Komodo · Indonesia · Muck & macro · Sand slope
Wainilu
Mandarin fish and ghost pipefish on a sheltered Rinca muck slope
Photo: Bernard Picton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wainilu is Komodo National Park's main muck dive, in a sheltered bay off Rinca Island near the park's ranger station. Its silt and rubble slope holds mandarin fish, frogfish, ghost pipefish and many nudibranchs, a contrast to the park's current-swept reefs.
Also known as Wai Ni Loo.
Where it is and how deep
8.6273° S, 119.7064° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The seabed slopes gently from 3 to 18 metres over silt, sand and rubble, with negligible current. The bare bottom is where the critters live: warty frogfish, seahorses, ornate and robust ghost pipefish, countless nudibranch species, hunting octopuses and flamboyant cuttlefish. Mandarin fish perform their mating dance at sunset.
Marine life and season
- Mandarinfish
- Frogfish
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
- Octopus & cuttlefish
| 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.
Photos from Wainilu
Bernard Picton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bernard Picton · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dive videos
Wainilu - Muck Diving Heaven in Komodo · iDive Komodo on YouTube
Night diving - buceo en Wainilu - Komodo Islands - Indonesia · Lolo viajero y buzo on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Can Wainilu be dived all year?+
Yes. The bay is sheltered, the current is negligible and the slope stays within 18 metres, so it is diveable year-round at Open Water level.
Sources
- Wainilu dive site — PADI
- Komodo dive sites — Komodo Dive Center
Photo credits
- An orange nudibranch with black-spotted cerata and dark ridged rhinophores crawls over coarse pale sand. by Bernard Picton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A red-orange nudibranch speckled with dark spots, with small branching gills, on gravelly sand. by Bernard Picton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- A slender pale nudibranch with white-tipped rhinophores on algae-covered rock. by Bernard Picton, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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
Debris slope from 3 to 18 m, dived for frogfish and nudibranchs
The strait's only white-sand muck site, with coral in the shallows
Mimic and blue-ringed octopus over Anilao's best-known muck slope
Seahorses, spider crabs and coconut octopus on a sandy slope close to Dili.