Padar Island: Best view in Komodo National Park

By Roberto (Updated Nov 22)

⏱ 4 min

Location of Padar Island

If you are reading this post, probably you have been amazed by the photo of Padar Island lookout, or you’re looking for information about this wonderful island. In any case, welcome to another post of Indonesia 🇮🇩.

Padar Island is located in UNESCO Komodo National Park, and after Komodo and Rinca, is the third largest island. It’s literally in between the other islands and it takes from 1 to 2 hours to get there from the other islands (depending of the speed of your boat).

How to get to Padar Island

Reaching this island is only possible by boat. This leaves us two options: speedboat or live-aboard wood boats. For the first option, you can rent private boats (more expensive but at your convenience) or shared boats. These boats are way cheaper and people rent them in Labuan Bajo. We saw tons of options in the port area, and there are also online companies. For the wood boats, all of them usually offer to visit the island since you “live” in the National Park.

Since we went there with the Komodo Resort speedboat, we cannot recommend any company (sorry for that!). But we suggest if you have time, to check options in person in Labuan Bajo and confirm the reviews online. One never knows…

Hike to the lookout, Pulau Padar

99% of people who visit the island, do the hike to Pulau Padar, a lookout with insane views of the island. This hike is a short and easy walk that starts at the port. At the time we went, we only paid 120.000 IDR (8 US$) for 4 people! We heard that the fees for all the islands are increasing (a lot). Since they are having strikes for the strong rise, they haven’t posted official fees yet but are expected to by January 2023.

The hike is steep but well paved and it will take you around 40 minutes to get to the top. Make stops at the different checkpoints with rangers and you’ll have no problems. Don’t forget your camera because the views from there are gorgeous. You can see all the landscape, with long sandy beaches and the abstract terrain of Padar Island. You’ll find dozens of people taking the same Instragrammable photo but… who cares here! It’s just wonderful.

Pink beach in Padar

Another highlight of the island, in addition to the lookout, is Pink Beach. A sand beach that (depending on the season and other factors) can look truly pink. Why does it look pink? Like on some other beaches around the world, there is a microscopic animal called foraminifera that actually has a reddish-pink shell. When they are washed on shore as a result of waves or fish, they mix with the white sand to provide the color.

In our case, we skipped this one, because our tour guide told us that this season, the Pink Beach on Komodo Island was better. Ask your guide or tour agency if you are planning to visit it!

Can you fly the drone in Komodo National Park or Padar Island?

That’s a good question. Simple answer: Yes, with a permit. Currently regulation says that drones in Komodo National Park must be reported to the Balai Tamal Nasional Komodo and therefore must obtain a permit. The easiest way to proceed is to contact your tour provider or resort and ask them in advance for a permit.

The price for using a drone inside the park is 1 million IDR for 2 weeks (like 68 US$ 🥲), something I wouldn’t pay unless you are staying on an island or a boat inside the park. So… if I didn’t pay for the permit, how can I have (legal) photos like these?

Before going there it was a bit hard for me to understand what was considered Komodo National Park and its limits, and what not. Lucky me, I found a helpful image in Komodo Island that clarifies the info. Later, I confirmed it was correct with UNESCO website. This means, that if you visit or stay outside the National Park, you can fly without a permit, following other Indonesian drone regulations. Thankfully, we were staying at Komodo Resort in Pulau Sebayur Besar, and I didn’t leave without some drone footage.

Check out other plans and adventures in Indonesia!