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Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa

Sadapur Atoll off Indonesia’s Sumbawa is not on any regular Komodo itinerary, but our exploratory dives around the atoll proved it was a place worth visiting

Reef, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Reef, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia, June 2025 © [email protected]

At the beginning of a Komodo liveaboard trip in June 2025, we started off heading off into a little bit of uncharted territory. With the prior agreement of all the guests onboard, we decided to go have a look at Sadapur Atoll, which none of the boat’s guides had explored before.

Cuttlefish, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Cuttlefish, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia, June 2025 © [email protected]

The satellite imagery made it look promising, and it turned that it was. Over the course of the three dives we discovered some lovely reef and a curious cuttlefish. The conditions were almost perfect, with great viz on the sections we explored of the reef, although there was some murky viz off in the distance which just caused us to zig zag back. Mika our cruise director put us in perfectly on good, calm spots after thoroughly checking for current first.

Mika in the swimthrough, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Mika in the swimthrough, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia, June 2025 © [email protected]

We dived three different places and came up with wildly imaginative names for them – Sadapur SE Corner, Sandbank South and Sandbank East. It’s not quite up there with Francis Drake claiming Nova Albion, but it’ll do.

Coral, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Coral, Sadapur Atoll, Sumbawa, Indonesia, June 2025 © [email protected]

We’d ended up near to Sadapur as we were en route from Bima port to Saleh Bay to see the whale sharks. Sadapur was a convenient place to stop and dive, and turned out to be quietly rewarding too. And of course, we had the dive sites all to ourselves.

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Diving And Travel Insurance

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Start Planning Your Indonesia Dive Trip

:: Liveaboards: Check the availability and pricing of liveaboards in Indonesia and book online.

:: Flights to Indonesia: Find the cheapest flights on Skyscanner - one search will show you the prices and times from scores of airlines for your trip. A real timesaver. You'll typically need to fly into Jakarta and then get a connecting flight to Sorong (SOQ) for Raja Ampat, Labuan Bajo (LBJ) for Komodo, Biak for Cenderawasih Bay (BIK) - but check with your liveaboard operator on optimum flights.

:: Packing List: Make sure you don't forget to bring any of the essentials for your scuba diving trip with our comprehensive Liveaboard Packing List

:: Travel Insurance: World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while traveling and claim online from anywhere in the world.

:: Hotels in Indonesia: Find available places to stay on Booking.com - usually you can reserve a room with no upfront payment. Pay when you check out. Free cancellations too. The Jakarta Airport Hotel, located in Terminal 2, is convenient for a transit stayover.

:: Dive Inspiration: Need inspiration? See our Best Places To Dive In Indonesia for ideas of where to go and what to do.

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