Komodo · Indonesia · Drift · Reef
Tatawa Besar
An easy shallow drift in a park full of hard ones
Area photo: Siharaditia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tatawa Besar is classified as a drift dive, but it is an easy one: the drift runs through shallow water and the current is mild to moderate rather than the ripping flow the park is known for. The bottom reaches 30 m, so the deeper end still needs planning, but the dive most people do here is a shallow ride along the reef.
Where it is and how deep
8.5106° S, 119.6385° EPublished position for this site.
The dive
The dive is a drift, but a gentle one. You drop in up-current, settle onto the reef and let a mild to moderate flow carry you along it, mostly in shallow water. There is no need to hook in or hold station, and the pace is slow enough to stop and look, which is not true of most of the current sites in this part of Komodo.
Depth is a choice rather than a requirement. The site bottoms out at 30 m, so a deeper first pass is possible, but the drift itself works in the shallows and that is where most of the dive is spent. As with everything here the window is picked off the tide table, and the boat follows the group down the reef rather than waiting on a mooring.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Good | Prime | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Prime |
Season follows Komodo: Liveaboards run all year: April is often rated the best month, July to September is the big-fish peak, and the rainy months bring the best visibility and the mantas.
Know before you go
- The current is mild to moderate rather than fixed, so a dive briefed as an easy drift can run faster than expected: stay with the guide and keep an SMB to hand.
Questions divers ask
How strong is the current at Tatawa Besar?+
Mild to moderate. It is sometimes classified as a drift dive site, but it offers an easy drift in shallow water rather than the strong flow found at the northern pinnacles. Maximum depth is 30 m.
Sources
- Tatawa Besar - Scubago — Scubago
- Labuan Bajo — Wikipedia
More dive sites in Komodo
A holed rock at the surface, a coral-covered pinnacle below
Reef
Big-fish habitat in a current that usually runs strong
Soft coral and macro on a rock in the cold south of the park
A submerged pinnacle where the sharks hold in the current
Coral garden
The sheltered coral garden at the end of the Cauldron ride
A calm northern bay for skills practice near Crystal Rock
Soft-coral mound with sharks holding in the flow
Reef
A sloping northern passage dived on generally strong current
Similar dives elsewhere
Three current-cut canyons and an old Spanish anchor at 30 m
A current-washed plateau at 25–30 m, pelagics one day, pygmies the next
A drifted slope of soft and black coral off Pamilacan's tip
Juvenile whitetips tucked into small caves along a drifting slope