Liveaboard Diving in Castle Rock

What To Expect On A Castle Rock Liveaboard

Castle Rock liveaboards visit this dive site situated to the North of the islet of Gili Lawa Laut, at the top of Komodo Islands. The area is protected by the Komodo National Park and is internationally renown for diving tours. This area is home to some of the richest coral and fish life in the region and beautiful scenery on land.

The islands and the underwater topography, is volcanic. Many of the best reefs, such as Castle Rock, sit atop huge sea mounts formed by volcanic activity. The Castle Rock sea mount is more of a pinnacle, with steep edges and a stunning coral garden growing on the top from around 5 meters/16 ft. downwards.

The visibility is eye watering, often exceeding 30 meters/98 ft. offering a beautiful view over the pinnacle and the fish life. Currents here are however very strong, as the Castle Rock is one of the most exposed dive sites around Gili Lawa Laut. These currents can be several knots and bring plankton rich waters with them which in turn, bring the big fish!

What You Can See

Liveaboard diving at Castle Rock is one of those amazing experiences, where there is a chance to see pretty much anything you can find around Komodo. The reef is beautiful with an array of colourful reef fish living on the hard and soft corals that coat the top end of the pinnacle. The fauna also means great macro opportunities, with critters all over the corals.

Photography here is simply sublime, not only macro, but the number of angel and butterfly fish, often in huge shoals that cover huge portions of the reef, is a sight to behold. Silverside, Jacks, and trevally are all around the reef and out in the blue. The entire reef can sometimes be enveloped in a cloud of different fish.

These shoals also attract bigger animals to the reef, in impressive numbers. Whitetips, blacktips and grey reef sharks can be seen here, and it is not unusual to see all three while diving there. The nutrient rich currents also mean, there is every possibility that divers might see mantas passing by. There are other pelagic fish as well, tuna are frequent visitors and very lucky divers might even be surprised by a pod of dolphins, that is known to come to this reef to hunt.

Getting To Castle Rock

Castle Rock is at the Northern end of Komodo Island in the heart of the Komodo National Park. There are a few options for visiting Castle Rock but by far the best experience, is on a dedicated diving liveaboard tour. There are some day boats leaving from Labuan Bajo though if you only have time for a couple of dive.

There are different kinds of Indonesian liveaboards to suit various needs and budgets. Motor vessels provide a comfortable journey with their custom designed vessels. The most popular diving liveaboards however are traditional Indonesian sailing boats which make for a peaceful and luxurious journey.

Most liveaboards going to Castle Rock embark from either Labuan Bajo or directly from Bali. Often the will start at one port and finish at the other to give you as much time diving as possible during your trip.

Bali International Airport offers flights from many international destinations in Asia and further afield. This is also the place to take a flight to Labuan Bajo as well. For the more adventurous travellers there is also a three-day ferry ride from Bali to Labuan Bajo, although it is not for the faint of heart.


Castle Rock Diving Reviews

  • 9.4 Superb
  • 79 Verified Reviews
  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • john C
  • United States United States

The diving on Castle Rock was an adventure, the current, the sea snake...wow!

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Samambaia

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • William V
  • United States United States

The Castle Rock was pretty rad. You'll need to hold on tight during the drift. Don't worry. They'll make sure you get through it and come out a better diver and see some incredible beauty.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Kira Kira

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Benjamin K
  • United States United States

excellent; so many coral and animal life!

Diving Castle Rock in May on the Lady Denok

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Matthew M
  • United States United States

Nice topography, plentiful schooling fish. The "aquarium" is relatively protected from current

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Emperor Raja Laut

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Madison S
  • United States United States

Crazy fun currents, lots of sharks

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Jaya

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Diane W
  • United States United States

Substantial current but after getting anchored to the reef watched some nice blacktip shark activity.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the La Galigo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Karl G
  • United States United States

Another awesome site. A lot of large fish and schools. Really amazing.

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Tiare Cruise

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Peter C
  • United States United States

Kind of strong current, but good fish.

Diving Castle Rock in October on the Cajoma IV

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Andrew L
  • United States United States

Beautiful coral shelves and a pinnacle to explore from the bottom up!

Diving Castle Rock in November on the Komodo Sea Dragon

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Julio M
  • United States United States

Awesome but a bit crowded.

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Nusantara

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Mateo L
  • United States United States

We were ready for a very challenging dive, and when we got to the bottom we thought we'd missed it cause there was no current at all. We ended up seeing a lot of trevallies, beautiful site.

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Sokaraja

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Daniel S
  • United States United States

Good dive with interesting landscape. Saw some nursing reef sharks

Diving Castle Rock in October on the Cajoma IV

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Michael R
  • Germany Germany

Great as well. Many sharks (Grey and white tip).

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Mari

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Tina T
  • Australia Australia

We did this dive twice, the first time was amazing with large schools of fish and all that was needed was to hang on for the show. The second time we did it at a different time and it wasn't as busy but still a great dive.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Kira Kira

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jessica P
  • Australia Australia

Did this dive twice - once on a rising tide, and once on a falling tide, with different experiences for both (both excellent, I should add). The coral here is phenomenal, as is the sea life.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Kira Kira

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Mei R
  • Australia Australia

A bit scary - the currents on the day were very strong and we did lots of swimming

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Cajoma IV

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Olga S
  • Netherlands Netherlands

Fantastic with lots of big and small sea creatures

Diving Castle Rock in May on the Cajoma IV

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Lukas B
  • Switzerland Switzerland

Great with a lot of sharks!

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Busy Girl

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Emil C
  • Sweden Sweden

Pretty good. I enjoyed it. Some sharks, some eagle rays, GT's.

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Kira Kira

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Jose N
  • Australia Australia

Castle rock was great, but not my favourite. Was very fun, quite fast paced.

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Kira Kira

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Roland W
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Excellent pinnacle dive, with good vis and lots of life.

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Jaya

  • 8.4 Very good
  • Franco R
  • Argentina Argentina

Wonderfull place, full of colours and life

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Jaya

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Alex V
  • New Zealand New Zealand

Epic!!! Shark central. Loved it.

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Kira Kira

  • 9.2 Superb
  • James M
  • United Kingdom United Kingdom

Had some great dives here, beautiful coral and plentiful marine life with sharks and big green turtles. During certain tides current was absolutely ripping though, be prepared for a hectic dive if you hit it any other time than slack.

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Kira Kira

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jenny T
  • Canada Canada

We saw five (!) sharks in one dive, amazing!

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Akomo Isseki

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Sylvie B
  • Canada Canada

Extremely strong current but pretty

Diving Castle Rock in September on the La Galigo

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Jose A
  • Spain Spain

Fantastic, got to see white tip reef sharks

Diving Castle Rock in July on the Nusantara

  • 9.2 Superb
  • Damien D
  • France France

Magic lot of small life and beautiful coral garden

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Jaya

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Christian S
  • Netherlands Netherlands

This was my all-time favorite reef dive, the amount of large schooling fish was unbelievable

Diving Castle Rock in August on the Nusantara

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Robert N
  • Canada Canada

saw what i want to see , turltes , sharks and manta

Diving Castle Rock in October on the Mikumba 2

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Cécile J
  • France France

Lots of sharks here and little current that day

Diving Castle Rock in November on the Nusantara

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Gerard M
  • Spain Spain

Mild current. Amazing natural Aquarium with 15 sharks swimming in front of us.

Diving Castle Rock in April on the Sokaraja

  • 8.0 Very good
  • Johan L
  • Sweden Sweden

Overrated, many better dive sites even though this was said to be one of the best

Diving Castle Rock in May on the Nusantara

  • 8.8 Fabulous
  • Chun L
  • Singapore Singapore

Negative entry the moment we hit the water and the Safety stop at Castle Rock was very intense.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Nusantara

  • 9.6 Exceptional
  • Florian R
  • Germany Germany

Nice, but a little over crowded

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Akomo Isseki

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Daniele O
  • Italy Italy

Castle Rock was probably one of the best dive spots in Komodo. The pinnacle stays underwater, so the jump in in the blue. Currents are quite strong, so hooking on a rock is a good practice, to chill and see the show.

Diving Castle Rock in September on the Nusantara

  • 10.0 Exceptional
  • Samuel H
  • Switzerland Switzerland

One of the best. With current there a lot of reef sharks cruising around the rock. You hook yourself to the rock and enjoy the show

Diving Castle Rock in October on the Sokaraja