Komodo & Flores
Indonesia
Dragons on one island, pink sand on another, and some of the best diving in the world between them
Photo by Denissa Devy on Unsplash
Photos by Johnny Africa, Fajruddin Mudzakkir, Andie Hariyadi and Dhiemas Afif Febriyan on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Indonesia
April to June, and September to November — the wet season shuts the boats and the dry end burns the hills brown
Climate month by month
The next sixteen days in Labuan BajoOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 320mm in Jan
Where it is
8.49°S, 119.88°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Climb Padar at dawn for the three bays
- Dive or snorkel Manta Point on a rising tide
- Walk on Rinca rather than Komodo, where there are more dragons and fewer people
- Take a liveaboard for two nights rather than a day trip
- Go east to Kelimutu if you have three spare days
Komodo & Flores travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Indonesia
Mid-rangeCash outside the resorts, and the notes have a lot of zeros — count them twice. Cards work in hotels and dive shops and almost nowhere else on the small islands.
ATMs & cards
Use BCA, Mandiri or BNI machines and check the withdrawal cap, which is often Rp 2,500,000. On the small islands there may be one machine and it may be empty.
Avoid these
- the machines in Labuan Bajo at the weekend, which run empty
Use these instead
- BCA
- Mandiri
- BNI, in Labuan Bajo
There is no machine anywhere past the harbour. Take the whole trip in cash, including the park fees, which are collected in rupiah.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Indonesia
SafeThe dragons are the obvious hazard and the ranger system exists because of it — never walk alone, and tell them if you have an open wound. The sea is the real one: the currents between the islands are strong enough to matter to good divers, and boat safety varies enormously between operators.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- walking on Komodo or Rinca without a ranger — it is forbidden and it is forbidden for a reason
- the currents between the islands — strong enough to matter to experienced divers
- boat safety — it varies enormously; ask about life jackets and radios before you book the cheap one
- the sun on the water — there is no shade on most day boats
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Indonesia visa rules
e-Visa requiredup to 30 days500,000 IDR (~€30)
Visa on arrival is the same price and available at Bali airport, but the queue is long — the e-visa lets you walk to immigration directly. Extendable once by 30 days.
Other passports
Visa required in advance
How to get it: Apply at evisa.imigrasi.go.id before flying, or pay on arrival at the VOA counter. Every arrival also files the electronic customs declaration and the SATUSEHAT health pass.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: the arrival card
All Indonesia (electronic customs declaration)Required
In the three days before you arrive.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- flight number
- the full address of your first night
The customs declaration is per family group rather than per person.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Indonesia
Good but costlyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Tetanus up to date
- Rabies — Bali has an active dog and monkey rabies problem
- Japanese encephalitis for long rural stays
Getting treated
Bali has good international clinics (BIMC, Siloam) used to treating tourists, but they are expensive and anything major means evacuation to Singapore or Australia. Insurance with evacuation cover is not optional here. Public hospitals are cheap and variable.
Rabies is the serious one — any monkey or dog bite means immediate treatment. Dengue is common. Malaria is not a risk in Bali or Jakarta but is in Papua and parts of eastern Indonesia.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodLabuan Bajo eats fish, grilled on the harbour at night and priced by the kilo. Beyond the town the food is rice, and a liveaboard feeds you whatever the cook brought.
Getting around
Limited- UberNot here
- From the airport
- Denpasar airport to Seminyak Rp 120,000–200,000
Grab and Gojek do not reach Flores. Ojek motorbike taxis in Labuan Bajo are negotiated and cheap, and everything past the harbour is a boat.
Time zone and your working day
Asia/Makassar — 12 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 21:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 21:00–05:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Indonesia
Why these are Indonesia's numbers and not Komodo & Flores's
Home broadband — Fair. Video calls and streaming for one or two people — fine for a holiday, thin for a household working. Broadband here runs at 40% of the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Fair. Maps, calls and streaming; tethering a laptop works for an hour, not a day. Mobile runs at 61% of the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Komodo & Flores, so these are medians for all of Indonesia. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Indonesia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Indonesian
- HelloHalo / Selamat pagiHA-lo / se-LA-mat PA-gee
- PleaseTolongTO-long
- Thank youTerima kasihtuh-REE-ma KA-see
- Yes / NoYa / Tidakya / TEE-dak
4 more phrases
- Excuse mePermisiper-MEE-see
- How much is it?Berapa harganya?buh-RA-pa har-GA-nya
- The bill, pleaseMinta bonMIN-ta bon
- Cheers!Bersulang!ber-SOO-lang
Religion
Muslim nationally, Hindu on Bali
Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority country on earth, but Bali is the exception and is around 87% Hindu. The daily canang sari offerings on the pavement are religious — do not step on them.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Give and receive with the right hand, or both hands for respect
- Wear a sarong at temples — they are provided at the entrance
- Step around the small daily offerings on Balinese pavements
- Dress modestly away from the beach; Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country and Bali a Hindu one
Don't
- Do not use the left hand to eat, give or receive; it is the toilet hand
- Do not touch anyone’s head, or point with a single finger — use the whole hand
- Do not enter temples if bleeding, including menstruating, which is a stated rule at many
- Do not lose your temper in public; it causes serious loss of face on both sides
Where to stay in Komodo & Flores
No Holistay rentals in Komodo & Flores yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Komodo & Flores on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Labuan Bajo LBJ
10 minfrom the airport· 1 km as the crow flies
10 min into town, and everything after that is a boat.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
