Kanawa Island
Shallow, clear and currentless, with reef starting a few metres off the sand.
At a glance
- Entry fee
- Covered by Komodo National Park entry. There is no separate landing charge collected on the beach.
- Opening hours
- Daylight, inside the park's booking and daily-cap system.
- Time needed
- An hour or two, usually the longest unhurried stop of the trip.
About Kanawa Island
Kanawa is a small island close to Labuan Bajo with a reef that starts a few metres off the beach and shelves gently away from it. There is no current to speak of, the water is usually clear, and you can stand up in it. That combination makes it the stop where the snorkelling stops being famous and starts being genuinely good.
It is also where trips tend to finish. After a morning of tide-dependent stops and a drift over Manta Point, an hour at Kanawa is the part of the day with nothing to organise. The island had a resort on it for years and has been quiet since, so the jetty and a few structures remain but the beach itself is usually close to empty outside the middle of the day.
Getting there
By boat from Labuan Bajo, about an hour on a shared wooden boat and considerably less by speedboat. It sits near the park's eastern edge, so it works as either the first stop out or the last one home, and most three-day itineraries use it on the final morning. Boats anchor off the beach and run guests in by tender.
Best time
Late morning to mid-afternoon, when the sun is high enough to light the reef. Visibility is best in the dry season, roughly April to November. It is one of the few Komodo stops that does not depend on tide timing, which is why it so often absorbs the slack when the sea has reshuffled the rest of the day.
Good to know
Bring your own mask if you are particular about fit; boat sets are serviceable but rarely great. Reef shoes help at the waterline, where there is broken coral among the sand. Do not stand on the reef itself, even where it is shallow enough to tempt you. The coral here is in better condition than at the busier stops and it is shallow precisely because it is alive.
Things to do at Kanawa Island
Snorkel straight off the beach
The reef begins a few metres out and runs along the shore, so there is no swim to reach it and no current to fight once you are there.
Walk the sandbar at low water
A spit runs off the end of the island and surfaces as the tide drops, which is the island's own version of Taka Makassar without the boat traffic.
Take the last swim of the trip slowly
This is usually the final stop before Labuan Bajo, and the one place on a Komodo itinerary where nothing is scheduled to happen next.
Kanawa Island FAQs
Is Kanawa good for beginners?+
It is the best stop in the park for anyone unsure in water. It is shallow, there is no current, and the reef is close enough to shore that you never need to swim out. Guests who found Manta Point intense usually get their confidence back here.
Can you stay overnight on Kanawa?+
Not reliably. The island had a resort that has been closed for years, and while there has been periodic talk of it reopening, visitors should plan to sleep in Labuan Bajo or aboard a boat. Treat anything you read about beach bungalows here as out of date until confirmed.
Is the coral still healthy?+
It is in better shape than at several of the busier stops, partly because the shallow shelf keeps boats off it. That is also why guides ask people not to stand on it. Expect hard corals, reef fish and frequent turtles rather than the big pelagics you get at Manta Point.
Do all Komodo trips stop here?+
Most three-day itineraries do, usually on the last morning. Day trips often skip it in favour of Padar and Pink Beach, because the schedule is already tight. If easy snorkelling matters more to you than another viewpoint, it is worth asking whether your boat includes it.
More to see in Labuan Bajo
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