Padar Island (Komodo NP)

Padar is the third-largest island in Komodo National Park, set between Komodo and Rinca, and topside it is the source of the park's most photographed view, a ridge above three curving bays. Underwater it belongs to the cooler, southern half of the park, where richer, plankton-heavy water changes the character of the diving. The dive sites around the island, among them the pinnacles and swim-throughs of Pillarsteen and the sloping reefs of Three Sisters, mix reef structure with macro hunting. Hawksbill turtles, anemonefish and dense reef fish work the hard coral, and the southern water brings the chance of larger, colder-water visitors that the northern park sites see less of. The south of Komodo is known for surge, cooler temperatures and current, so conditions here can be more demanding than the calmer northern channels, and sites are chosen to suit the day's tide and swell.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• Clark's AnemonefishAmphiprion clarkiiReported here · unconfirmed
• Lagoon TriggerfishRhinecanthus aculeatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Eyeline SurgeonfishAcanthurus nigricaudaReported here · unconfirmed
• Reticulated DamselfishDascyllus reticulatusReported here · unconfirmed
• Blue LinckiaLinckia laevigataReported here · unconfirmed
• Blacklip ButterflyfishChaetodon kleiniiReported here · unconfirmed
• Orangeblotch SurgeonfishAcanthurus olivaceusReported here · unconfirmed
• Hawksbill Sea TurtleEretmochelys imbricataReported here · unconfirmed
• Blackback ButterflyfishChaetodon melannotusReported here · unconfirmed