We have a tentative plan to spend 3.5 days diving in Gili Trawangan and then 4 days diving Komodo from Labuan Bajo
Shark Point
One of the most varied and interesting dive sites around the Gili’s, Shark Point is a vast open site available to all levels of diver certification. The site starts with a shallow sloping reef, with a series of ridges and valleys leading into deeper water.
Halik
A steep slope on the north side of Gili Trawangan, from 5m down to 24m with a series of gullies at the bottom. A fine site to multi level dive, the selection of soft coral in the deeper section gives way to hard corals as you ascend and in the shallows there are always several turtles totally unfazed by the presence of divers. This is also a great site for drift dives.
Deep Turbo
Advanced Certification Required – currents can get strong. If there’s anything big swimming around the islands, you can find it here! The current is the most difficult item to manage here: it drfits at a right angle to the reef, so you’re often against it or to its side. As a deep site it is less dived than others, more accessible; the coral is in great shape and pelagic life hanging around can be surprising.
Meno Wall
Meno wall, off the west coast of Gili Meno, goes down to depths of 18m. It offers a lot of small coral fish like Lionfish, Soldier Fish, Gobies, crabs, as well as Wart Slugs and Nudibranches coming out of hiding. It is also called “Turtle Heaven” because of the many resident Hawksbill and Green Turtles – this is where you wanna go if you want those awesome turtle pictures!
Komodo Park’s manta ray population are known to make appearances at certain sites throughout the year. That said, between June and August – at the height of the dry season – many of these resident manta rays move to the south of the park in search of cooler, plankton-rich waters. Unfortunately, stronger winds make conditions in the south less than ideal at this time, meaning divers can rarely follow suit. Luckily, juvenile mantas seem to stay put and can still be seen around northern sites at this time, particularly Cauldron.
October through March is often considered the best time to dive with manta rays in Komodo. This is because the mature manta rays appear in larger numbers in central Komodo from October through December, and the famous southern site of Manta Alley is also easily accessible. Between December and February, the onset of the wet season brings blooms of plankton that lure a large number of migratory individuals into the region. At this time, manta rays can be seen almost anywhere within the park, with sometimes up to a dozen on a single site. Lucky divers may even witness the rare ‘manta mating train’ courtship ritual.