Quick Answer: Siaba Besar—Turtle City to guides across the park—is Komodo’s premier turtle diving site: a sheltered, sandy-bottomed bay where green turtles graze in remarkable numbers. Mild currents and a gentle 5–20 meter slope make it genuine beginner territory, its calm anchorage doubles as a favorite night dive, and it is reached easily by liveaboard from Labuan Bajo.
Siaba Besar consistently rewards divers with meaningful sea turtle encounters, in gentle conditions rare among Komodo’s current-swept sites.
Its central Komodo location keeps the site within easy reach of liveaboards, without sacrificing the ecological integrity that makes turtle encounters here so reliable.
The island’s protected forest and marine reserves add context beyond the reef, connecting this dive site to the wider Komodo ecosystem.
From near-guaranteed turtle sightings to some of the region’s best night diving, four elements define every dive here.
Green sea turtles turn up on the vast majority of dives—anywhere from a handful to a dozen on a typical 50-minute dive—with hawksbills picking at sponges on the bommies. Many are large, habituated adults that carry on grazing while you settle in at a respectful distance.
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The bay floor mixes white sand, seagrass patches, and big coral bommies—table corals shelter resting turtles while sweetlips and batfish schools keep the reef traffic dense. The seagrass is the turtles’ dinner, so careful buoyancy keeps these gardens intact.
Explore More Dive SitesA sandy slope runs from snorkel-friendly shallows to about 20 meters, with most turtle action between 6 and 14 meters and mild current on most states of the tide. Visibility of commonly 10–20 meters outperforms macro-focused sites like Cannibal Rock, making it a strong pick for wide-angle photography too.
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After dark the bay switches shifts—hunting cephalopods and decorator crabs emerge while turtles sleep tucked under the same table corals they grazed beside at noon. Shallow depths and mild currents make Siaba Besar one of Komodo’s safest, most rewarding night dives.
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Siaba Besar sits in the park’s central band, minutes by boat from the Makassar Reef manta drift and within easy reach of Labuan Bajo, so most liveaboard itineraries—including 3D2N open trips with shared cabins from USD 300 per person—schedule dives here to maximize turtle sightings.
It pairs naturally with nearby Sebayur Reef and the Siaba Island day-trip destination, letting divers combine turtle diving, night diving, and time ashore in one stop. Flag your interest in turtle diving when planning your liveaboard so it features prominently in your route.
Sea turtles appear on the vast majority of dives—the turtles are resident and the habitat is their pantry, so dives here without a single sighting are rare enough that crews talk about them. Multiple turtles per dive is the normal outcome in every season.
No—touching sea turtles is illegal in Indonesia and against professional diving codes of ethics. Guides keep a respectful distance so you can still photograph turtles engaged in natural behavior.
Open Water certification is sufficient; no advanced certification is required. Gentle currents and moderate depths make it a comfortable site for building confidence or returning to diving after a break.
Green sea turtles are by far the most common sighting, grazing the seagrass and resting wedged under table corals. Hawksbills turn up less often, usually picking at sponges on the bommies.
Yes—shallow reef areas let snorkelers spot turtles, reef fish, and coral alongside certified divers. That makes it easy for mixed-experience groups and families to share the same encounters.
Sweetlips and batfish schools on the bommies suit wide-angle shots, while the sand holds easier muck subjects—blue-spotted stingrays under the ledges, garden eels on the deeper sand, octopus in the rubble. Night dives add further species you won’t see by day.
Siaba Besar is a sheltered sandy bay whose signature is turtles, while Sebayur Reef is a sloping coral reef nearer Labuan Bajo that serves as the classic check-dive and snorkel stop. Most multi-day routes include both without feeling repetitive.
Independent planning guides for Komodo National Park liveaboard trips, updated for the 2027 season.
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