Batu Bolong,
North Komodo
Batu Bolong (Hollow Rock) is a bare rock and exposed to the full
force of the curents that that rage through the Linta strait. On
a high slake tide, when currents abate and the diving is less stressful.
Batu Bolong is very popular dive site in Komodo for land base operator
or for liveaboard operator.
Due to the rock's topography and exposure to strong currents the
reef has not been targeted by fishermen and is in superb condition.
Giant trevally, mantas and dugongs have been ancountered here. Hard
corals and sponges cover the walls and slopes, but the main beneficiary
here must be the fish life. The volume of fish here is awesome,
right from the deeper water areas where Napoleon wrasse and whitetip
reef sharks cruise, to the shallow where thousands of smaller reef
fish battle it out for territorial and feeding rights.
Hawksbill turtles are frequent feeders on the sponges and tunicates,
giant sweetlips lurk in the gullies and overhangs, palette surgeonfish
dance across the current swept upper reaches of the rock. Stay a
while here if you can as this Komodo dive site is really a great
place to educate yourself and witness the full gamut of what being
a reef fish is all about. Fish mating, fish laying and guarding
eggs, fish hunting, fish hiding, fish fighting, fish feeding - it's
all here on display from dawn 'til dusk.
Perhaps the most spectacular side of the pinnacle is the north
side, which is much steeper than the other gentler sloping sides.
It has a small submerged pinnacle in the north east, and a huge
deep gully from the surface down to about 27 metres. You can choose
to drop down to depth here and either zigzag up the northern face,
or spiral around the whole rock if the currents allow.
Batu Bolong should not be dived if the currents in north Komodo
are very strong since the site is small and there is no opportunity
to drift. Slack tide is really the only occasion that you should
dive here.
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