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Komodo Island


woozlebear

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I have tried to find the answer to my question before posting this.

How long/far is the walk to see the dragons?

 

Regards

Susan

 

Hi Susan,

It's a tender port, sheltered location a very short distance to the pier. You are then at the start of the trail, right by the "village" (in reality, a few guides' quarters, cafe, market stalls).

A circular walk of under a mile, level ground.

 

The ship may require you to go ashore on their own walking tour, because of the pressure of cruise-ship numbers on guides.

And because it boosts their sales :rolleyes:

 

The walk is totally safe, the dragons are well-fed, fat & lazy. You are guarded by guides, but they're really only needed to stop folk approaching ridiculously close.

You can comfortably get within about 40ft, easy photography.

You'll probably see one or two in the village as well. Probably under the cafe

 

Further afield the dragons are wild & dangerous & there are fatalities amongst hikers, fishermen & the like.

But no problem to cruisers, nearly everyone gets back to the ship alive :D

 

JB :)

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  • 4 weeks later...
For us women folk, I've read online that if you are menstruating that you should not go on the tour, let alone go on the island. Is this true or an exageration??

 

There's a degree of truth, but I suspect if it refers to a cruise-ship tour it's a bit over-egged.

For a trek across the island, where you may come across "wild" dragons, advice to avoid the trip is more likely.

But the little guided walks on ships' tours are very tame affairs - and so are the pussy-cat dragons that you'll see.

 

I don't recall any caveat on my ship's tour brochure - but I guess since it doesn't affect me I may have missed it.

If it's an issue I have very little doubt that it will be made clear.

 

There's really no other reason to go ashore, nothing to see bar a few stalls by the pier.

 

JB :)

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For our stop at Komodo Island, there was a letter in our cabin that did say this. It also included those with bleeding gums and open wounds among those who shouldn't go ashore there. The only ones allowed ashore were those on tours.

For us women folk, I've read online that if you are menstruating that you should not go on the tour, let alone go on the island. Is this true or an exageration??
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  • 1 month later...
Does anyone know the approx cost of tour? I realise it will be different depending on the cruise line.

 

Susan

 

To simply see the dragons, the only real point of visiting Komodo, ours was around £45 pp. We were ashore for about 90 mins - a guided walk, then time at the cafe & stalls by the jetty.

Not a lot of money, but a bit of a rip-off because it cost the cruise-line just one guide, costing a few dollars, for every 20 or so passengers.

 

That was on Discovery, with just a 1/2-day stop.

With a full day, you may also have the option of going further afield at higher cost.

 

JB :)

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