Komodo Tour 4 Days 3 Nights from Labuan Bajo

1 of the 24 boats on this page sell single cabins on a shared departure, from $2,370 per person on Aliikai Voyage up to $2,370 on Aliikai Voyage. The other 23 are whole-boat charter, quoted from $4,100 for the boat and running to $89,910 at the top of the range. Park access is separate unless an operator explicitly includes it. SiOra charges follow the registered travel days and any applicable activity, vessel or special-use charges; see What the Park Costs on this page for the verified schedule.

It is the same circuit with slack in it. Days 1 and 2 are close to identical on both. What the fourth day buys is a second run at the manta channel when the current is wrong, a morning at Kanawa Island, and one spare weather window. If your dates are tight or budget is the constraint, the 3 days 2 nights version of this route still covers every headline sight, Padar and the dragons and Pink Beach and the mantas, and puts you back in Labuan Bajo a day earlier.

This is the shortest itinerary on which a real dive schedule fits, but it depends on the boat rather than the route. Diving is excluded from every package here: tanks, equipment rental, nitrox and guide fees are charged on top and need arranging before departure rather than on the morning. Leave a surface interval before flying. The usual 18 to 24 hour no-fly guidance after repetitive dives applies, which is another reason not to book a same-day flight out of Labuan Bajo on Day 4.

Kelor Island on the afternoon of Day 1, then Padar, Pink Beach and Komodo Island on Day 2. Day 3 runs north to Karang Makassar for the mantas, Taka Makassar, a reef stop at Batu Bolong or Siaba Besar, and Kalong Island at dusk for the flying foxes. Day 4 is a last snorkel at Kanawa Island before the crossing back. Stops shift with tide, current and wind. The ranger-led walk and the manta channel are the two most weather-sensitive.

Day 2 is the early one. The tender leaves for Padar in the dark so the ridge walk is done before the day boats arrive from Labuan Bajo and before the heat, which means coffee at around 4.30 to 5am. Day 3 also starts early because Karang Makassar works best on a particular tide. Day 1 and Day 4 are the relaxed ones. Nights are spent at anchor in sheltered bays rather than under way, so the boat is not sailing through your sleep.

The crew reorders the itinerary rather than cancelling stops. Padar and the manta channel are the two that get moved, and a reef stop or a beach usually fills the gap. This is the practical argument for the extra night: on a two-night trip a single bad morning deletes a headline sight, and on this one there is normally somewhere else in the schedule to put it. Full cancellations are rare outside January and February.

Four days is the shortest trip most private phinisi will sell, so the upper half of this route is charter territory rather than cabin territory. 23 of the 24 boats here take the whole boat only, from $4,100. Taking a boat privately starts to make sense from around six people; below that a cabin on a shared departure is almost always cheaper. Only 1 boats on this page sell single cabins, so solo travellers and couples should check availability early or look at the shorter route.

April to June and September to November are the settled windows: flat crossings, good underwater visibility, and a Padar ridge that is not shoulder to shoulder at sunrise. July and August are dry and calm but the busiest and most expensive. Manta sightings at Karang Makassar hold up year-round and are most reliable in the cooler months. January and February bring the strongest winds and the thinnest choice of departures, as part of the fleet repositions east for the Raja Ampat season. On four days the weather matters less than on a shorter trip, because there is usually a spare morning to move a stop into.