Kodomo Island

Place:

Komodo is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. The island is particularly notable as the natural habitat of the komodo dragon, the largest lizard on earth and consequently named after the island. Komodo Island has a surface area of 390 km² and a permanent population of over 2,000. The inhabitants of the island are descendants of former convicts who were exiled to the island and who have mixed withBugis from Sulawesi. The population are primarily adherents of Islam but there are also Christian and Hindu congregations.

8.5500° S, 119.4500° E

Transport:

The ferry service (to and from the cities of Sape, on the eastern tip of Sumbawa, and Labuanbajo, onFlores) drops off passengers on Komodo once or twice every week. There is no port on the island, so passengers are unloaded onto small vessels which take them into the island's only village. (Note that not all departures have this service -- check beforehand.) Bima, a short drive from Sape, has an airstrip with flights to Denpasar.

Travelers coming in from Sape to the west (those traveling overland through Sumbawa and also those arriving at Bima airport) should note that the once-daily ferries from Sape can be suspended indefinitelydue to bad weather, so if you want to be sure of your travel arrangements, flying with regular flight Sky Aviation to Labuanbajo from Denpasar is a much safer bet, so we don't need to charter flight anymore as before. (If you get stranded at Sape, the best Bima airport will be able to offer is a flight back to Denpasar on Bali.)

Price:

You need to buy the appropriate fees and permits at one of the park headquarters when you arrive. They are supposed to be valid for three days, even though the ticket might state otherwise. For foreign visitors, these are as follows (as of May 2012):

Entrance fee 50,000

Conservation fee 20,000

Photo camera fee: Rp 50,000

Video camera fee: Rp 150,000

Ranger/guide: Rp 50,000 (per group)

Additional fees include activities (eg. diving is Rp 75,000, snorkeling Rp 60,000), research and documentation for commercial purposes.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Komodo_National_Park

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_(island)