Batu Bolong

The site

Batu Bolong is a small rock in the channel between Komodo and Tatawa, and the water moving past it is the reason the coral is extraordinary and the reason the dive is serious. Current sweeps both sides; the dive is worked in the lee, staying in the shadow of the rock as the group descends.

Drift off that lee and the site is over — you are in open channel current with a long boat pickup. Every briefing here is about position rather than route.

What you will see

• Giant trevally
• Whitetip and grey reef sharks
• Napoleon wrasse
• Dense hard and soft coral
• Schooling fusiliers and surgeonfish

Diving it well

• Descend fast and negatively on the mooring or the guide's signal. A slow descent puts the group in the flow before it reaches the shelter of the rock.
• Stay tight to the structure and above the group leader. Losing depth on the down-current side is how divers end up separated.
• Dive it on a tide the crew has chosen, not on the schedule you would prefer. Slack windows here are short and the difference between them and mid-flow is the whole dive.