Where to Stay in Komodo Island

First thing to clear up, there are no hotels on Komodo island. The only people allowed to stay on the island are the local villagers that have lived there for generations. In fact, this is true for all of the islands inside the Komodo National Park. 

There is only one hotel (The Komodo Resort) which is actually located on an island, but the island is Pulau Sebayur Besar just outside the northeast boundary of the national park. All other accommodation that is loosely referred to as Komodo island hotels, are back in Labuan Bajo which is on the western tip of the Flores mainland.

Development of any true Komodo island hotels is prohibited to protect the endemic Komodo Dragons, an endangered species which can only be found in the national park. 

Since there are no hotels on Komodo island, the only way to scuba dive there is to either stay on Labuan Bajo and dive with dive centres there, or be on a liveaboard trip where you can enjoy not only more dives, but also get to experience both sunset and also sunrise in the heart of the park.

Liveaboard trips will also let you get the most out of diving in the area, as your first dive has you in the water at 7am and your last dive at 6pm, saving the travel time getting to and from the park from hotels or resorts.

ALSO READ : From Labuan Bajo to Komodo Island, How Do You Get to Komodo Diving?

But if sleeping on a boat just isn’t your thing, then the options of Komodo resort or one of the other Komodo hotels in Labuan Bajo might be what you are looking for.

Price Comparison: Resort vs Liveaboard

Resort

Let’s look first at the Komodo resort on Pulau Sebayur Besar. Price range wise you are looking around between $398 to $580 USD a night. All meals are included but you will have to pay separately for your diving which is around an extra $200 USD per day for 4 dives. 

Dive stay packages end up $598 to $780 a day. If you want to do land tours to see the dragons, pink beach, and flying foxes, then it will cost an additional $190. This is a bit expensive compared to staying back in town, but the advantages are that you have a house reef at your doorstep, and you have some time off getting out to the other dive sites too. It’s a lovely looking resort with stylish bungalows right on the beach. 

Back in Labuan Bajo there are a plethora of choices for hotels and homestays, with 132 operating at the time of writing this article. It obviously depends on the type of accommodation, but in Bajo the range is from $10 USD to $665. 

The diving from Labuan Bajo averages about $160 USD for each day, but the disadvantage is that this is only 3 dives in a day compared to 4 dives a day on a liveaboard or at the Komodo Resort. 

So the Labuan Bajo stay and dive ends up between $170 to $835 a day, with most people staying in an accommodation option that leaves them around the $260 mark, and this does not include food in most of the hotels. Land tours to see the Komodo dragons, pink beach and flying foxes will cost about $100 USD from Labuan Bajo.

Liveaboard

A liveaboard option like La Galigo Liveaboard will cost you around $360 a day. The advantages of this are that you get the extra dive to make it 4 each day and 5 meals a day are included too. 

Also included are the land tours to see the Komodo dragons, pink beach and flying foxes, and transfers back and forth to the airport or hotels. This is also the only way you can wake up in the National Park on a multiday trip and get to all of the more remote sites to really see Komodo National Park in its full glory. 

The final icing on the cake is the chance to spend days on end on a beautiful wooden traditional sailboat with a certain romanticism of the golden days of sailing.

Price Comparison: Komodo vs Bali

After knowing the pricing for resort vs liveaboards in Komodo, let’s compare it with the diving in Bali, which is also located in the Lesser Sunda. 

A night at a dive resort in Bali will cost you around $40 to $250. That is only for the resort, and to dive there, you will have to pay somewhere around $133 to $179 for a 2 times dive. Depending on which dive sites you’d like to dive in Bali, pricing might go even higher than that.

The pricings is indeed slightly cheaper when compared to Komodo. But like most of the things in life, cheaper does not equate better. 

Are the Komodo Islands Worth it?

So now that you know what all the stay options are and what the price ranges are, the final question is, are the Komodo islands worth it?

Definitely!

There is No Other Place Like Komodo Islands

There is no other place in the world like Komodo. The remoteness, endangered wildlife that can only be found here, some of the world’s top diving, epic rugged landscapes, unique culture, and food… I could not imagine anyone walking away from a trip to Komodo not being astonished.

To visit a place like this leaves one humbled and grateful that they were lucky enough to experience it. 

ALSO READ : La Galigo Review – Customer Stories: Memorable Diving Experiences on Our Liveaboard

It is Not Over-Touristy

Unlike Bali, which lately feels over-developed and over-touristy, Komodo is still reeking with nature and it is not in the crowded level of Bali. Not only is it amazing to see, but it’s amazing to have the experience that leaves you with a renewed connection to the natural world that we often forget about and feel disconnected from when living our normal urban lives.

So, if all this sounds like something you want to see and do, then choose your preferred stay style and book a trip today. You will only regret the things you didn’t do, not the ones you did. The best time to see Komodo is between June and September, the season is fast approaching so check it out.