The best Highlight you must see in Komodo National Park.
Komodo National Park is a famous UNESCO World Heritage site in Indonesia. It is known for its volcanic hills, beautiful coral reefs, and the famous Komodo dragon. You can easily reach this amazing park by boat from Labuan Bajo for an unforgettable wildlife adventure.
If you are visiting Labuan Bajo, you cannot miss Komodo National Park. Here are the top places you must visit—each one is incredibly beautiful, unique, and unforgettable.
We have combined all of these amazing attractions into the perfect itineraries. Choose from our specially designed 1-day, 2-day, or 3-day tours to get the absolute best out of your Komodo experience.
Highlight of Komodo National Park.
Komodo Island – Komodo National Park highlight.
Komodo Island is the largest island in the park and the natural home of the famous Komodo dragon. The island features volcanic hills, dry savannahs, and forests where you can hike to see the world’s largest lizards in the wild. It is also culturally unique, as it is the only island in the park with a local village. The indigenous Ata Modo people live here in Komodo Village and often work as expert park rangers.
For your safety, you cannot explore the island alone. Every trekking group must hire a certified park ranger at the station. These experts are required to guide you safely around the wild Komodo dragons.
Rinca Island – Komodo National Park Highligh.
Rinca Island is the second-largest island in the park and the best place to see Komodo dragons in the wild. Unlike Komodo Island’s thick forests, Rinca has wide, open grass fields and hills. This open landscape makes it much easier to spot the island’s 2,300+ dragons.
You will enter through Loh Buaya (Crocodile Bay). This modern visitor area has high concrete boardwalks so you can safely watch the wild dragons walking below you.
Padar Island
Padar Island is the third-largest island in the park and is famous worldwide for its incredible views. The island has a unique landscape with sharp volcanic hills that drop straight into the sea. This shapes three beautiful bays, each with a completely different sand color: white, black, and pink.
While Komodo dragons used to live here, they have mostly disappeared because there is no food left for them. Today, tourists visit Padar strictly for the world-class hiking, photography, and scenery.
Pink Beach
Pink Beach is one of the most beautiful places in Komodo National Park. It is one of only seven beaches in the world with bright pink sand. Located in a quiet bay on Komodo Island, the beach is surrounded by red volcanic hills and clear turquoise water. It is a perfect paradise for taking photos, relaxing on the sand, and snorkeling.
Why is the Sand Pink?
The beach is pink because of tiny sea animals called Foraminifera. These tiny creatures have red shells. When they die, the waves wash their shells onto the beach and break them into tiny red pieces. These red pieces mix with the normal white sand, making the beach look bright pink!
Kelor Island
Kelor Island is a small, quiet island located right at the entrance of Komodo National Park. Because it is only a 30 to 45-minute boat ride from Labuan Bajo, tour boats always use it as their very first or very last stop. The island is famous for its perfect combination of a steep panoramic hill, clean white-sand beaches, and calm, clear blue water.
Top Things to Do on Kelor Island
- The Steep Hill Climb: Hike to the top of the island for an amazing 360-degree view of the sea and nearby islands. The hike takes only 10 to 15 minutes, but it is very steep with loose dirt and gravel. There are no stairs or handrails, so you must climb carefully.
- Easy Snorkeling: The water here is very calm with no dangerous currents. This makes it the perfect spot for beginners, kids, and casual swimmers to see colorful fish and corals right off the beach.
- Relaxing on the Beach: The island has a beautiful, soft white sandbar that stretches into the ocean. It is the perfect place to sunbathe, relax, and take tropical photos.
Menjerite Island – Komodo National Park highlight.
Manjarite Island is a famous snorkeling spot about 40 to 60 minutes away from Labuan Bajo by boat. It is the best place for beginners and children because the water is very calm, safe, and has no dangerous currents. The water is only 3 to 5 meters deep, so anyone can easily swim here to see the beautiful coral reefs and marine life.
Even though the water is shallow, you can often swim alongside green sea turtles, unique razorfish, and small rays gliding over the sandy ocean floor.
Siaba Island – Komodo National Park highlight.
Siaba Island is an ocean sanctuary famously nicknamed “Turtle City”. Located about 1.5 to 2 hours by boat from Labuan Bajo, the island sits in a calm bay where dangerous ocean currents rarely reach.
Because it has large areas of shallow sea grass and healthy coral reefs, it is the perfect feeding and resting home for a huge population of green sea turtles. This guarantees that swimmers of all experience levels can see turtles up close.
Taka Makassar – Komodo National Park highlight.
Taka Makassar is a unique, crescent-shaped sandbar located in the middle of Komodo National Park. Made entirely of soft white sand and bright red coral pieces, this tiny island is very low. In fact, it completely disappears during high tide and only appears when the tide is low.
It is surrounded by a huge, shallow lagoon of clear blue water, making it one of the most famous spots in Indonesia for swimming and taking photos.
Manta Point – Komodo National Park highlight.
Manta Point (locally called Karang Makassar) is a famous underwater area in Komodo National Park. It is known as one of the best places in the world to swim with giant manta rays.
This shallow ocean channel is 2.5 kilometers long and serves as a natural feeding and cleaning spot for these massive animals all year round. Because the reef is very shallow—usually between 2 to 12 meters deep—it is perfect for both scuba divers and surface snorkelers.
Key Visitor Guidelines & Strict 2026 Regulations
- Mandatory SiORA App Registration: The Indonesian government enforces a strict digital tracking system. All visitors must pre-register and secure a digital entry permit via the SiORA application before arriving at the Labuan Bajo harbor. No walk-in ticket sales are permitted.
- Strict Daily Visitor Cap: To reduce ecological pressure, total park-wide access is strictly capped at 1,000 visitors per day. Peak season slots fill up months in advance, making spontaneous day-trips nearly impossible
- Consolidated Ticket Pricing: A mandatory consolidated park pass costs IDR 650,000 per person for the standard Komodo Island route. This single fee covers general park entry, ranger access, trekking permits, and basic snorkeling allowances across Komodo Island, Padar Island, and Pink Beach.
- Drone Restrictions: Flying a drone requires an official permit obtained at least three days in advance in Labuan Bajo, costing IDR 2,000,000 per day. This is heavily policed, and unauthorized drones are routinely confiscated.