Lombok to Komodo: Flights, Boat Trips, Park Fees and Best Season

2 November 20265 November 2026

“How do I get from Lombok to Komodo?” “How many days does a boat trip from Lombok take, and what does it cost?” “When is the sea rough, and are the boats safe?” These are the questions we hear most from people who want to see Komodo dragons while they are on Lombok. The short answer is that there are two ways. You can fly from Lombok Airport to Labuan Bajo, the town at the western tip of Flores, and take a boat from there to the islands of the national park. Or you can join a boat trip of about four days and three nights that leaves from a port in east Lombok and heads east along the coast of Sumbawa.

Fly if you want speed and fewer days; take the boat if you want the journey itself to be the trip. Boat trips change with the weather, though, and some stretches cross long sections of open sea. In 2025 there were also reports of tourist boats running aground and sinking. Do not choose on price alone: check the season and the boat before you decide.

This guide brings together only what we could confirm as of October 2026, from reports by the state news agency Antara and others on park fees and visitor limits, the official websites of Indonesia’s tourism ministry and UNESCO, and information from operators and travel agents that sell the boat trips. There is no single official price for the boat trips, so the prices below are a range of published examples. Where we could not confirm something, we say so at that point.

Information as of October 2026

What this guide covers

✓The two ways from Lombok to Komodo (flight or boat trip) and how they differ
✓How a four-day, three-night boat trip runs, and the price range from deck to private cabin
✓The national park entry fee, and the limit of 1,000 visitors a day that began in April 2026
✓The best season, the months when the sea is rough, and recent boat accidents
✓How to plan the return to Lombok or Bali after Komodo

IN SHORT

The quickest way from Lombok to Komodo is the direct flight from Lombok Airport to Labuan Bajo (Wings Air, about 1 hour 15 minutes), then a boat from the town to the islands. If you fly both ways, allow at least three days and two nights. Boat trips from Lombok take four days and three nights one way and cost about Rp3,600,000 to 6,500,000 per person depending on where you sleep (about US$200 to 365, per an operator’s guide). The national park fee for foreign visitors is Rp250,000 per person (about US$14), and since 1 April 2026 there has been a limit of 1,000 visitors a day. Go in the dry season (April to October) and leave a spare day before your international flight home.

Contents

How do you get from Lombok to Komodo?

Komodo Island lies at the heart of Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed in 1991). The park sits between Sumbawa and Flores and is made up of three large islands, Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and many smaller ones. According to UNESCO, about 5,700 Komodo dragons live in the park.

Komodo Island has no airport and no scheduled ferry port. The gateway is Labuan Bajo, and a guide from a dive resort on Komodo (August 2026) also states that “there is no ferry from Lombok to Komodo”.

In practice there are two ways to go from Lombok. One is to fly from Lombok Airport to Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo. The other is a boat trip from a port in east Lombok that stops at islands along Sumbawa, enters the national park and ends in Labuan Bajo. You can also combine public ferries and buses, but the same guide says this takes two days or more.

Figure: Two routes from Lombok to Komodo

Figure notes: flight time calculated from the timetable reported in July 2025. Prices are per person, from a dive resort’s guide (August 2026).

By air: the Lombok to Labuan Bajo flight and the boat to the islands

Wings Air launched the direct Lombok to Labuan Bajo route on 22 July 2025. According to detikBali (22 July 2025), it started with three flights a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays: from Lombok at 11:10, arriving 12:25 (IW1951), and from Labuan Bajo at 9:30, arriving 10:50 (IW1950). The aircraft is a 72-seat ATR 72 turboprop.

Flights appear to have increased since then. A flight-tracking site (Avionio) recorded IW1951 from Lombok scheduled daily from 30 September to 9 October 2026, departing 11:05 and arriving 12:20. The dive resort’s guide mentioned above (August 2026) gives a range of 8 to 14 flights a week. We could not confirm the October 2026 times for flights from Labuan Bajo to Lombok. Check the airline’s official website before you book.

According to the same guide, a one-way ticket costs about Rp900,000 to 1,800,000 per person (about US$51 to 101, checked baggage extra). Economy tickets do not include free checked baggage as standard (some fares include 10kg), and cabin baggage is limited to one piece of up to 7kg. Because flights can be cancelled, the guide advises against connecting to an international flight on the day you leave Labuan Bajo.

Once in Labuan Bajo, you cross from the town to the park’s islands by boat. Indonesia’s official tourism website says it takes about an hour by speedboat from Labuan Bajo, and you can also tour the islands while staying on board a boat called a phinisi. If you fly, the realistic plan is two nights in Labuan Bajo with the islands on the day in between. For your departure day at Lombok Airport, see our Lombok Airport departure guide.

What is the boat trip like? Four days, three nights

Boat trips from Lombok are one-way journeys that head east, stopping at islands off the north of Sumbawa, then visit the park’s islands and finish in Labuan Bajo. A traveller’s blog that is updated every year (updated August 2025) says around four main companies run this route; the one the writer took left Lombok on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Labuan Bajo on Wednesdays and Sundays. Departure days differ from company to company.

Pickup is from hotels in places such as Senggigi, Bangsal harbour and Mataram, followed by a drive of about two hours to Kayangan Port in east Lombok (dive resort’s guide). The stops vary by company and weather, but the same names come up in several guides: Kenawa Island, Moyo Island or Satonda Island, Saleh Bay and the islands of Komodo National Park.

Figure: A four-day, three-night boat trip from Lombok (one company’s example)

Figure notes: based on one company’s itinerary in a traveller’s blog (updated August 2025). The rough sea on day 2 is as described in the blog and a travel agent’s page.

The dive resort’s guide says the boat reaches Labuan Bajo in the early afternoon of day 4.

One thing to be aware of is that the time you spend inside the national park is shorter than you might expect. A travel agent’s page also notes that time in the park is limited compared with boats that start in Labuan Bajo and tour only the park. Some itineraries include Saleh Bay (Teluk Saleh) off north Sumbawa, where whale sharks gather around fishing platforms called bagan (in the blog, an optional stop since 2025). The guides point out, however, that this is a working fishing bay and you will share it with other boats and swimmers.

How much does the boat trip cost? Deck or cabin

The price depends mostly on where you sleep. The cheapest option is the deck, where everyone sleeps together on mats laid out on the open deck; shared cabins come next, and private cabins with a bathroom cost the most. There is no single official price, and fares vary by company, boat and season, so treat the table below as a guide.

← Scroll the table sideways

Where you sleep	Approx. per person	Source
Deck (mats on the deck)	Rp3,600,000 to 4,000,000 (about US$202 to 225)	Dive resort’s guide (August 2026)
Deck	Rp3,700,000 (about US$208). Deposit Rp700,000	Traveller’s blog (updated August 2025)
Shared cabin (fan)	About Rp4,200,000 (about US$236)	Dive resort’s guide
Cabin	Rp4,300,000 to 4,400,000 (about US$242 to 247)	Traveller’s blog (gives two different amounts)
Private cabin with air conditioning	About Rp4,600,000 (about US$258)	Dive resort’s guide
Cabin on a better-equipped phinisi	Rp5,000,000 to 6,500,000 (about US$281 to 365)	Dive resort’s guide
Shared room (six bunk beds, shared bathroom)	Rp5,250,000 (about US$295)	Travel agent’s listing (example: the boat Al Fatran 3)
Private cabin (same boat)	Rp6,500,000 to 11,500,000 (about US$365 to 646)	As above (varies by cabin)

*US$ figures are approximate, at US$1 = about Rp17,800 (September 2026). Prices are examples we could find as of October 2026 and change with the departure date and boat. In the departure list on the same travel agent’s page, this boat’s October to November 2026 trips were shown from Rp5,800,000 per person.

Check with each company what the price includes. The dive resort’s guide says meals, drinking water, a guide and transfers are usually included, but the national park fee sometimes is not. The company in the blog above included transfers, all meals, drinking water, snorkel and mask, park fees and an island guide; alcohol was extra. The writer recommends bringing your own fins.

Opinions differ on deck versus cabin. The blog’s writer recommended the deck, saying the cabins were close to the engine, hot and noisy. The deck is outdoors, so you need to be prepared for rain and the cool of the night. It is also worth asking how many toilets and showers there are before you book.

Park fees and the rules inside the park (visitor limit, rangers)

Since 30 October 2024, Komodo National Park has charged entry fees under a new government regulation (PP 36/2024). According to the state news agency Antara (26 October 2024), foreign visitors pay Rp250,000 per person (about US$14) on weekdays and holidays alike, which covers trekking, wildlife watching and snorkelling. Diving is charged separately at Rp25,000 per dive.

Before that, foreign visitors paid Rp150,000 on weekdays and Rp225,000 on Sundays and public holidays (Bisnis.com, 19 December 2022). In 2022 there was a plan to raise the fee to Rp3,750,000 per person (valid for one year), but it was dropped in December that year. Within what we checked, we found no change to the fees after October 2024.

Since 1 April 2026, Komodo National Park has had a limit of 1,000 visitors a day (Antara, 16 April 2026). The park had 429,509 visitors in 2025, and the aim is to reduce the pressure on nature. At a parliamentary committee (14 April 2026), the forestry minister explained that the limit covers three sites, Padar, Rinca and Komodo islands, plus 23 dive sites around them, and that the day is divided into three time slots: 5:00 to 8:00, 8:00 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 18:00.

For travellers, this means there may be days when you cannot simply turn up and get in. A dive booking site’s explainer (updated March 2026) says entry requires advance booking and payment, that permits may not be available at the last minute, and that you may be asked for a copy of your passport when booking. Liveaboard dive boats and dive resorts book and pay for entry permits in advance. When you sign up, ask who makes the park booking and whether the fee is included.

Note that this explainer gives February 2026 as the start of the limit, while Antara’s report and the forestry minister’s explanation say 1 April.

When you land on the islands and approach Komodo dragons, you must be accompanied by a licensed ranger. Indonesia’s official tourism website says to follow the ranger’s instructions and walk as a group, avoid sudden movements and loud voices, let the guide know if you are menstruating, and never feed the animals. Rangers carry a forked wooden stick to keep approaching dragons away (2015 interview with a ranger on Rinca). The ground is rocky and slippery, so wear comfortable walking shoes.

When is the best season, and when is the sea rough?

Go in the dry season. On Lombok the dry season runs from April to October and the rainy season from November to March; for the weather in more detail, see Best Time to Visit Lombok. Indonesia’s official tourism website names April to June, when the hills turn green, and September to November, when the weather is settled, as good times to visit Komodo National Park, and says July and August are busy holiday months.

For the boat trips, a travel agent’s page says they run from March to November, with June to September the busy season, and that the wind can be strong in July and August. Even in the dry season, the crossing from Sumbawa to Komodo means hours on the open sea, so it advises anyone prone to seasickness to bring medication.

To be honest, it is hard to recommend going in the rainy season. The dive resort’s guide (August 2026) says that from December to March, when the northwest monsoon blows, the crossing from Sumbawa to Komodo tends to be rough and more sailings are postponed, and that some companies suspend the route from Lombok in January and February.

In reports over the year-end holidays (December 2024), the head of the national park office said he did not recommend entering the park in bad weather, and urged visitors to check information from the weather agency BMKG. After a boat sank on 26 December 2025, tourist boat operations in the waters around Labuan Bajo and the Komodo islands were halted until 1 January 2026. If you plan to go in the rainy season, build in enough flexibility that a delayed departure will not cause problems.

Boat safety and rough seas: what recent accidents tell you to check

There have been a series of reported tourist boat accidents around Komodo. According to detik (15 May 2025), on the night of 14 May a tourist boat travelling from Labuan Bajo to Lombok hit a reef near Batu Tiga inside the national park and sank. The 14 foreign tourists and one guide were rescued and no one died. The harbour authority suspected a lack of care in navigation (low tide may also have played a part) and water coming in through the hull.

On 26 December 2025, a phinisi-type tourist boat sank in the Padar Strait, and travellers, including a Spanish family, died or went missing (Bisnis.com, 29 December 2025, and others). Early reports said the engine stopped in waves of about 2m. Neither case was specific to boat trips from Lombok, but on a trip that sails the same waters, including at night, you need to choose your boat and company carefully.

The traveller’s blog also warns that on this route there are companies with a poor safety reputation and agents who add a mark-up. For medical care and insurance abroad, see also our guide to hospitals and insurance on Lombok.

✓Where are the life jackets for everyone on board, and will they show you before you sail?
✓In bad weather, how do they decide to change the route or postpone a sailing (and what are the refund terms)?
✓If you sleep in a cabin, is the way out to the deck at night easy to find?
✓If you book through an agent, do you know the name of the company that actually runs the trip, and of the boat?
✓Have you packed seasickness medication and arranged travel insurance (including rescue and evacuation costs)?

Planning the trip back to Lombok after Komodo

If you are staying on Lombok and want to fit in Komodo, there are two basic ways to plan it.

Fly both ways (at least three days, two nights): on day 1, fly from Lombok Airport to Labuan Bajo; on day 2, tour the park’s islands by boat; on day 3, fly back to Lombok. If bad weather stops the boats on day 2, you will go home without seeing a Komodo dragon, so if you have time, an extra night in Labuan Bajo gives you a safety margin.

Boat out, fly back (four nights, five days or more): spend days 1 to 4 on the boat, disembark in Labuan Bajo in the early afternoon of day 4, stay the night in town, and fly back to Lombok on day 5 or later. The boat the blog’s writer was on had engine trouble on day 2 and the passengers moved to another boat, and the itinerary can also change with the weather, so do not book a flight on the day you disembark.

You can also fly home without going back to Lombok. According to Indonesia’s official tourism website, Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo has direct flights from Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. In that case you would see Lombok first, then fly from Komodo to Bali at the end and connect to your international flight.

Good to know

The boat trip is one way: boats from Lombok end in Labuan Bajo. You need a separate ticket to fly back to Lombok.
Leave a day before your international flight: plan so that you still make your flight home even if the flight or boat from Labuan Bajo is late.

A word from us in Sekotong

Pickups for the boat trips are mainly listed around Senggigi, Mataram and Bangsal harbour. Sekotong, in southwest Lombok, is on the opposite side of the island from Kayangan Port in the east, so if you are staying in Sekotong, check when you book whether you are within the pickup area. If not, staying the night before in Senggigi or Mataram makes it easier to be ready for the morning pickup. If you are flying, it takes about 1 hour 10 minutes by car to the airport, so it helps to fix the car’s departure time by the day before.

The downsides of a Komodo trip, and who it suits

The downsides first. Komodo is a long way from Lombok, the weather can upset your plans, and since 2026 there has been a limit on park visitors. Adding Komodo also means one more leg of travel on top of getting to Lombok. If you have less than a week, you will be less tired if you choose one or the other.

A simple way to think about it: fly if time comes first; take a dry-season boat trip if you have time to spare, can accept rough water and some discomfort, and want to see the islands along the way.

If you want quiet time on Lombok before or after Komodo, Sekotong in southwest Lombok is another option. It is a fishing village about 1 hour 10 minutes by car from Lombok International Airport, with the Secret Gilis (South Gilis) off Sekotong offshore. It suits people who want a few days with little travel after a long boat trip.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can I do Komodo as a day trip from Lombok?

Not realistically. The direct flight from Lombok leaves late in the morning, and the boat from Labuan Bajo to the islands takes about another hour. Even flying both ways, allow at least three days and two nights.

Q. Does the boat trip price include the national park fee?

It depends on the company. Guides say some include it and others charge it separately. The fee for foreign visitors is Rp250,000 per person (about US$14, since 30 October 2024). When you book, check how the fee and the park booking are handled.

Summary

There are two ways from Lombok to Komodo: the direct flight to Labuan Bajo (at least three days and two nights), or a one-way, four-day, three-night boat trip from Kayangan Port in the east (about Rp3,600,000 to 6,500,000 per person).

The park fee for foreign visitors is Rp250,000 per person, and since 1 April 2026 there has been a limit of 1,000 visitors a day. Choose the dry season; on a boat trip, check the life jackets and what happens in bad weather; and leave a spare day before your flight home. Check the latest flight times and prices before you go.