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Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo

An impressive hard coral garden on a black sand slope, Tanjung Batu Besar is great for reef noodling and critter hunting alike.

Lionfish and soft corals, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo
Lionfish and soft corals, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo, August 2024 © [email protected]

A gentle slope running from three metres down to around 15 metres provides the black sand base on which Tanjung Batu Besar’s coral garden grows.

Big barrel sponge, feathers and angelfish, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo
Big barrel sponge, feathers and angelfish, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo, August 2024 © [email protected]

The hard corals here are encrusted on top of one another, with decades of undisturbed growth producing huge table corals and big barrel sponges. There are feather stars everywhere and it’s very fishy too.

Anthias around the barrel sponge, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo
Anthias around the barrel sponge, Tanjung Batu Besar, Komodo, August 2024 © [email protected]

Lots of anthias cluster around the corals while lion fish, angel fish and sweetlips dart around. We had some great viz and sunshine during our afternoon dive, so the colours of the reef still really stood out.

This site is between Bima and Sangeang Volcano, so it’s not in the Komodo park proper, but it’s a likely dive spot if your liveaboard begins in Bima.

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