Kanawa Island, Mesa Island and Komodo National Park – Dream Islands West of Flores

The Indonesian port city of Labuan Bajo on the western tip of Flores Island, which lies east of Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa and Komodo National Park, is an absolute must for all divers, snorkelers and beach lovers.

On my six-week trip through Indonesia, I quickly had enough of the tourist crowds in Bali and wanted to immerse myself more in the “real” Indonesia again. As a woman traveling alone, I was a bit more limited there than in Bali, but had no problems.

Labuan Bajo is a port city – not very beautiful, rather boring, but THE starting point to beautiful areas of the world. The city and I had a kind of love-hate relationship, because I felt very uncomfortable at first. Not insecure, but simply uncomfortable.

Suddenly, I was consciously noticed by the locals, looked at, but not addressed. Especially when I walked alone from my first accommodation on the mountain down the way to the main road, children often accompanied me. Most of them wanted to touch my skin or tried to ask me something in English.

The people there live in very simple and poor conditions, so at first I found it inappropriate to walk around there with my camera and take photos. But already on the second day I had gotten used to it and had already gone down or up the mountain at least four times, so that I was now a familiar face and generated less attention.

Labuan Bajo, like much of Indonesia, is Muslim. What is tolerated in Bali in terms of clothing causes shame here. Therefore, please do not wear shorts or walk through the streets without a T-shirt. That doesn’t belong here!

The city itself consists of a large main street, where dew schools, tour operators and a few restaurants line up. There is not much more to see there. However, if you set off by boat towards Komodo National Park, you will see paradisiacal islands.

Of course, I didn’t want to miss the underwater world. After some exploration, I decided to go to the Flores Dive Center and can now highly recommend the diving school myself. Good team, good equipment and a lot of emphasis is placed on safety. In addition, we were super prepared for the dives.

I did my diving license a year earlier in Thailand and unfortunately was no longer diving afterwards. That’s why I booked a refresher dive. As a result, I even had a guide for myself on all dives.

At seven o’clock in the morning we went by boat for two hours to the first spot. On the way I went through all the skills again with my guide Rob. Then we got a map of the dive site and we were told exactly what to expect there. That calmed my nervousness a lot.

After that, I could definitely enjoy the boat trip. The islands in the national park look totally unreal. Like sleeping dinosaurs that don’t want to be woken up.

That day I did a total of three dives and saw fish in countless colors, shapes, and sizes. In addition, there were fantastic corals, turtles over turtles, a shark, and many manta rays!

I was and still am more than enthusiastic about this underwater paradise.

By the way, there are also different diving days with a stop on Rinca Island or Komodo to see the Komodo dragons. But on my day there was no such offer, and the next day I was unfortunately sick in bed so I could not visit the islands.

By the way, I paid 18,58,518.75 Rs (approx. 125 USD) for the three dives with equipment.

Kanawa is a paradise come true: a small island that you can walk around, crystal clear water, a white sandy beach, few tourists and only a handful of bungalows.

You can arrange a private driver in the port of Labuan Bajo who will drive you to Kanawa and also wait for you. We paid Rs. 700,000  (about 52, – USD) for him and the boat and came together in seven so that we could share the costs. Since we made a detour to the neighboring island of Mesa, the price was a bit higher.

Pack enough sunscreen, something to eat, enough to drink, your camera and definitely a diving goggle with snorkel for your day trip! That’s all you need for a relaxing day in paradise.

You can also stay overnight on Kanawa. There is a small hotel that consists of a few bungalows and a restaurant.

Mesa is located near Kanawa and is an absolutely untouristy, authentic island. The inhabitants here still live traditionally from fishing. When we approached the island by boat, we were immediately greeted with joy. The children didn’t let go of us at all and showed us around immediately. Totally exciting, but I felt a bit like in the zoo: Everyone looked at everyone friendly. The children were less shy and posed for photos, touched my hands and admired my blonde hair.

The houses are very simply built, but everything was colorful and welcoming. Mesa Island feels like it consists of a large football field in the middle of the island, a hill with a great view of the surrounding area and many beautiful palm trees.

The short detour of half an hour made the day a real highlight! This was the “real” Indonesia without stalls and the like!

By plane:

You can reach Flores in many different ways. There is something for every budget and every level of adventure.

I opted for the fast, slightly more expensive but less adventurous option and flew from Bali (DPS) to Labuan Bajo (LBJ) with a large propeller plane (normal scheduled flight). If you love flying, I warmly recommend this variant, because the flight was like an included sightseeing flight!

We were only on the road for an hour and not very high. From Bali we went via Nusa Lembongan, further over the Gili Islands, past the second highest volcano in Indonesia, Mount Rinjani on Lombok, along the coast of Sumbawa, over the Komodo National Park to Labuan Bajo on Flores.

Labuan Bajo Airport is located just a few kilometers from the main road.

For a scooter taxi, you pay a flat rate of 50,000 Rs. (about 5.50 $), with the car it will be a bit more expensive.

If you should fly back in the morning, don’t let yourself be stressed. The airport does not open until seven o’clock. If you’re there before, you’ll have to wait outside…

By bus:

If time is not on your neck and you prefer to save your money for other things, you can take the bus from Lombok via Sumbawa to Flores. For the trip including the ferry, you should plan 24 hours — how long it really takes, in the end, that’s usually a matter of luck.

With the boat:

My original plan was to get to Labuan Bajo with a four-day boat tour from Lombok. On this boat tour, you will stop at beautiful places, go snorkeling and visit the Komodo dragons. However, you should be aware that you will spend the four days on a small, very simple boat that sails the open sea. I’ve heard from other travelers that there are high waves on the way and you have to tie yourself down at night during the rainy season. Also, you can’t just cancel the trip just because you get seasick. Since I was traveling alone, didn’t meet anyone who would like to do the tour, and I’ve had problems with seasickness while sailing, I decided against the tour.

Tickets:

You can book tickets for all forms of travel at any tourist stand in Bali, the Gilis, or Lombok.