With Mantamae’s well planned schedule, you can go on a diving and wildlife excursion that you’ll never forget. On the first day, you’ll arrive at Labuan Bajo, Flores, where the Mantamae team will pick you up and take you right away to join the ship. After a briefing on the boat and the chance to do a check dive, visit the beautiful Sebayur Island, which has places like Sebayur Kecil and Mini Wall. You can see nurse sharks, nudibranchs, and crabs during the night dive. Staying on the island overnight gives you a chance to hike around the island.
On the second day, go to Gili Lawa Laut to dive at Castle Rock and Crystal Rock. People who love to dive can enjoy the colorful marine life, including big schools of fusiliers, anthias, and the occasional eagle ray. On the third day, we explore Batu Bolong, which is noted for its many soft and hard corals, many types of fish, and great snorkeling spots. The day goes on with a trip to Makassar Reef (Manta Point), where drift diving could lead to encounters with manta rays, turtles, and different types of reef sharks.
On the fourth day, you get to go trekking on Komodo Island and see the famous Komodo Dragons and other animals. The day ends with a dive at Wainilu, where you can see soft corals that pulse and unusual marine animals. Day five takes place at Pulau Pengah, which is a great diving location with coral gardens, turtles, and baby white tip reef sharks. Next is a walk into Rinca, where you can see the interesting Komodo Dragons in the wild again.
On day six, you can take it easy. On the route back to Labuan Bajo, you can stop at Mesah Village to learn more about the lives of Bajo fishermen. The trip ends with a check-out in Labuan Bajo. This marks the end of a great trip to see the amazing underwater life and wonders of Komodo National Park.
More about Manta MaeDives: Approximately 12 dives in total
Experience: Open Water – No minimum logged dives required.
Marine Life: Bumphead parrotfish, bamboo sharks, marble rays, nudibranchs, dusky sharks, jawfish, bubble coral shrimps, leaf fish, porcelain crabs, pygmy seahorses, schools of barracudas, trevally, and mackerel, white tips, black tips, grey reef sharks, turtles, octopus, frogfish, manta rays, dugong, banded pipefishes, mandarin fishes, Wonderpus, Indian Walkman
Please note: Whilst there is no minimum certification level or a number of dives required, divers with less than 50 dives who have not dived for 1 year we will be required to take a scuba review onboard (underpayment as per price list). The same is required for divers with 51 up to 200 dives who have not dived for 2 years
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 harbor, 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 neighboring patch reef are 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. Overnight here with the chance to island hiking.
Gili Lawa Laut: Two celebrated dive sites await you, just north of Gili Lawalaut 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. 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 anthias flitting over the gorgeous soft corals and impressive table corals. In the deep blue, you can also see at times large tuna, mackerel, and another 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 head shelter crocodile fish and lionfish hunting in the small schools of glassfish. Pygmies and frogfish have been seen here as well as eagle rays and reef sharks. The dive site then shallows out with the ‘bull ring’ circle opening out and ending in a flat rock plateau. There is also a chance to see manta rays playing on 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.
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 anemonefishes 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 has one of the best shallow reefs 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 blacktip reef sharks. Possibility to go snorkeling. We spend the night in this area.
Pink Beach – Overnight in the most famous beach of the archipelago. Possibility to do night dive.
Komodo trekking – Today is the day for wildlife 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 wearing 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 wildlife such as wild pigs, water buffalos, monkeys, snakes, and many different species of birds.
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
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.
Rinca trekking – Today is the day for wildlife on land on the second island of the Park to see the dragons. The famous Komodo varans aka Komodo Dragons. Wear comfortable clothes, would suggest wearing 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 wildlife 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. Like 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 t-shirts are advised.
Way back to Labuan Bajo and check out.
Included: VAT, Fuel Surcharge, Airport Transfer, Hotel Transfer, Drinking Water, Soft drinks, Tea & Coffee, Welcome Cocktails, Full-Board Meal Plan (All meals), Snacks, Diving Package, Fishing, Kayaks, Land Excursions, Snorkeling Guide, Stand Up Paddleboard, Wakeboarding, Water Ski, Beach Towels, Cabin Towels, Complimentary Toiletries, Deck Towels, WiFi internet.
Required Extras: National Park Fees (50-250 USD per day).
Optional Extras: Gratuities, Alcoholic Beverages, Wine with Dinner, Extra Dives, Nitrox, Nitrox Course, Rental Gear, Scuba Diving Courses, Jet Ski, Snorkel Gear, Massage, Yoga.
Komodo Island
12 dives
Certificate: Open Water
No minimum logged dives required
Raja Ampat
21 dives
Certificate: Advanced Open Water
50 minimum logged dives required
Komodo Island
18 dives
Certificate: Open Water
No minimum logged dives required
Raja Ampat
18 dives
Certificate: Open Water
30 minimum logged dives required
Raja Ampat (Misool & Wayag)
20 dives
Certificate: Advanced Open Water
50 minimum logged dives required
Raja Ampat
18 dives
Certificate: Open Water
30 minimum logged dives required
Dive sites such as Castle Rock, Chrystal Rock. I will never forget diving at the shotgun.On the penultimate day we saw manta rays directly above us.Roy went out of his way to find our wishes (on animals/creatures)Jace was able to give me some good tips when taking pictures.The whole crew made you feel at home.Also interesting was the excursion to the dragons and in the evening to see the bats changing islands at sunset.
