisch and we spend the night at the anchor position.

Wainilu: This morning after light breakfast we will repeat the dive to enjoy it by daylight. Another perspective for another incredible macro dive. Once back we will serve full breakfast and afterward we will head to Rinca for the Komodo dragon trekking.

Rinca trekking – Today is the day for wild life on land. In the morning all dry and ready to experience the main feature of Komodo National Park : the famous Komodo varans aka Komodo Dragons. Wear comfortable clothes, would suggest to wear long pants and trekking shoes along with a hat to enjoy the trekking around the Rinca park with the ranger. You will see the dragons and other wild life such as wild pigs, water buffalos, monkeys, snakes and many different species of birds.

Kalong Island – After trekking we will serve a refreshing snack before heading to Kalong Island. As last night we will offer you the fantastic scenery of the flying foxes food catch. This natural emotional and incredible show will impress your eyes and leave you with a memorable end of the cruise.

Wake up later and breakfast. On the way back to Labuan Bajo we will stop by the Mesah Village to experience the local life of the Bajo fishermen village. Since this is a muslim village we recommend appropriate clothes for the women, long pants and a t shirts are advised. Way back to Labuan Bajo and check out