Ultimate Solo Female Traveler’s Guide to Komodo Liveaboard Adventures 🚢

My itinerary: Bali – Komodo – Surabaya – Malang – Yogyakarta – Bandung – Jakarta

✈️ The one-way flight from Bali to Komodo costs a little over 300 RMB. The airport and city center are very close, just a 20-minute walk, or a 15k Grab motorcycle ride. The actual landing place is called 📍Labuan Bajo, a very pretty small fishing town. Most people come here for the Komodo tour and then leave, but I quite liked it here and stayed for five more days.

⭐️ About choosing a Komodo tour:
▫️ One-day tour: There are speedboats (6 spots) and slow boats (4 spots), which cover all the highlights, but without the 🦇 sunset. 1200k
▫️ Half-day tour: From noon to around 7 pm. It includes snorkeling at Kelor and Menjerite, and then watching the bats return to Kalong Island.

500k
▫️ Two-day one-night 2D1N: Tours depart daily. The first day follows the half-day tour itinerary, with an overnight stay on the boat. The second day includes sunrise at Padar, pink beach, Komodo Dragon Park, Takamakasar, and Manta Point (snorkeling to see manta rays). 2000k
▫️ 3D2N: Adds two or three more snorkeling spots, with a different order of islands.

Not available every day, you need to wait for specific dates. 3250k
▫️ 4D3N: You can also take a boat to Lombok from here, which is much cheaper than going from Lombok to Komodo. Boats depart every Wednesday and Sunday. The first two days’ itinerary is similar to the two-day tour. 3000k
⚠️ These prices I found locally are for basic boat types.

Better boats and cabins or private rooms will definitely be more expensive, ranging from thousands to tens of thousands. None of these include the Komodo Dragon Park entrance ticket 🎫, which is an additional 500k. However, the attractions visited by different boats are the same, and they all include meals and snorkeling equipment.

⭐️ In the end, I chose the two-day one-night tour because I didn’t want to miss the 🦇 sunset and it wasn’t as rushed. I could also experience staying on the boat. I finally negotiated the price down to 1700k.
⭐️ Experience: It exceeded my expectations!! This is the most worthwhile trip in Indonesia so far.

The water for snorkeling was extremely clear, with many fish and corals 🐟. The sunrise and sunset were both breathtaking 🥺. Surprisingly, the food on the boat was quite good. The accommodation conditions were average, but I slept well and didn’t get seasick. After all, for just over 700 RMB, it included two days of meals, accommodation, a guide, and six snorkeling sessions, so you can’t ask for too much 😂.

🎒 Items to prepare: A set of quick-dry clothes, a nice dress, sunscreen, beach towel, waterproof phone case (I didn’t buy one this time, so I have no snorkeling photos 😢), water, mask, fins, and life jackets are provided on the boat.
📍The travel guide for Labuan Bajo is in picture 7️⃣. If you have enough time, you can stay a few more days after the boat trip to slowly enjoy the area. For more practical travel tips, check out the homepage ✨.