Snorkelling Komodo Island from a small sailing boat

Manjarite comes first, on the afternoon of day 1, after Kelor and before the flying foxes at Kalong. It's the warm-up swim, and nobody is rushed.

Pink Beach opens the water on day 2, after the Padar climb and breakfast. The sand is pale pink from fragments of red coral, and how pink depends on light and tide. With the reef close to shore and a mild current, it's the best place for a first snorkel.

Taka Makassar follows Komodo Island. It's a crescent-shaped sandbar with shallow reef around it, and the bar is visible only at low tide. Manta Point, last on day 2, is a drift snorkel, not a pool. The current carries you along the reef while the guide watches the group, so you cover more distance here than anywhere else.

Day 3 ends with Siaba or Sebayur and a final swim before lunch.

Masks, yes. Fins are not promised. If a good fit matters to you, bring your own, and bring a rash guard if you chill quickly.

Life jackets are on board. Bombana 2's safety kit also includes radio, AIS and GPS, and it has a canoe and a paddle board for the hours between stops.

The open trip includes a guide who leads the snorkel stops and a photo and video record of the trip. On a private charter, both are quoted separately.

Shoes off, towel ready, and the queue for the ladder is short. That's the plain upside of a boat with 5 cabins, and one reason some guests pick a Bombana over something bigger.

Manta Point has a strong current. It's a drift along the reef with the guide, not a lagoon, and it suits confident swimmers. Taka Makassar and Pink Beach are the gentler stops.

If you can swim a little and no more, tell the guide at the start of the trip.

Staying aboard at Manta Point is a perfectly fair choice, and nobody should feel pushed in. A life jacket is the sensible option for a nervous swimmer, so ask the guide for one.

Tide and current shape what the guide recommends, and that changes from one sailing to the next in ways we can't predict from here, so on the day the guide's call wins.

Mantas are around for much of the year, but they're wild animals and never guaranteed, and sightings depend on tide and current. That is why Taka Makassar and Manta Point sometimes swap order.

Manta season is best from December to February and from July to September. Those are also the rough months, or the crowded ones. The wet season brings rain and a heavy sea, and July and August bring wind and full stops.

The dry months of April to June and October to November are calmer and clearer, with mantas less frequent. Neither set of months wins outright. It comes down to whether you care more about the sea or the animals.

We can't promise a manta. We can tell you the months.

Short answer: snorkel. No dive gear is listed on either boat. The open trip and the charter are snorkelling trips, and diving is not part of the printed route.

If diving is the main reason you're coming to Komodo, book a dedicated dive boat. A Bombana trip is for people who want a mask, a reef and a ladder, alongside three hikes and the flying foxes at Kalong.

A snorkeller on Bombana 2 can also use the canoe and paddle board between stops. A snorkeller on Bombana 1 gets the lower fare and the bigger group. The best time to sail page helps with the month, and the Manta Point page goes into detail.