Princess Lala
Princess Lala Phinisi
The best time to visit Komodo by boat, month by month
Updated 11 October 2026
For calm seas and clear water, choose April to June or October and November. July and August are dry but windy and busy, while January and February are the wettest and roughest, with mantas at their best. Princess Lala sails the open trip every Monday & Friday, and sunrise at Padar runs from 05:31 to 06:18.
Which month suits whom
Start with who is coming, because the best month for a family with a four-year-old is not the best month for a photographer who wants the sea flat at Padar. These are general patterns for Komodo National Park and not a forecast for your sailing, so read them as a guide to where the odds sit.
With young children, or with a grandparent who does not like a swell, aim for April, May or June, or for October and November. The sea is calm in all five, the water is clear, and the rain has stopped. October and November are also quieter on the water than July and August, and November is the quietest of the five.
For mantas, the park's pattern shows two stretches: July to September, and December to February. They are wild animals, so no month promises them. If you want the water at its clearest, April to June and September to November sit highest for visibility.
If you can only travel in July or August, go, and expect a windier sea and a busier anchorage. If you can only travel in January or February, go knowing it is the wet season, the roughest water and the lowest visibility of the year, with the fewest boats around you. Tell us who is coming and we say whether the month you have in mind suits them.
The twelve months at a glance
The table below runs month by month. In words, the year falls into four groups.
Calm and clear
April, May, June, October and November. Calm sea, high visibility, dry. June is the month the south-east winds start to build towards July. November has the fewest crowds of the group.
Windy and busy
July and August. Dry, but the sea is rough, visibility is medium and the anchorages are crowded. Manta season is at its peak.
In between
September is the best of the shoulder months: the wind eases, visibility climbs back to high and the mantas are still around. March is the last wet month, with showers easing and the sea settling. December brings the wet season back, the mantas return, and the last week of the month is busy with holiday travellers.
Wet and rough
January and February. Heavy showers, the roughest seas of the year, low visibility, very few other boats, and manta sightings at their best.
| Month | Sea | Visibility | Mantas | Crowds | Rain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | rough | low | peak | low | wet | Wet season and the roughest seas of the year; manta rays at their best. Families with small children do better from April. |
| February | rough | low | peak | low | wet | Still wet and rough, with lower visibility; few boats at the stops and good months for manta rays. Keep the camera in a dry bag. |
| March | moderate | medium | good | low | wet | The showers ease and the sea settles; the stops are still quiet. A fair month for photographers who do not need a guarantee of sun. |
| April | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | The dry season begins: calm sea and some of the clearest water of the year. The first month we suggest to families. |
| May | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Dry, calm and clear; steady days for snorkelling with children and for the walks on Kelor and Padar. |
| June | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Dry and clear, with the south-east wind starting to build towards July. Still a family month. |
| July | rough | medium | peak | high | dry | Dry but windy, with a rougher sea and the most visitors of the year; manta rays pick up. Sunrise on Padar near 06:18. |
| August | rough | medium | peak | high | dry | The windiest dry month and busy anchorages; manta rays are common. Better for strong swimmers than for toddlers. |
| September | moderate | high | peak | medium | dry | The wind eases, visibility improves and the manta rays are still around: the month we point photographers to. |
| October | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Calm, clear and hot, with fewer visitors than July and August. Hats and shade for the children. |
| November | calm | high | fair | low | dry | The end of the dry season: calm sea, clear water, quieter stops, and the earliest sunrise on Padar, near 05:31. |
| December | moderate | medium | peak | medium | wet | The wet season starts and the manta rays return; late December is busy with holiday travellers, so book the family cabins early. |
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For anyone with a camera, the light at Padar
The ridge walk on Padar comes first on the second morning of every itinerary, and its viewpoint looks over three bays with differently coloured sand. The walk to the main viewpoint takes about 25 to 45 minutes, and the guests who go up in the dark leave the boat about 65 minutes before sunrise. So the start time moves through the year with the sun.
Sunrise is latest in July, at 06:18, and earliest in November, at 05:31. In between it passes 06:04 in April, 05:56 in September and 05:38 in December. The table below gives, month by month, the sunrise, the time to leave the boat and a time to be on the ridge. It is computed for the location and is accurate to a few minutes.
Parts of the path are loose and steep, so shoes with grip matter more than the lens you bring. And the park quota decides, on the open trip, between Padar and Gili Lawa, so a sunrise at Padar is the plan, not a promise. On a private charter Padar is the plan for the second morning.
| Month | Sunrise | Leave the boat by | On the ridge by |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:54 | 04:49 | 05:34 |
| February | 06:05 | 05:00 | 05:45 |
| March | 06:06 | 05:01 | 05:46 |
| April | 06:04 | 04:59 | 05:44 |
| May | 06:07 | 05:02 | 05:47 |
| June | 06:14 | 05:09 | 05:54 |
| July | 06:18 | 05:13 | 05:58 |
| August | 06:12 | 05:07 | 05:52 |
| September | 05:56 | 04:51 | 05:36 |
| October | 05:39 | 04:34 | 05:19 |
| November | 05:31 | 04:26 | 05:11 |
| December | 05:38 | 04:33 | 05:18 |
Computed for the location and accurate to within a few minutes.
The bats at Kalong, and when the sun goes down
The other end of the day is Kalong, the mangrove island where thousands of flying foxes spend the day. On every itinerary the boat waits off it at the end of day one. You do not land. The show is watched from the deck.
Sunset falls between 17:49 and 18:27 through the year, and the bats leave the mangroves in a long stream at dusk, about 15 minutes after the sun goes down, for half an hour. The table below puts the sunset and the time the bats start side by side for each month. In July the sun is down at 17:57; in March, at 18:15.
A long lens helps, and so does a charged battery, since the best light is gone fast. A light layer helps too: the evening on deck is cooler than the afternoon on the beach. If your children are small, bring them on deck early: the stream starts a few minutes after the sky changes colour, and nobody can promise the exact moment.
Then it is dinner at the long table. The plates come out once the show is over.
| Month | Sunset | Bats fly from about |
|---|---|---|
| January | 18:27 | 18:42 |
| February | 18:26 | 18:41 |
| March | 18:15 | 18:30 |
| April | 17:58 | 18:13 |
| May | 17:49 | 18:04 |
| June | 17:50 | 18:05 |
| July | 17:57 | 18:12 |
| August | 18:00 | 18:15 |
| September | 17:58 | 18:13 |
| October | 17:55 | 18:10 |
| November | 18:01 | 18:16 |
| December | 18:14 | 18:29 |
Computed for the location and accurate to within a few minutes.
Choosing between the Monday and the Friday
The open trip leaves every Monday & Friday, and the month you choose matters more than the weekday. Both sailings carry the two-day and the three-day guests on the same boat, and both call at the same stops.
The weekday changes one thing, because a Friday sailing runs into the weekend: Indonesian visitors pay IDR 75,000 per day in park fees at weekends against IDR 50,000 on weekdays, and international visitors pay IDR 250,000 per day throughout. If you are Indonesian, a Monday sailing is the cheaper one.
For a private charter any date works, subject to availability, and we agree the pickup hour with you. So a family that can only travel in the calm months can choose the week and not the weekday.
Our fares cover sailings up to 31 July 2027. For later dates, write to us for the price. A message with your month, the number of you and whether anyone dislikes a swell is all we need to start.
FAQ
What is the calmest month for a family with young children?
The park's pattern puts the sea at calm in April, May, June, October and November, with high visibility and no rain in all five. October and November are the quieter pair, and November has the fewest crowds. These are general patterns for the park, so we cannot promise a flat sea on your date, but the odds sit in those five months.
When are manta rays best seen at Manta Point?
The manta season is best from July to September and again from December to February, and the year's peak months are July, August, September, December, January and February. Sightings follow the tide and the current, so the manta drift and the sandbar can swap places. Mantas are wild and never guaranteed.
Is it too wet to sail in January?
January is the wet season, with heavy showers, the roughest seas of the year and low visibility, and it is also one of the quietest months on the water, with manta sightings at their best. We sail then, but we would not choose it for a guest who dislikes swell. Tell us who is coming and we say whether it suits them.
What time is sunrise at Padar in July?
In July the sun rises at 06:18 at Padar, the latest of the year, and guests who walk up in the dark leave the boat about 65 minutes earlier. In November it rises at 05:31, the earliest. The sunrise table on this page gives the leaving time and the time to be on the ridge for every month.
Which month is the quietest for photographs without other boats?
The park's pattern marks crowds low in November, January, February and March, and high in July and August. November is also dry, calm and clear, so it is the quiet month that gives you the best water. Late December is busy with holiday travellers, even though it counts as the wet season, so book that week early.
Check availability — Princess Lala
Princess Lala is sailed by her own crew; bookings and payments are handled by PT Komodo Explorer Indonesia.