I feel it is time to point out some important facts to optimise the Komodo diving and snorkelling experience.
- When looking on the internet about Komodo diving, you will repeatedly come across dive sites names like Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and the Cauldron.
It is true that these are awesome dive and snorkel sites but they are not the only ones.
These dive sites can be extremely challenging, not as much for snorkelers besides Castle Rock, certainly not a place for the less experienced divers in certain conditions.
What do I mean by less experienced divers? We don’t judge this by the amount of dives someone has done but more what type of dives. As for the snorkelers we look at how comfortable in the water.
To explain this in a different way I will tell you my experiences diving these sites in extreme conditions for the first time.When I arrived in Komodo I had done about 3500 dives in places varying from very easy diving to diving in very cold waters (down to 4 degrees C) with strong currents. Even diving places with drift dives where stopping was not an option. I am also a person who is open to new experiences and challenges but when I dived Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and the Cauldron for the first time in these extreme conditions I felt quite out of my league since I never would have imagined that currents like this existed.
So if you are coming to Komodo Resort with the aim of diving these three dive sites don’t be surprised if you will be told that these might not be the dive sites for you but don’t be disappointed since there are many other dive sites equally beautiful and still providing you with a challenge or for the beginners or those who want relaxed diving, stunning dive sides without a challenge are plentiful in the Komodo archipelago. - When you look on the internet about Komodo diving and snorkelling there are some stories about divers and snorkelers going missing.
To clear this up there are a view factors to take in consideration like every place you go to there will be dive centres who take unnecessary risk to earn money. May this be thru struggle or greed set aside. Also the fact that it is very difficult to brief multilingual customers specially for local dive masters and that some of the briefings I have heard are not informative enough. Then there is the factor of the demands of the customers wanting to experience everything in short times without realising the risks involved and the fact that some people believe that they have enough experience to not follow the instructions of the briefing. And in a place like Komodo you can’t afford to be so complacent. These are recipes for accidents waiting to happen.
Taken that all these factors are not overlooked then I can say that Komodo diving is an experience you will relish for the rest of your life and talk about to everyone