Kalong Island is uninhabited and the bats roost in the mangroves during the day, so everyone visits at sunset to watch the flying foxes streaming across a Technicolor sky. Most travelers visit on a 2- or 3-night Komodo National Park island-hopping cruise, and pretty much every boat will anchor off Kalong Island for sunset on one night. Time-poor travelers can see the bats in action from a speedboat on day trips, half-day trips, or even sunset tours: All require a Komodo National Park entry ticket.
Kalong Island is a great choice for nature lovers and photographers.
If your boat stays overnight, you can photograph the bats at sunrise when they return from Flores.
The boats that operate Komodo National Park cruises aren’t wheelchair-friendly.
Kalong Island sits just off the northeast corner of Rinca Island in Komodo National Park, off the western coast of Flores. As it’s uninhabited, there are no public boats; almost everyone visits on an island-hopping boat trip out of Labuan Bajo in Flores.
As with the rest of Komodo National Park, Kalong Island is best enjoyed during the shoulder seasons (April–May and mid-September to mid-November) when the weather is dry and the seas are calm but the peak season crowds have departed. Boats anchor offshore at sunset so travelers can see the bats silhouetted against the sky.
There’s much more than Kalong Island when it comes to Komodo National Park’s wildlife. No cruise would be complete without a sighting of the area’s star attraction: Komodo dragons, giant lizards found only in the park. Most cruises include a dragon-spotting stop on Komodo Island or Rinca Island, large islands where the animals are most common and the infrastructure is best. But Komodo National Park is also known for giant manta rays; snorkelers favor Manta Point and divers Manta Alley.
