Five rules cover almost everything: never chase or touch marine life, stay low and still at cleaning stations, keep the ranger’s distance from Komodo dragons and never separate from the group, anchor on sand or use moorings rather than dropping iron on coral, and take nothing off the reef. Everything else is detail. These are not politeness conventions — they are the conditions on which access to these places continues.
Why does etiquette decide access?
Because the reefs you are visiting are managed, and management responds to behaviour. Raja Ampat’s no-take zones exist because communities agreed to stop fishing them in exchange for a share of visitor revenue. Komodo’s ranger rules exist because a national park is balancing a wild predator population against a million visitor-days. Both arrangements are revocable. Sites have been closed, quotas imposed and access restricted in Indonesia within living memory, and it was rarely because of the fishing.
Manta cleaning stations: the rules that matter
| Do | Do not |
|---|---|
| Settle on sand or rubble beside the station, low and still | Hover above a manta — you block it off the station |
| Stay behind the marked line where one exists (Manta Sandy) | Swim toward, chase, or follow an animal |
| Let the animal choose the distance | Reach out. Touching removes the mucus layer that protects them from infection |
| Control your bubbles — exhale low and slow when one passes over | Blow bubbles directly upward into a passing manta |
| Keep the group compact and quiet | Spread out across the whole station |
What about strobes and flash?
This one is genuinely debated. Some operators and photographers hold that occasional strobe use at reasonable distance does not measurably disturb mantas; others restrict it, and some sites ban it outright. Our position is straightforward: follow the site rule and the guide’s briefing, never fire into an animal’s eye at close range, and if in doubt, shoot ambient. In water this clear, ambient light is usually the better photograph anyway — more on that in our photography and drone guide.
The specific cleaning stations and their conditions are described in our Komodo dive site guide. Note that we never promise a sighting on any of them.
Sharks and other large animals
Reef sharks at Castle Rock or Blue Magic are indifferent to divers and will stay that way if you behave predictably. Do not chase them for a photograph, do not corner them against a wall, and do not participate in any feeding. Baiting for guest entertainment is unacceptable practice and changes animal behaviour permanently.
Turtles: watch, do not ride, do not touch, do not block their route to the surface — they breathe air and a diver between a turtle and the surface is a problem for the turtle.
Komodo dragons: what the rangers actually require
Komodo dragons are large wild predators with a serious bite. The rules are simple and enforced:
- Stay with the ranger, always. No wandering ahead for a photograph, no lingering behind the group.
- Keep the distance the ranger states and move when told to move.
- Never feed them. Feeding creates animals that associate people with food — the exact outcome the park spends its budget preventing.
- Do not run. Dragons can move quickly over short distances; running triggers pursuit.
- Tell the ranger if you have an open wound, and women who are menstruating are asked to inform the ranger as a precaution. This is standard park practice and rangers handle it discreetly.
- Keep children within arm’s reach for the entire walk. Non-negotiable. Families with toddlers often skip the trek in favour of the beach, which is a perfectly good choice — see our family charter guide.
Anchoring: the least visible damage
A phinisi is a heavy wooden vessel and its ground tackle is correspondingly heavy. An anchor dropped on coral does more damage in ten seconds than a hundred careless snorkellers do in a week, and the chain sweeping in a wind shift does more again.
What good practice looks like: use fixed moorings where they exist; otherwise anchor on sand, verified visually or by sounder before the anchor goes down; pay out appropriate scope; and reposition if the set is wrong rather than accepting it. Guests can watch this happen. A crew that takes three attempts to find sand is doing it properly, not doing it badly.
No-take zones and what your money funds
Raja Ampat’s marine park permit — the PIN card, around IDR 1,000,000 for foreign nationals, valid for a calendar year, and always worth confirming before travel — funds patrols, monitoring and a community share. Komodo’s daily entrance and conservation fees work differently but toward the same end. Both are set out in detail in our Raja Ampat permit guide.
Inside a no-take zone: no fishing, no collecting, no spearing, nothing removed. That includes shells and coral fragments on a beach, which are habitat and substrate, not souvenirs. It also includes, in some areas, restrictions on where boats may anchor at all.
The most direct way to support the arrangement is to buy locally — village-made goods, fish sold to the boat, guiding services — so the people bearing the cost of protection see the benefit of it. Both the Misool charter and the Labuan Bajo day trip are structured with that in mind.
Sunscreen, plastic and what leaves the boat
| Item | Practice |
|---|---|
| Sunscreen | Mineral, reef-safer formulations; better still, a long-sleeved rash guard, which protects more and leaches nothing |
| Single-use plastic | Bring a refillable bottle. Good boats provide dispensers and carry no small bottles at all |
| Waste | Everything non-organic returns to port with the boat. Nothing goes over the side |
| Cigarette butts | Ashore, in a container, always. They are plastic |
| Grey water and heads | Managed by the vessel; follow the crew’s rules about what goes down a marine toilet |
Frequently asked questions
Can I touch a manta ray?
No. Touching removes the protective mucus layer and leaves the animal vulnerable to infection. It is also the fastest way to end the encounter.
How close can I get to a manta?
You do not close the distance — the manta does. Settle beside the cleaning station, stay low and still, and let it approach on its terms.
Is flash photography allowed at cleaning stations?
It varies by site and operator, and it is genuinely debated. Follow the briefing, never fire close into the eye, and prefer ambient light.
How dangerous are Komodo dragons?
Dangerous enough that rangers accompany every group and set the distance. Follow instructions exactly and the trek is safe.
Why can’t I take a shell from the beach?
Shells are habitat and substrate, and inside protected areas removal is prohibited. Photograph it and leave it.
Do phinisi anchor on coral?
They should not. Moorings first, sand second, and a competent crew will reset rather than accept a bad hold.
What sunscreen should I bring?
A mineral, reef-safer formulation — and rely mainly on a rash guard and a hat, which work better and leave nothing in the water.
What happens if a guest breaks the rules?
The guide ends the dive or the walk. That is the correct response, and any operator unwilling to do it is trading away the access everyone else depends on.
Sail with a crew that enforces this
Charters are operated by Komodo Luxury, part of Juara Holding Group, diving and trekking these parks since 2015. Our briefings cover all of the above before the first entry, and our guides will call a dive rather than let a cleaning station be crowded. If that is the trip you want, tell us your dates.
WhatsApp: +62 811 3823 875 · Email: sales@komodoluxury.com