Komodo Island, Indonesia

Komodo is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. Komodo is part of the Lesser Sunda chain of islands and forms part of the Komodo National Park. The island has just one village of about 450 people. The island's volcanic slopes are generally hot and barren, though briefly during the annual monsoon season they turn green. A few tall lontar palm trees grow on the hill slopes, and tamarind trees (tropical evergreens) are found around the village.

The island of Komodo is one of the few remaining areas inhabited by the Komodo dragon, which is protected in Indonesia. Komodo dragons are giant monitor lizards that roam wild over the island. They measure up to 3 m (up to 10 ft) long, weigh up to 135 kg (up to 300 lb), and can live 100 years. Park officials regularly supply pig and goat carcasses to attract the lizards to viewing areas for tourists. About 1,000 of the dragons are known to live on the island of Komodo; another 1,000 live on the neighboring island of Rinca.

Things to See & Do

* Komodo National Park
* Komodo dragons
* Island tour
* Scuba diving

General information

Cruise Season - Jan - Dec
Currency - Rupiah (IDR)
Language - Indonesian
Population - 2000 approx
Land Area - 390 km²
Electricity - 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT plus hours seven hours
International Country Telephone Code - +62

Port Location - There is no port at Komodo island. Visitors are tendered ashore.

Travel Links - The ferry service between the cities of Sape on the eastern tip of Sumbawa and Labuanbajo on Flores drops off passengers on Komodo once or twice every week. There is no port on the island, so passengers are unloaded onto small vessels which ferry's them into the island's only village - note that it's not all departures that has this service, so check beforehand. Bima, a short drive from Sape, has an airstrip with flights to Denpasar.