Kalong Islad Komodo National Park, Flores Indonesia
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When visiting Komodo National Park, there are many beautiful places to visit, but there is some especially unique about an island called Kalong Island. It is a small island with mangrove plantations that cover the island and houses thousands and thousands of bats, also known as flying foxes. Kalong is an extremely popular destination for every traveler coming to Flores for this reason. The Name Kolong actually means bat, in the local language. What is so incredibly unique about this island is that every night at sunset, thousands and thousands of bats come flying out of the some of the caves. Experiencing all the bats that appear to be flying out of the island at sunset is such a great and rememberable experience to have while you are visiting Komodo National Park. Typically, depending on which tour you choose, but we try to arrive at the island at about 6pm. For many of our guests, experiencing this is absolute one of the highlights of the many of our tours. As for the tours, guests do not walk on the islands, as most of the area is mangroves, but it is a great place to experience the sunset and have an over night in the area.
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Kalong Island is located approximately eight or nine Kilometres from the port of Labuan Bajo. We offer this stop on many of our tours so typically it is only about 20 mins away from one of our previous stops before this. This can be grouped on a tour with visiting islands such as Komodo, Rinca, Padar, or many other beautiful islands in Komodo National Park. We do get asked about is the bats are dangerous. You do not have to worry about the bats, as they fly way about the boat up in the sky. They do not cause harm to humans. Another great time to see the bats is in the morning time, because this is when they are coming back to the island. This is a majestic site to see from the comfort of the boat.
While staying in Kalong Island, we will not dock because there is no port on the island. We will park the boat a short distance from the island as to get a great view of the bats flying out from the island at sunset. Although this is not an island that we stop at for snorkelling or laying on the beach, considering it is mostly mangroves, but experiences all the bats come out around sunset is something that everyone visiting Komodo National Park, should experience. Another thing that many do not realize is how unique the mangroves are as well. They are protected because they shelter the island from waves and offer good areas for even more wildlife. So no one is allowed to cut any area of the Mangrove forest. As well, Fishing is not allowed in Komodo National Park area.
If you would like to visit Kalong Island on one of our Komodo National Park Tours and see the bats fly out at night, please contact us for one of our tour packages. We strive to make our guests happy and make sure they experience the best time possible that they can. Contact us today for any questions you may have.
