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Dive Review of Komodo Dive Center/Mastro Aldo in
Indonesia/Komodo

Komodo Dive Center/Mastro Aldo: "What an incredible trip!", Mar, 2018,

by Richard Blackburn, GA, US (Contributor Contributor 13 reports with 7 Helpful votes). Report 10186 has 4 Helpful votes.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We did some research in choosing a liveaboard in South East Asia while visiting our sister in Singapore. We chose Indonesia as it was close, has an excellent reputation for diving and is below the equator.

After about a month of reading reviews, asking questions on Reddit and Facebook, we settled on a 7 day trip aboard the Mastro Aldo with Komodo Dive Center. One reason was they visit North, Central, and South Komodo Dive sites. And a catamaran is a better option for the seasick prone.

Our welcome by the crew was pleasant and the other guests for the first half of the trip were nice (you can book 4 or 7 days trips). We got settled in and headed out for our first dive (checkout by the crew to assess our abilities), and all passed the checkout dives. After the dive, they split us into groups based on skill and air consumption. Our guide, Dom, who is also the “cruise director”, would be our guide the rest of the trip.

About the trip:

-- the food is amazing
-- the diving was incredible
-- the hospitality was unbelievable

The cooks are chefs and whip up amazing foods for every meal. Breakfast is served family style, lunch and dinner are served beautifully plated (with extra bowls of everything for most meals). Can't say enough good things about the food, if anyone is disappointed I would be shocked. Other guests with dietary restrictions were also well fed.

The diving is done from speed boats that take you out to the sites and return you to the mothership. The currents can be strong but the staff are used to dealing with it as well as customers of all skill levels, so really well done and safe. Dom was excellent at finding and showing us incredible things, from nudibranchs of every color imaginable to pygmy seahorses both tiny, small, and regular sized.

We got spoiled with all the things to see. It was overwhelming the diversity of corals, fish, and sea life in general. It is so great to see such healthy and spectacular reefs! Sharks, turtles, travelli, grouper, tuna, and wahoo were some of the bigger things to see, not to mention the incredible manta dives. Our speedboat driver, Stephan, was an absolute gem! He helped Samma every dive get on the side of the boat for the backroll.

We had a sunset trek to climb a hill which was awesome. Samma opted to beach comb for shells, which turned into a game for the crew. They kept beach combing and bringing her shells till she finally told them she had too many.

We went to a beach to see the Komodo Dragons in the wild!!!! They are big and lumbering, but can sprint incredibly fast. Dom took my GoPro and set it up on the beach, then got the attention of a dragon. It charged Dom who lept out of the way so ran directly at the camera and knocked it over with its tail. Great video!

I can't say enough good things about the boat and crew. Friendly, always helpful and accommodating. Highly recommend this trip and would love to return someday or maybe the new sister boat coming in 2019.
Websites Komodo Dive Center   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving USVI, FL, GA, TN, AL, Japan, CA, Mexico (Yucatan), Bahamas, Bonaire, Roatan, Baja California
Closest Airport Labuan Bajo Getting There Flights into Labuan Bajo were easy to find

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 75-82°F / 24-28°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Depth and time were set by the guides based on divers abilities
Liveaboard? yes Nitrox Available? no

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas Squadrons
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 5 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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