Reef Manta Ray

Photo: Luca Bertels · © all rights reserved

Reef mantas are year-round residents in the Labuanbajo channel system, visiting dedicated cleaning stations on the outer reefs in the hour before and after sunrise and sunset when cleaner wrasse activity peaks. The Komodo channel funnels rich currents through the area, and mantas are regularly seen in groups of 5 to 20 feeding at the surface during plankton blooms. Their accessibility from Labuanbajo — cleaning stations are 10 to 15 minutes by boat — makes this one of the easiest manta encounters in Indonesia.