Tatawa Besar

Tatawa Besar is Komodo’s gentlest great drift — a long, sun-drenched slope off the island’s northwest tip where the tide does the work and the reef does the dazzling. Fields of orange-tinted staghorn and table corals stretch unbroken from 3m down past 14m, interrupted by sponges, sea fans and clouds of anthias and fusiliers. Hawksbill and green turtles graze everywhere, whitetip reef sharks nap under ledges, and cuttlefish, frogfish and nudibranchs reward slow eyes. With its forgiving conditions it’s the classic first drift dive in the park — and on lucky days a manta cruises through the shallows.