Bali Prima, Wicked Komodo’s newest addition to the fleet, is a primarily a snorkel liveaboard which offers trips into the Komodo National Park. Providing accommodation for up to 4 guests, her flexible and comfortable design means that the schedule for the trips can include snorkeling and diving and a range of land based activities too.
On 23rd July, Bali Prima set off on her fourth outing to the national park, for a 3 day 2 night trip of snorkeling, diving, island hopping and, of course, fun. Guests on the trip were Karen and Andy from the UK who have been traveling around Flores and the Gili islands for a few weeks. As Andy recently completed his advanced certification in the Gili islands, he was eager to check out the famous diving around Komodo, almost as eager as Karen was to check out the snorkeling. Joining Andy and Karen were guides, Jo and Calle, and crew, Rudy, Sudi and Amin.
The team left early on the morning of 23rd to Sabalon Kecil where they made the first dive and snorkel stop, a great introduction to the diving in the area. The site they choose was a wall, literally littered with huge sea fans, bubble coral and resident bubble coral shrimp, nudis and clouds of red tooth triggerfish dancing off the wall, all complemented with amazing visibility. Excitement was high, which only increased when Rudy brought out the first of many huge feasts on the trip. It was clear from then onwards that there would be no hungry tummies for the next few days.
After lunch they headed to big sister, Sabalon Besar, where everyone donned masks and snorkels and jumped in just of the beach. The corals were stunning and they quickly spotted a hawksbill turtle and a rare white mouth moray. However, the show of the day was put on by 6 Pharaoh cuttlefish engaging in a complex mating ritual. Thoroughly enthralled, they forgot about exploring the reef any further and watched the spectacle for the rest of their time in the water.
As the sun lowered, Bali Prima set off to Sabayor island and was joined by a number of playful dolphins, splashing and jumping in her bow waves. The first day ended with cooling sea breezes, chocolate, a huge feast prepared by Rudy and beautiful starry night.
On the next day after an early morning swim for Andy we headed out for the first dive and snorkel of the day at Sabayor Ridge. Marine life encounters aside from the hugely diverse corals hard and soft included a school of bumphead parrotfish, sponge snails, flatworms, peacock mantis shrimp, a friendly hawksbill turtle and huge schools of fusilier. After Andy and Jo finished the dive and returned to Bali Prima, Calle and Karen were still snorkeling and it was nearly impossible to get them out of the water for breakfast.
After a well deserved feast and talks of buying the island, they headed further south to scope out more snorkel and dive spots. After a quick stop at Tengah Beasr to assess conditions it was decided that they were not ideal so the group headed to Tengah Kecil. As always, beautiful, and somewhat chillier Tengah Kecil did not disappoint. Huge schools of fusilier, batfish and giant trevally roamed around the wall while smaller creatures seen on the reef itself were xenocrabs, raggy scorpionfish, more nudis and fire gobies galore.
Andy and Karen then decided that beach time was in order, so everyone headed to Kaaba island for some chill time on a private beach, before settling in to watch the famous flying fox migration at Kaaba over sunset. In an awe-filled silence they watched the flying foxes leave the mangroves and head out in to the night in search of food. Thousands of bats perform this journey every night before returning to the safety of the mangroves at sunrise to sleep for the day.
After dinner and laughs, they traveled through the night to Rinca island to ensure shelter and easy access for the next morning’s expedition to Rinca in search of dragons.
The final day began with an early morning and apprehensive trek at Rinca island. The dragons are more active first thing in the morning and Andy, Karen, Jo and Calle were welcomed by these huge beasts pretty much as soon as they got to the island. A short trek, many photos, megapodes and monkeys later and they returned to Bali Prima intact.
Now saw the home journey to Labuan Bajo begin, but not without a little more fun on the way. After a short dip to cool off at a nearby island the guys made their final snorkel stop at beautiful Kanawa island, which is about 1.5 hours from Labuan Bajo. The trip certainly ended on a high with Karen and Andy both agreeing that these were some of the best corals that they had seen and with creatures spotted from batfish and trevallies to sponge snails and coral crabs, everyone was very happy. But unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and after the last leg of the journey was complete, it was time to say our goodbyes. For everyone onboard it was a fantastic trip, the type which you never want to finish.
Bali Prima allows for a completely relaxed schedule that can be tailored to suit everyone and Karen and Andy were able to take full advantage of this and get exactly what they wanted out of their 3 days onboard. From everyone on Bali Prima and at Wicked, thanks so much for joining us on the adventure guys. We miss you!
Should you wish to join our trips - Wicked Diving Komodo is ready to take you out for some amazing adventures
Kaaba is a small, uninhabited island, situated within the Komodo national park, which is often visited on Wicked Diving’s liveaboard trips aboard the Jaya and the Bali Prima.
Otherwise known as fruit bats, flying foxes feed primarily on fruit and other vegetation throughout the night, before returning to the mangroves at sunrise for sleep. Their feeding range can be up to 40km, so it is possible they may even venture into Labuan Bajo and the surrounding area in search of sustenance.
