Asik OriginalOn request
Labuan Bajo, Flores
Overnight Komodo Boat Tour: The Whole Phinisi to Yourselves
2 Days 1 NightSmall groups
Komodo Diving Liveaboard from Labuan Bajo
Labuan Bajo, Flores3 Days 2 NightsAsik Original
An Asik Original, run by us
Planned and run end to end by the Asik team. You book and deal directly with us, start to finish.
Want a closer look at the boat before you book? Browse our Labuan Bajo boat tours, with the ships, decks and cabins shown in detail.
Overview
Komodo is a current-driven site. Cold water pushes up from the Indian Ocean through the straits between the islands, which is why the reefs here carry more fish than almost anywhere else in Indonesia, and also why the good sites are not beginner sites.
Sleeping on the boat is what makes the difference. The best dives in the north, Castle Rock and Crystal Rock, are three hours from Labuan Bajo and only work on slack. From a day boat you get one shot at them. From a liveaboard you are already on top of the site at first light, which is when they fire.
Three dives a day, plus a night dive if the group wants it. The boat carries tanks, weights and compressor; bring your own regulator and computer if you have them, or rent on board.
Itinerary
1Day 1
Check dive at Siaba, Batu Bolong, night dive at Wainilu
A shakedown dive, then the pinnacle everyone comes for.
Day 1
Check dive at Siaba, Batu Bolong, night dive at Wainilu
A shakedown dive, then the pinnacle everyone comes for.
- 08:00
Pickup, harbour, gear set-up and buddy check on the dive deck. Certification cards and logbooks are checked here, so bring them.
- 10:00
Dive 1, Siaba Besar. A shallow, currentless bay used as the check dive: weighting, trim and a look at your kit before anything with current. Turtles on the sea grass make it a pleasant one rather than a chore.
- 13:00
Dive 2, Batu Bolong. A pinnacle rising from deep water, dived on the sheltered side because the current splits around it. The wall is solid coral from five metres down and holds the densest fish life in the park. The dive is planned in one direction on the slack and the guide will abort it if the timing slips.
- 16:00
Dive 3, Mawan. A gentle drift over sand and coral bommies with manta cleaning stations at the north end.
- 19:30
Optional night dive at Wainilu. Muck diving rather than reef: frogfish, nudibranchs, mandarinfish at dusk. Skip it if three dives is enough.
2Day 2
Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, The Cauldron
The northern sites, and the reason the trip is a liveaboard.
Day 2
Castle Rock, Crystal Rock, The Cauldron
The northern sites, and the reason the trip is a liveaboard.
- 05:30
Coffee on deck. The boat has moved north overnight and is on site at first light, which is when the trevally and sharks are hunting.
- 06:00
Dive 1, Castle Rock. A submerged seamount with no reference to the surface, dived on a negative entry with a reef hook. Grey reef sharks, big schools of fusiliers and a wall of trevally on the current side. This is an advanced dive and the current is the whole point of it.
- 09:30
Dive 2, Crystal Rock. The same water, a shallower pinnacle that tops out at five metres, so the safety stop is on the reef. Better visibility than Castle Rock and easier to photograph.
- 13:00
Dive 3, The Cauldron, also called Shotgun. A channel between two islands where the tide accelerates and shoots you through a narrowing gap into a bowl. Timed to the slack, then ridden on the flood. The most fun dive in the park and the one that most needs the guide's tide table.
- 17:00
Anchor at Gili Lawa. The climb up the hill for sunset is worth doing on a surface interval.
3Day 3
Manta Point, Tatawa Besar, back to Labuan Bajo
Mantas at the cleaning station, then a drift home.
Day 3
Manta Point, Tatawa Besar, back to Labuan Bajo
Mantas at the cleaning station, then a drift home.
- 06:30
Dive 1, Karang Makassar, the Manta Point. A drift along a rubble field where reef mantas queue at cleaning stations. Divers stay low and still on the bottom and let the animals come, which they do if nobody chases them.
- 09:30
Dive 2, Tatawa Besar. A soft-coral drift, orange from end to end, with no work involved. A good last dive because it is shallow and leaves a long surface interval before flying.
- 12:00
Lunch under way, gear rinsed and hung by the crew.
- 15:00
Alongside at Labuan Bajo. No flying for 18 hours after the last dive, so book your flight out for the following day.
Choose your cabin
Pick your space aboard the Cordelia
A 2019 phinisi rigged for diving, with a working dive deck and compressor on board. Five cabins, so the group stays small enough to dive the northern sites together.
5 cabins 12-14 guests 24 m Dive deck and compressor
Cabins are air conditioned, and a shared berth is sold one bed at a time. The price you see is per person.
Diamond
Main Deck Panorama · 15 m² · sleeps 2
$591
per person
The best cabin on board, with windows wrapping most of the way round. Takes a third bed.
Sapphire
Upper Deck · 13 m² · sleeps 2
$542
per person
The only cabin on the upper deck, one flight up from the dive deck and away from the engine. Takes a third bed.
Ruby
Lower Deck · 9 m² · sleeps 2
$421
per person
Lower-deck cabin with its own bathroom. Closest to the dive deck, which is the trade most divers happily make.
Pearl
Lower Deck · 9 m² · sleeps 2
$421
per person
The second lower-deck cabin, identical to Ruby.
Crystal
Shared Four-Berth · 12 m² · sleeps 4
$311
per person
Four single beds in one lower-deck cabin, sold a bed at a time and allocated by gender. The cheapest way onto the boat, and the one solo divers take.
Your selection
Lower deck
Crystal
Shared Four-Berth · 12 m² · $311 per person
Guests in this cabin
Crystal × 2 beds$621
Estimated total$621
$311 per person · Shared Four-Berth
No charge yet. We confirm dates and availability first.
What's included
- Air-conditioned berth, private cabin with ensuite or a shared four-berth
- Up to 8 dives, three a day plus one optional night dive
- Tanks, weights, belts and air fills
- Dive guide, with groups kept small on the current sites
- Airport or hotel transfers within central Labuan Bajo
- All meals on board, plus fruit and snacks between dives
- Free-flow drinking water, coffee and tea
- Harbour clearance and port fees
- Oxygen and first aid kit on board
Not included
- Komodo National Park fees plus the daily diver surcharge of IDR 25,000, about IDR 725,000 per foreign diver on a 3D2N
- Rental equipment: regulator, BCD, wetsuit, computer, torch
- Nitrox, where the boat carries it
- Dive insurance, which is required and must cover chamber treatment
- Flights to and from Komodo Airport
- Alcohol, crew tips, personal expenses
- Hotel nights before or after the trip
Gallery
1 / 5 Full size
Good to know
What certification do I need?
Open Water is the minimum and gets you Siaba, Mawan, Tatawa and Manta Point. Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and The Cauldron are Advanced sites and the guide will want to see Advanced Open Water plus around 30 logged dives, because they are negative-entry dives in real current. If you are Open Water with few dives we will still take you, and you will sit out two dives on day two or do a shallower alternative on the same site.
Do I need to send my certification card in advance?
Yes, a photo of the card and your last logged dives when you book. The guide plans the sites around the least experienced diver on board, so knowing that before the boat sails is what stops day two turning into a compromise for everyone. Bring the physical card too, it is checked on the dive deck.
How strong is the current, really?
Strong enough that it dictates the schedule. Dives in the north are planned on slack water and the guide will move or cancel a dive rather than put a group in at the wrong hour. Expect down-currents at Castle Rock and Crystal Rock, and a genuine ride through The Cauldron. If you have only dived reefs with no current, tell us and we will build the trip around the southern and central sites instead.
When is the best time to dive Komodo?
April to June and September to November for the best combination of visibility and calm. Mantas are around all year, and thickest at the central sites such as Karang Makassar during the north-west monsoon, roughly November to April, when the plankton is heaviest and visibility drops in exchange. The southern sites run the other way, busiest on the south-east monsoon upwelling between about June and October. July and August are busy and the north can be cold, around 22 degrees, so a 5mm suit or a hood is worth having.
Can non-divers come along?
Yes, and it works better here than on most dive boats because the snorkelling is genuinely good at Manta Point, Mawan and Tatawa. A non-diver on the same cabin pays a reduced rate. They snorkel the same sites while the group is down, apart from the two northern seamounts, which have no shallow reef to snorkel.
When can I fly after the last dive?
18 hours. The boat is alongside at 15:00 on day three and the last dive finishes around 11:00, so the earliest safe flight is the following morning. Book a night in Labuan Bajo. Nobody sensible flies the same afternoon.
Booking and cancellation terms
- A deposit confirms your booking. The balance is due before the trip starts.
- Cancel 14 days or more before the start date: full refund of what you have paid.
- Cancel 7 to 13 days before: 50% of the total paid is refunded.
- Cancel less than 7 days before, or do not show up: no refund.
- If we cancel the trip, you choose a new date or take a full refund.
Full terms are confirmed with your booking. Bank transfer fees are paid by the sender.
Read before you go
The journalKomodo Snorkeling: Eight Spots and the Boats That Reach Them
You snorkel Komodo from a boat out of Labuan Bajo. Eight spots, what the water is like at each, and which of our trips stops there.
ReadLabuan Bajo to Komodo Island: Boats, Times and Prices for 2026
There is no road and no bridge: the only way from Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island is by boat. The two ways to do it, when each lands, and what to sort out before you sail.
ReadKomodo Phinisi Boat Guide: The Seven Boats We Sail from Labuan Bajo
Seven phinisi, from a three-suite boat for ten to a 34-metre hull that crosses to Lombok. Sizes, guest numbers and how each one is sold, by the cabin or whole.
Read
