Sunrise and Sunset Spots in Komodo Island
Part of the Komodo Island travel guide — see every topic in All Komodo Island Guides.
Komodo's light is its best asset. Bare brown ridgelines, water in three shades of blue and almost no cloud through the dry season give you a landscape that is spectacular for about ninety minutes at each end of the day and washed out in between. The two set-piece moments are sunrise from a ridge inside the park and sunset over the islands from Labuan Bajo, and both reward a small amount of planning — particularly the first, which is only available if you sleep on the water.
Sunrise inside the park
Padar's ridge is the one, and it is only realistic from a boat anchored nearby — day trips out of Labuan Bajo cannot get there before eight. Climb in the dark, allow forty minutes, and be in place twenty minutes before the sun. Gili Lawa Darat in the north gives a comparable ridge-and-bay view for half the climb and is a standard liveaboard anchorage. Both are entirely exposed, so bring a torch and water. On a calm morning the sea between the islands turns to glass and the whole thing is worth the four-thirty alarm.
Sunset from Labuan Bajo
The town faces west across a harbour full of islands, which produces a genuinely excellent sunset almost every evening in the dry season. The rooftop bars on the hillside above the strip are the easy option and are well set up for it. Bukit Cinta and Bukit Silvia, two low hills just outside town, give you the same view from higher up for the price of a scooter ride and a short walk. The Sylvia hill viewpoint in particular looks straight down the island chain.
Sunset on the water
The better version is from the deck of a boat at anchor. Most liveaboards moor in a sheltered bay for the night, and the hour before dark — the ridgelines going orange, the water flattening, the anchor chain the only sound — is one of the reasons to sleep inside the park rather than commuting. Several operators also run dedicated sunset cruises out of Labuan Bajo for two or three hours in the late afternoon, taking in Kelor or Kalong island, which is the cheap way to get the same thing.
Kalong island and the bats
Kalong is a mangrove island half an hour from Labuan Bajo, and at dusk tens of thousands of flying foxes leave its trees to cross to Flores to feed. Boats anchor offshore and watch the exodus, which takes twenty minutes or so and is genuinely impressive — a continuous stream of large bats against an orange sky. It is a standard final stop on sunset cruises and on the last evening of a liveaboard. Take a long lens if you want more than a silhouette, and stay on the boat; the mangrove is the roost.
Sunrise and Sunset Spots at a glance
| Sunrise | Padar's ridge — only reachable if you sleep in the park |
|---|---|
| Easier ridge | Gili Lawa Darat, half the climb |
| Sunset in town | Hillside rooftop bars; Bukit Cinta and Bukit Silvia |
| Best sunset | From a boat at anchor inside the park |
| Kalong island | Tens of thousands of flying foxes leave at dusk |
| Timing | Climb 40 min; be in place 20 min before sunrise |