Labuan Bajo: Traveller's Meeting Point, Diver's Paradise

Labuan Bajo is located at the far west coast of the West Manggarai regency of Flores. What you should know is that it is this particular regency that suffers more severely then the rest of Flores from the extended dry season period. This fact means that the place has a very hot yet dry weather, and travelling speaking would be an increase (financially) in purchasing mineral water. Prepare lots of sun block too.

Labuan Bajo is the entrance to Flores. To go there, you can take a ferry from Bima Sumbawa or from Denpasar (Bali). You can also find crossings from Sulawesi and Bumba. Labuan Bajo has a domestic airport receiving flights from Denpasar and other Indonesian Airports. It is common for people to go to Labuan Bajo before they go to Komodo Island or Rinca. Here you can see the amazing wildlife both on land and underwater. It is a protected area of incredible biodiversity including the almost exclusive resident of Indonesia, the Komodo dragons. You can see them hanging around on dry tropical land areas. However, Labuan Bajo is a fisherman's town that has really condense culture. Labuan Bajo has beautiful, interesting, yet quiet places to spend a few days if you have the time to spare. Witness the rich local culture and enjoy yourself.

Finally the best part of Labuan Bajo: it is a base to explore the surrounding islands for the incredible world class diving, wildlife viewing and chilling out on some of Indonesia's most beautiful yet least crowded beaches and tiny islands. There are also beautiful beaches on the mainland and the incredible mountain ranges. You can use local boat to tour around the island. It is important to remember that the local boat owners compete one against the other, fiercely. They will put very cheap rate to get you on board, so be sure to ask and check whether the boat is safe or not. It's a lot better to pay more money and find yourself on a big sturdy boat, with a professional boat driver. Cheap boats will travel across open water without any kind of radar, flares, or navigation and survival equipment of any kind. Expensive boats are those of a large companies who offer a level of luxury for a substantially larger price. Be wise, okay?

Last thing to remember is that Labuan Bajo is a wonderful place to stop and meet other travellers. Joining with other travellers here might be useful for you, financially speaking. You can pay less when you rent a boat with other travellers. Also, experience fruits of the surrounding areas and try and find some of your own. Divers will be especially happy here as the diving here presents some of the largest sea fans in the world, massively diverse corals and fish as well large creatures such as manta rays, possible whale sharks and a number of other large creature such as dolphins.

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