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This Komodo full day tour leaves Labuan Bajo at first light and fits three icons of the park into a single day: the Padar Island viewpoint, the rose-tinted sand of Pink Beach and the quiet coral gardens of Sebayur Island.
A Komodo full day tour is the fastest way to see the park’s greatest hits without giving up a night on land. We leave Labuan Bajo at six in the morning by fast speedboat, ahead of the liveaboard traffic, and reach the Padar trailhead while the ridge is still in shade.
This Komodo island tour is timed around light and tide rather than a fixed clock: Padar first thing, Pink Beach through the middle of the day when the water is clearest, and Sebayur in the afternoon once the day boats have gone home. A guide, a captain and a deckhand travel with you, and lunch is cooked on board between stops.
People assume a Komodo full-day tour has to feel rushed. It does not. We leave at six, when the harbour is still glassy and the only other boats are fishermen heading out, and by seven we are walking up the Padar ridge in the cool of the morning with the three bays opening below us like something painted.
By half past nine we are on Pink Beach, and the sand really is that colour — crushed red coral mixed into the white, turning the shallows rose where the reef meets the shore. The snorkelling here is easy: no current, coral a metre below the surface, parrotfish and clownfish everywhere. Lunch comes out of the galley while everyone is still dripping.
The afternoon at Sebayur is the part guests do not expect. The day boats have already turned for home, so the coral gardens are empty and the light comes down through eight metres of clear water. We are back at the harbour by six, sunburnt in the best way, with a whole national park behind us in a single day.
Times are a guide — the captain adjusts the order for sea conditions and for how long everyone wants to stay in the water.
We leave the harbour at six and cross to Padar in about an hour while breakfast is served on board. The climb to the famous viewpoint takes 30 to 45 minutes at an easy pace — we go slowly, then stop for photographs on the ridge while the light is still soft and the bays are empty of boats.
Speedboat from Labuan Bajo
Padar Island viewpoint
Breakfast on board
By half past nine we are anchored off Pink Beach, where the crushed coral turns the shallows rose and the reef begins a few strokes from the sand. No current, plenty of parrotfish and clownfish, and a shallow shelf that suits younger swimmers. Lunch comes out of the galley while everyone is still wet.
Most day boats head home after lunch, which is exactly why we save Sebayur for the afternoon. The coral gardens drop to about eight metres with excellent light, and turtles are regular visitors. There is time for a second snorkel or simply a sleep on deck in the shade.
We head back west in the late afternoon, passing Kanawa Island and the day boats going the other way. Dockside in Labuan Bajo around six in the evening, tired in the good way.
We had one spare day between flights and this was the answer. Padar at sunrise with maybe fifteen people on the whole ridge, then a swim at Pink Beach before lunch. Perfect
Travelling with a seven-year-old, we wanted a taster rather than a liveaboard. The crew were brilliant with her and the reef at Sebayur was shallow enough to feel safe
Do the Padar climb first thing. We passed a boat heading there at eleven as we were leaving, and the heat on that ridge by then is no joke.
