Can I use a selfie stick or handle while filming mantas at Manta Point Komodo?

You can usually use a short handle or compact selfie stick, but it must never bring you closer to manta rays or other people. Long poles encourage chasing, create entanglement risk near other snorkellers, and can cross into cleaning stations. Keep the camera close to your body, avoid pointing it under manta bellies, and switch off any focus or video lights around the animals.

How do fake tour companies operate, and how do you spot them?

Use only clearly identified operators with verifiable contacts, boats, and schedules, and avoid agents who demand full cash payment before confirming basic trip details. Be cautious of social media accounts with no track record or reused stock photos, and always ask about safety gear, ranger fees, and group size. For trips described on this site, operations are handled by Komodo Luxury via WhatsApp or email, not through anonymous intermediaries.

What do you do if a downdraft catches you?

If you feel a downdraft, immediately move shallower while swimming perpendicular to the wall or drop-off, not straight against the flow. Maintain neutral buoyancy, add small bursts of air to your BCD if needed, and watch your depth gauge continuously. Divers should stay within planned depth limits, avoid hovering right on plateau edges, and end the dive if conditions exceed their training or comfort.

What kind of site is this?

An editorial guide to two manta sites. Not an operator, not a booking engine, and not a general Komodo travel blog.

Where do the numbers come from?

Regulation and the park authority first, then published research, then operator reporting — labelled as such. Never other travel sites.

What if a fact cannot be verified?

We say it cannot. There are several places on this site where the honest answer is "ask your operator, because nobody publishes this".

How often do you review?

Periodically, and immediately when a regulation or permit system changes. Fees and the SiOra system are the parts that move most.

How do I report an error?

WhatsApp or email. Point at the page and the figure. Corrections are welcome and we do not need convincing.

A reef manta ray passing over the plateau

Company · Standards

Every number here has a name attached

Where a figure comes from, when it was last checked, and what we do when the sources disagree. This is the page that makes the rest of the site checkable.

Report an error

Every number carries a named source and a review date. Park fees and permit rules come from the regulation and the park authority, not from other travel sites.

Regulation and park authority first
Disagreements named, not averaged
Unverified figures are marked, not guessed

Sourcing

Where the facts come from

In order of preference. We go down the list only when the level above has nothing to say.

Regulation and authority

PP No. 36/2024 for fees, the park authority for permits and quotas, ministerial decrees for species protection. Archived copies kept for when a host goes down.

Published research

IUCN Red List assessments, the Manta Trust on cleaning-station behaviour, species accounts for size and identification marks.

Operator reporting

Water temperature, visibility and current come from crews working the site. We label these as operator observation, because that is what they are.

Not other travel blogs

The one source we will not use. It is how a guess becomes a fact everybody repeats.

The citation loop, and how we stay out of it

A travel site publishes an estimate. Three more cite it. A fourth cites those three as "widely reported". Within a year an invented number is the consensus, and none of the four can tell you where it came from.

The depth of this plateau is the clearest example. Sources give 8–18 m, 8–20 m, 5–25 m. Rather than averaging them into a number nobody published, we name each source and fix one figure for site-wide use.

That is why some pages here say less than competitors. We do not have a boat-time figure for Manta Alley from Labuan Bajo, so we do not publish one.