Komodo family-friendly holiday guide

From snorkelling and lush landscapes to local culture and giant reptile sightings, Christian Barker shares a family holiday guide to Komodo.

In Bali, you can give your kids rides on unicorns – the large, inflatable pool-toy type, at least. But you’ll need to travel just a little further afield to see a mythical creature come to life – getting up close and personal with dragons calls for a trip to Komodo.

Besides encounters with the world’s largest (and deadliest) lizard, the reef life in these waters is among the best you’ll find anywhere on the planet, while the scenery is precisely what appears in your mind’s eye when the word ‘paradise’ is uttered.

Beautiful as it is, this is not a chill-by-the-pool destination, though you can certainly do that too. It’s best suited to families willing to get up early, hop on a boat and make the effort to show their kids something they’ll talk about for years.

Where is Komodo?

Lending its name to the fearsome prehistoric animals that call this region home, Komodo National Park sits in the Lesser Sunda Islands between Sumbawa and Flores. Its reptiles are far from the only draw, though.

How to get to Komodo

There’s no direct flight from Australia, so budget time and funds for a connection and maybe a night’s R&R in Bali, where Garuda, Batik Air and AirAsia all link Denpasar to Labuan Bajo in around 60 minutes. Travel between April and October for calmer seas and cooler dragon-spotting hours, avoiding June to August when dragons retreat for mating season.

Where to stay in Komodo

In Komodo, most families choose between a short liveaboard cruise or a land base on Labuan Bajo with day trips into the park and surrounding islands’ dive sites and beauty spots.

Perched on the cliffside, boasting incredible views over the bay by day and magnificent vistas as the sun sets over the ocean, AYANA Komodo Waecicu Beach is a great choice of HQ for families opting for daily sorties, rather than life at sea. For added convenience, the hotel can organise private boat excursions and family friendly tours run daily with AYANA Cruises, departing direct from its private jetty.

There’s plenty to keep the family occupied without ever leaving the grounds. The kids’ club and dedicated children’s pool mean parents can trade a morning of dragon logistics for a lazy dip in the main lagoon-style pool, swim-up bar included. Waecicu Beach itself is calm enough for snorkelling off the sand, with gear available for hire. Come evening, the resort’s restaurants swing from Japanese grills to fresh seafood by the water, so nobody’s fighting over what’s for dinner.

Things to do in Komodo with kids

Encounter dragons

When it comes to the islands’ star attractions, many consider Rinca Island the better family pick over Komodo Island itself, thanks to more frequent dragon sightings, thinner crowds and a shorter boat journey from Flores.

Rangers offer trail lengths from 30 minutes to two hours. Children old enough for the walk do get a full safety briefing, a compulsory guide (carrying a large Y-shaped stick that apparently proves effective in restraining errant dragons, though fortunately no demonstration was needed on our visit), plus strict rules: no crouching, no running, stay within the middle of the group – and enjoy!

Hit the beach

A visit to the famed Pink Beach on adjacent Padar Island offers calm, shallow water for decompressing with sandcastles or a snorkel. The island’s summit is suitable for scaling by kids from about seven upward, offering the park’s most photographed view – three different coloured beaches visible at once.

Go swimming

A short sail away, Manta Point delivers near-guaranteed ray encounters, Taka Makassar’s sandbar is ideal for gentle snorkelling, Kanawa or Sebayur’s reef flats are awesome for novice swimmers, while certified divers can chase currents at Batu Bolong and Castle Rock.

Visit Melo Village

For a break from wildlife, Melo Village offers Caci, a ritualised whip-and-shield dance performed to gongs and drums. It’s dramatic, percussive – and short enough to hold kids’ attention. Something Komodo never fails to pull off.

This article was produced with content supplied by AYANA Komodo Waecicu Beach and is a Holidays with Kids digital exclusive.

Keep reading:

• Bali family-friendly travel guide
• Things to do in Bali with kids
• Places to go in Indonesia – that aren’t Bali

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