Kabupaten Manggarai Barat

We joined a liveaboard for four days. For the first time in our lives we were living on a boat. Eating, taking showers, sleeping and waking up on a boat feels so nice. It feels as if you're completely free, like you can go wherever the wind and the currents carry you. And of course we were diving from our beautiful wooden boat. We did three dives a day and saw so many dive sites around the Komodo national park.

It was one of the most amazing things I ever did in my life. Completely detached from a normal life on land and so close to nature. We dropped down to the bottom of the sea and found so much life. The reefs here are among the prettiest in the world (same as in the Philippines, both island nations are part of the coral triangle) and the fish are huge. I've never seen so many big, huge, massive fish!

And then we saw manta rays! Mantas are extremely elegant creatures, the way they move underwater is so beautiful. And they are soooooo big. And very peaceful. Two of them came very close, their movements looked like they were flying. 😍 We also saw sharks. Whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, two of them we found sleeping on the ground while the others were swimming around. I used to be afraid of sharks but after seeing them up close, I'm not afraid anymore.

Diving here in Komodo involves a lot of current. During some of the dives, it felt like flying or being on a rollercoaster. The current is so strong that it just takes you with it. Kicking and fighting against the current only keeps you in place but you can't go back to where you've been before. Just enjoy the ride and watch the fishies and coals passing by. 😅

On one of the days, we also visited the Komodo national park and found some Komodo dragons. They can only be found in the area of the Komodo national park and the islands surrounding it and are an endangered species. They look a bit like monitor lizards but can grow a lot bigger.Leia mais