Komodo National Park: In search of diving, not dragons<\/p>\n
Jock Paul, Contributor, Labuanbajo, Flores<\/p>\n
\"People come here for the dragons but they stay for the diving.\"<\/p>\n
I hear the comment over and over from locals during my five
\ndays in Labuanbajo, a quiet fishing town on the west coast of
\nFlores from which dive operators access the Komodo National Park.<\/p>\n
A combination of natural and enforced protection and cold,
\nnutrient-rich water has created a marine environment in the
\nKomodo National Park that is teeming with fish and marine life
\n--and has become a haven for divers.<\/p>\n
The stark contrast between the rich marine life below the
\nsurface and the parched and rugged landscape of the Komodo
\nNational Park is immediately apparent on my first dive. Batu
\nBolong, northeast of the island of Komodo, is a large exposed
\nrock surrounded by strong currents, with empty barren islands
\nscattered in different directions a few kilometers away.<\/p>\n
Underwater the difference is paralyzing. There is literally
\ntoo much to see. School after school of different sized colorful
\nfish swim slowly by. In over 20 meters of visibility, I see
\nturtles, a white tip shark, an eagle ray, two moray eels, and
\nthousands of fish and a variety of colors I have never seen
\nbefore. The coral is spectacular and in perfect shape.<\/p>\n
The sea around Komodo is unique in the world in that it has
\ntwo distinct marine habitats -- tropical and temperate -- a few
\nnautical miles from each other. Here the warm tropical waters of
\nthe Flores Sea mix with the cold upwellings brought from the
\nsouth by the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n
The upwellings, originating in Antarctica, and the oxygenation
\ncaused by the fierce currents surrounding Komodo, meet to create
\nrich plankton and nutrient blooms. This in turn, supports an
\namazing and colorful profusion of temperate marine life --
\ninvertebrate, mammal and fish.<\/p>\n
Coral flourishes in the area due to the relatively cool and
\nconsistent water temperature, between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius
\nthroughout the year. And while attracting marine life the
\ncurrent, which is almost always stronger at the surface than at
\ndepth, also has scared fishermen away from many of the sights and
\nmade dynamite and cyanide fishing ineffective.<\/p>\n
The reefs, because they fall within the tourist draw of the
\nKomodo National Park, are better protected than most in the
\ncountry, and park rangers have also helped limit dynamite
\nfishing. Divers and all park visitors pay Rp 25,000 for a three-
\nday entrance pass to the park. The last savior of the reefs is
\nthe lack of divers, who are often an unintentional cause of
\ndamage to the reefs themselves.<\/p>\n
According to UNESCO, the Komodo National Park alone is home to
\n250 species of reef-building corals and 1,000 fish species, more
\nthan the entire Caribbean.<\/p>\n
Diving in the oceans south of Komodo is much colder but just
\nas impressive. Enticed by the assurance of seeing manta rays --
\nour dive guide Anke Winkler of Labuanbajo Dive, said, \"I can
\nguarantee, well I am 99 percent sure, we will see manta rays,\" --
\nwe set out on a five-hour boat trip from Labuanbajo.<\/p>\n
Anke and her husband Frank have been diving in the area since
\n1994, and discovered many of the area's best dive sites. The
\nchances of seeing manta rays here, at Manta Alley, just south of
\nKomodo, has made this site one of the areas most popular sites.
\nTen minutes into our first dive a manta ray appeared about three
\nmeters above us as we came around a corner.<\/p>\n
Looking upwards, the suns' ray created a crisp dark outline,
\nhighlighting the manta ray's three and a half meter wingspan.<\/p>\n
For the next few minutes we gawked upwards, clinging close to
\nthe rock, and fighting the current as the graceful yet menacing
\nmanta ray hovered above us. In two dives here we saw over a dozen
\nmanta rays, turtles, a white tip shark, some large giant
\ntrevally, beautiful coral and a rich diversity of other
\ninvertebrate life.<\/p>\n
Later that night, overlooking the islands and boats that
\ndotted the harbor of Labuanbajo, the other divers and I shared a
\nrelaxing meal, and talked about the diving.<\/p>\n
\"The amazing thing is everything is unspoiled -- you never see
\nbroken coral -- it is all pristine,\" said Patricia Hurlimann, a
\nGerman dive master with over 100 dives, who, along with American
\nDavid Shaw, had come to Flores to see the three colored lakes at
\nKeli Mutu.<\/p>\n
They dove once on their way to the lakes and then decided to
\nchange their plans before they even got there, and had just dove
\nsix more times.<\/p>\n
\"In terms of condensed life, and richness of life in a small
\narea, the diving is the best I have ever seen,\" said Shaw, who
\nhas dove all around the world and over 100 times. \"It's
\nimpossible to take it all in one dive.\"<\/p>\n
Daniel Burkholz, from Germany, a divemaster with over 200
\ndives, said: \"It's world class diving but it's not world class
\nprices. To go to a place where the diving is completely
\nunexplored and it is guaranteed you will see manta rays is
\nincredible.\"<\/p>\n
Although we were sad to be leaving, the words of Tino
\nHerrmann, a 25-year-old German who has done over 200 dives in the
\nKomodo National Park, and over 1,000 dives in Southeast Asia and
\nthe Red Sea made us excited about coming back.<\/p>\n
Herrmann said, that given the fact that the area is so
\nunexplored, if he or other divers had the time and money to look
\nfor new dive sites in the park he is sure that new sites as good
\nor better than those already known would be found.<\/p>\n
In the rich unique oceans surrounding the dragons, it's clear
\nthere is still much to be discovered.<\/p>",
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