After a jam packed few days exploring the epic Nusa Islands, we rocked up to the beach in Nusa Lembongan to board our ferry to Lombok. The ferry was a zoo – extremely overbooked and stuffed to the brim with people and bags. Saz and I were lucky to snag seats on the tiny upper deck of the ferry, but many people ended up having to sit in the aisles or on the outdoor deck of the boat, getting splashed as we drove through the choppy waters.
Not realising the 3+ hour ferry wouldn’t have a bathroom, we were relieved (haha get it) that the ferry would make a quick pitstop in Nusa Penida, only 30 minutes away. We darted off the boat at the port to use the bathroom before rushing back, only to be told that for the next leg of the journey to the Gilis and Lombok, we could no longer sit on the upper deck as it was “reserved for the crew.” We took one look at the extremely over crowded lower deck, with people taking up every square inch of real estate, and tried to scout out where we could sit/stand for the rest of the journey. Luckily, we had left our bags on the upper deck so when we climbed back up to grab our stuff, the crew reluctantly took pity on us and “allowed” us to stay in our original seats. As we started our journey towards Lombok, we realised why they were so gatekeep-y about the upper deck – the crew members each wanted a full row to sprawl out and lay down on (taking up 4-5 open seats per person), while the peasants in the lower deck were packed in tighter than sardines!
We were a little bit apprehensive arriving into Lombok because we had booked a place on booking.com that had just been added 1 day prior to booking and had no reviews. It also didn’t show up when we typed it into Google Maps. Luckily, our accomodation, Makarma Resort Lombok, was real and actually super nice.
We were in Lombok to start an epic 4 day 3 night sailing adventure through the Komodo Islands, similar to the boat trip we had done in the Philippines. We had a day and a half in Lombok before the tour started, which we both quickly agreed should be spent laying in bed doing absolutely nothing. We had been on the go since arriving in Indonesia, with jam packed days exploring Raja Ampat, Bali, & the Nusa’s. We were excited to recharge and relax before 4 days on a boat. It was a much needed break for our bodies spending the next 1.5 days laying in bed & watching Netflix, only leaving to get food and stock up on some snacks for our adventure. Unfortunately for us, the mosque next door to our hostel didn’t get the memo, and proceeded to blast prayers and chants at max volume sporadically throughout the day, starting at 5 am. The chants would last for at least an hour each time.
We had booked the 4 day 3 night Lombok to Flores tour through Wanua Adventures. The tour advertised swimming with whale sharks, snorkelling in some epic spots, visiting a pink beach, and visiting Komodo National Park to see the largest lizards on Earth – the Komodo Dragon. The meeting point for Wanua Adventures was conveniently and coincidentally located right behind our hostel, so it was a quick 3 minute walk to the meeting point. We dropped our bags in the big pile, grabbed ourselves a cup of free tea/coffee, and started mingling with the other guests as we waited for everybody to show up. We sat at a table with an Australian girl, Becca, and a French girl, Laura. After about an hour of waiting and more and more people slowly rolling up, the expedition leaders gathered us around to give a quick tour briefing.
We were given the opportunity to rent fins and buy some beers and last minute snacks for the trip, before boarding our vans to drive to the Kayagan Ferry Port, 3.5 hours away in East Lombok. The van ride was brutal – we were crammed in the last row of the van with no legroom (even 5’2 Saz could barely fit!). The AC was not working, and the mid afternoon sun was beating down through the window. Every 5 minutes on the dot, an automatic air freshener machine would spray an extremely potent chemically smelling “fragrance” through the vents. The road was super windy up through the mountains, littered with potholes, and only wide enough for a vehicle going one way, so we were constantly driving off onto the gravel shoulder to avoid oncoming traffic. The cherry on top of the drive from hell was the Wanua Adventures tour guide sitting next to us blaring Indonesian music out loud on his phone (we’ve noticed that headphones don’t seem to be a concept that exists in Indonesia). About 2 hours in, we had a bathroom break pit stop, before piling back into the van for the rest of the drive.
Off to a rocky start, we were a bit apprehensive about what this tour would look like. Our expectations might’ve been set a little too high by Big Dream Boat Man, but it was too late to turn back now! We finally arrived at the port, boarded the boat, and claimed our bed spots.
On this boat there were two options – cabin class and deck class. Cabin class was a private cabin for 2, and deck class was a mattress on the open air top deck of the boat with 30+ other people. We had opted for deck class, as we read reviews that the cabins were really loud and hot because they were located right above the engine room. We were one of the first on the boat, so we managed to snag really great deck spots – right on the end closest to the entrance/exit of the deck.
By this time, it was past 2 pm, so we were excited to finally be served lunch! Lunch was a great spread of rice, noodles, tofu, tempeh, chicken, fish, and veggies, so we got a big plate as we pushed off from the harbour. It was at this point in the journey that we picked up some signs that the crew might not be the most communicative – they hadn’t addressed us as a group since we boarded the boat, hadn’t gathered the 40+ guests for any ice breakers, or even told us what the itinerary for the evening was.
We sailed for a few hours until we arrived at Kenawa Island for sunset. We were told that there was a beach and a hike for the sunset viewpoint, but nobody knew if we were supposed to wear swim suits & flip flops to swim, or sneakers and hiking clothes for viewpoint. Even when somebody would ask a crew member to clarify, they would vaguely answer the question to the person asking, but not address the larger group. It felt a bit disorganised, especially on the first day when nobody really knew each other.
The boat couldn’t pull up to the shore, so we were ferried over to shore in groups of 10 on the tender. On the beach, some people jumped in the water while we bought beers and chatted with some of our boat mates. We met Domi from France, Ali from Singapore, Una, Lucy and Finn from Ireland, Orly and Miguel from Canada (Victoria! They both had mutual friends with Saz on Facebook) Nena, Stan and Lars from the Netherlands, Flavio and Elenora from Italy, and Zoe, Anni, Selina, and Anna from Germany & Austria.
After about an hour on the beach, we started the hike up to the view point. It was a short 20 minute hike to the top, where we got front row seats to the beautiful sunset over the iconic Mount Rinjani.
We stayed until the sun was completely behind the mountain, and hiked back down to the boat. After the lunch spread we had, we were expecting a similar meal for dinner. Unfortunately, they had set the bar really high for the 1st meal and then taken a steep nosedive – dinner was white rice and eggplant. No protein of any kind?!? Not even tofu or tempeh?!?! After we were given 4 protein options at lunch?!?! Eggplant was also a bold choice as the ONE entree.. it’s not exactly a staple vegetable.
Luckily we had had a late lunch and eaten a lot so we weren’t too hungry, but general morale on the boat was low. Everybody was pretty tired and not much socialising happened after dinner. The crew told us that we would be sailing overnight to a spot to hopefully snorkel with whale sharks in the morning. We were told that there was a 70% chance that we would get to see one, but this was a wild animal so there were no guarantees. The whole boat pretty much retreated to bed by 9 PM, and lights were off early.
We were jolted awake in the morning by the sound of a crew member yelling “WHALE SHARK GUYS, WHALE SHARK” Half asleep, we rushed out onto the deck to look in the water. It was around 5 AM, still dark out, with just a peak of sunlight coming up over the horizon. We saw a vague shape moving in the dark water. As it swam closer, we saw the spots on its back! We quickly changed into our swim suits, grabbed our snorkel and fins, and jumped into the water.
It was AMAZING! The whale shark was friendly and curious, swimming circles around us and through us. It would swim right up to us, and wasn’t scared or skittish at all around humans. It was such a beautiful creature, very whale looking from above but very shark looking from under the water. It was such an unique and exhilarating experience, and we were able to snorkel with it for over an hour!
It was only around 7:30 am when we left the whale shark spot, and we were given the bad news that it would take at least 18 hours of sailing to reach our next spot – Komodo National Park. It was going to be a long day on the water. We would have to sail straight through all day and all night to arrive in Komodo National Park the next morning. All morning, we sailed through a calm and protected channel, killing the time by chatting with friends, watching downloaded shows on Netflix and reading our Kindles. We were served a lunch of rice, veggies, and a bit of fish.
The crew anchored the boat around 2 pm to let us jump in and have a quick swim. The current was very strong and waves were big, but we were all desperate to get off the boat for a little break. We took turns jumping off the top deck of the boat, and battling the current to swim back to the ladder.
After our swim break, we sailed out of the protected channel and the waves got rough. The boat was rocking aggressively back and forth and going up over really big waves. At first it was kind of fun, but once the reality set in that this would probably be the sailing conditions all night, morale was low. The crew handed out seasick pills, but still a lot of our boat mates got sick. Saz and I were lucky that we both felt fine, but many people were puking in the bathroom or into plastic bags. As we walked to the bathroom, we saw people curled up in fetal position at the back of the boat, where the motion was least aggressive. Dinner again was just rice and vegetables with no protein, but most of the boat felt too sick to eat anyways.
Everyone retreated to bed early again, and lights were out by 9 pm. The wind had picked up, and we bundled up under our blankets trying to stay warm while sleeping on the open air deck. We listened to the waves crashing outside and were aggressively rocked to sleep.
Nothing bonds people together better than a traumatic experience, so spirits were high when we woke up to calm seas and blue skies. Everybody was feeling really social, chatting about how horrible the ocean conditions had been the night prior. We had weathered the storm together, and were ready for a fun day. We arrived at Komodo National Park, excited to see the giant lizards. Right as we walked down the dock towards the entrance of the park, we saw a Komodo laying on the beach! The park ranger told us that he was still “recharging” in the sun, and he would be more active in a few hours.
As we walked towards the start of our park walk, we saw another one! This one was in the distance, walking towards us! It was cool to see them in motion and see their menacing walk. The park rangers kept reiterating how it “wasn’t guaranteed” to see Komodo Dragons because they were wild animals and this wasn’t a zoo. The messaging was a bit odd because at this point we had already seen 2, but he went on and on about how lucky we were and how a group of German tourists had come a couple days ago and hadn’t seen a single one. We followed our ranger through the forest path, and saw another one… then another one…. then another one… then a baby one… then another one…
We concluded that the park ranger might’ve been exaggerating on the elusiveness of the Komodos for dramatic effect. He had also stressed how important it was to stay at least 5 metres away and not get too close, and then turned around at the end of the tour and offered people to get right up close to the dragon and get a photo with it (for a 10,000 IDR fee, of course). The national park seemed well run and well maintained, and it was really cool to see the big dragons in their natural habitat. We learned some fun facts about the dragons – they can run up to 18 km/hour in short sprints, and can also swim! According to our ranger, a Komodo had swam to another nearby island, antagonised a village, and bit the arm off a local boy. Luckily he survived, learned how to write with his other hand and is apparently thriving in school now.
After our tour, we boarded the boat again to head to Pink Beach. We had seen photos, but we were shocked at just how pink the sand was in person! It was beautifully contrasted against the bright blue water.
What makes the sand pink are small organisms called Foraminifera. They produce a red pigment on the coral reefs and leave small red particles behind that blend with the white sand, forming a soft pink tint that glows beautifully.
We had the whole beach to ourselves, and spent a few hours snorkelling, swimming, and enjoying the unique beach. We even had a wild deer on the beach, weird but fuckin’ beautiful!
After a couple hours at Pink Beach, we got back on the boat, had lunch (it was chicken and rice) and sailed towards Padar Island, the iconic sunset viewpoint in the Komodo Islands. As we pulled into the dock, we were greeted by a little manta ray swimming the shallow waters.
The hike to the Padar summit was a quick 25 minute hike, which we could’ve done much faster if we weren’t lowkey malnourished from the lack of protein in the past few days.
One of the most special parts of the Padar summit is the panoramic view of the 3 beaches below – each of the beaches has a unique colour. There is a black sand beach, a pink sand beach, and a white sand beach below! Sadly, the ranger at the bottom had told us that drones were forbidden without a permit.
The summit was so beautiful and the views were so amazing that we decided to inquire about the process of getting a drone permit. Saz went to go ask the ranger about the process of getting a permit for the drone. He came back after a little bit, pulled us aside and said the permit would cost 1,000,000 IDR…. but if we gave him cash under the table and kept it on the DL he would only charge us 750,000 IDR. The price was still a bit steep, so we thanked him but declined. He came back after a few minutes and pulled us aside again and said that he was giving us the “best deal ever” and would only charge us 500,000 IDR to fly the drone. At this point with a 50% discount, I decided it was worth it.
He led me up to a private landing at the top of the view point, and I sent the drone up for an aerial tour of Komodo National Park.
I milked my flight for as long as I could – flying it home with only 12% battery remaining. The sun had almost completely disappeared below the horizon, so I rejoined the group and we hiked back down to the boat. I landed weird on one of the steps down and sprained my ankle a little. It wasn’t too severe so I just iced it and took some Advil on the boat. We spent our last night on the boat chatting with friends and drinking beers on the top deck of the boat, under the massive sky full of stars. This was the first and only night that we wouldn’t be sailing through the night! Everyone slept really well after our jam packed day.
On our 4th and final morning, we woke up for a morning snorkel. Unfortunately, my ankle was pretty swollen and kicking in the fins was pretty painful, so after just a few minutes of snorkelling I swam to the dock and just sat with some friends, feeding little pieces of bread to the fish below.
After about an hour, we boarded the boat and headed to the last spot of our tour – Kelor Island. There was a huge beautiful white sand beach, with lots of little snorkelling spots around. Saz hopped in the water with Domi and Laura, and my injured foot and I stayed on land, flying the drone. Saz came back absolutely buzzing because while snorkelling, she had seen and been surrounded by 10-15 baby reef sharks!
After 4 days of incredible adventure (with a few hiccups along the way), our tour was coming to an end. We hopped back on the boat for a final hour long sail to the Labuan Bajo Port. We sat with our friends on the top deck, recapping the trip and daydreaming about all the delicious food we were going to feast on tonight, now that we had the option to choose! The crew came in and announced that despite our tour ending, they had organised a night out at a local bar for all of us to mingle and dance the night away. Everyone was excited to get home, have a shower & a power nap before our big night.
Saz and I hopped into a taxi at the port to head to our hostel for the night. The hostel was up a steep gravel road, and the taxi driver tried to drop us off at the foot of the hill to walk the rest of the way because “the road was hard to drive on”. We had lots of bags and a busted ankle, so he eventually relented and drove us all the way to our door. We checked in and had the best shower of our LIVES! After 4 days of dirty hair and salty skin, it felt amazing to triple shampoo our hair and get into clean clothes.
We had a quick little rest and recharge in bed, before heading out to Burger Time for our dinner feast. We both ordered the beef burger with fries, and absolutely demolished it. We even got a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Just as we were finishing up dinner, a big group of our friends who evidently had the same idea showed up at the restaurant!
After everyone was full and happy, we headed out to the Wanua Adventures office to catch the shuttle to the party. The bar was pretty empty when we showed up, but there was a great live music band and tons of our boat mates to mingle with. The music was good, drinks were flowing, and we had an absolutely amazing night!
Because we were flying out to Bali the next day, we very responsibly went home around midnight. It was a perfect way to end an amazing adventure and celebrate our new friendships. We feel so lucky to have met so many incredible people who we got to share the experience of swimming with whale sharks, seeing the world’s largest lizard, braving the rough seas, and hiking to some absolutely amazing viewpoints with. Thank you Wanua Adventures!
To see our full Lombok to Flores boat tour gallery, click here!