Komodo National Park charges are set by the park authority, paid in cash in rupiah on site, and are not included in liveaboard fares. They are billed as separate components – entrance, ranger, snorkelling, diving, conservation, harbour and permits – and the amounts can change without notice.
Why does this page not have a neat price table?
Because we could not verify one. We looked for a current, official published tariff from the park authority for 2025 and 2026 and could not confirm one we would be willing to put our name to. A great many travel pages solve that problem by inventing a table that looks authoritative. We would rather tell you the structure of what you pay, give you the range travellers actually reported, label it clearly as reported, and point you at the one source that has today’s number – the reservations desk that pays these fees every week.
If that feels less convenient than a tidy table, consider what a wrong tidy table costs you: you land in Labuan Bajo with the wrong amount of cash, on an island with limited ATMs, on a boat leaving in two hours.
What are you actually being charged for?
Komodo National Park does not charge one flat entry fee. It charges a stack of components, and which ones apply to you depends on what you do:
| Component | How it is usually applied |
|---|---|
| Park entrance ticket | Per person per day of entry. Foreign and domestic visitors pay different rates |
| Sunday and public holiday surcharge | The entrance rate is commonly higher on Sundays and national holidays |
| Ranger / trekking fee | Charged for the guided dragon trail, commonly per ranger per group rather than per head |
| Snorkelling fee | Per person per day for snorkelling activity inside the park |
| Diving fee | Per diver per day, higher than the snorkelling fee |
| Conservation / insurance levy | Per person, collected alongside entry |
| Harbour or port fee | Small per-person charge on departure from Labuan Bajo |
| Camera and drone permits | Separate permits; drone use additionally requires written permission |
The practical consequence is that two guests on the same boat can owe different amounts. A certified diver doing two dive days pays more than a snorkeller. A group of six sharing one ranger pays less per person on the trek than a couple does.
What do people actually pay?
On park fees, we would rather be accurate than convenient.
Komodo National Park charges are billed as separate components – an entrance ticket that differs for
foreign and domestic visitors and rises on Sundays and public holidays, a ranger or trekking fee usually
charged per ranger per group, a snorkelling fee per person per day, a higher diving fee per diver per day,
a conservation and insurance levy, a harbour fee, and camera or drone permits. Traveller and operator
reports through 2025 cluster around IDR 250,000–350,000 per person per day for the combined park
charges on a liveaboard, plus a port fee of roughly IDR 25,000–50,000; one documented 2025 liveaboard
account came to about IDR 275,000 per day plus a IDR 25,000 port fee. Those are reported figures,
not an official published tariff, they are paid in cash in rupiah on site, and the park authority can change
them at any time. Ask our reservations team for the current amounts before you travel.
To be explicit about the status of those numbers: they are what travellers and operators reported through 2025, gathered from multiple accounts, and they are a range rather than a tariff. They are not an official published figure, they are not a quote, and they are not a promise. Treat them as a budgeting guide – enough to know whether to carry two hundred thousand rupiah or two million – and confirm the real figure before you fly.
What about drones?
This is the one rupiah figure on this page we will state plainly, because it is our own: Neptune Cruise’s exclusions list quotes a drone permit at approximately IDR 2.1 million per unit per day. That is a permit fee, and it sits on top of the requirement for written permission from the park authority to fly inside the park at all.
Flying without that permission is not a grey area, and the places you most want to fly – over Padar, over a manta aggregation, over a dragon trail, over a roosting bat colony – are exactly the uses most likely to be refused. What is realistic, and what our crew already documents for you as part of the package, is covered in our Komodo photography and drone guide.
How and when do you pay?
- Cash, in rupiah. Assume no card facilities. Draw cash in Bali or Jakarta, or in Labuan Bajo town the day before – not at the harbour
- Collected by the crew or paid at the ranger post, depending on the component and the day
- Per day of park entry, so a three-day cruise generally attracts more than a two-day one
- Keep small notes. Change is not always available at ranger stations
Bring more than you think you need. Unused rupiah is easy to spend in town on the last day; being short at a ranger post is not a problem you can solve from a boat. Cash for park fees is the single most forgotten item on our pre-departure packing list.
What is included in the cruise fare instead?
So the boundary is clear, here is what our own fare covers and what it does not:
| Included in the cruise fare | Not included |
|---|---|
| Cabin accommodation on board | Flights to and from Labuan Bajo |
| All meals, water, coffee and tea | Komodo National Park entrance and activity fees |
| English-speaking guide | Alcoholic and soft drinks |
| Snorkelling equipment and life vests | Personal expenses and snacks |
| Pick-up and drop-off on the Labuan Bajo mainland | Drone permit, approximately IDR 2.1 million per unit per day |
| Drone, GoPro and mirrorless documentation by the crew | Crew gratuities, which are optional |
The full rate structure for shared cabins and whole-boat charters is on our rates page, and if you are weighing which route to take, the day-by-day breakdowns start with the Komodo island cruise overview.
Are the rules changing?
There has been long-running public discussion in Indonesia about visitor caps, premium conservation passes and restricted access to parts of the park. As things stand, standard tourist access to Padar, Komodo and Rinca on ranger-guided trails is operating normally, and we are not aware of a widely implemented hard cap. We describe that as ongoing discussion rather than as rules in force, because it is, and because a page that tells you a proposal is law is worse than no page at all. For current guidance on charges and access, ask us or check current park-fee guidance with the operator before you commit to dates.
Frequently asked questions
Are Komodo National Park fees included in a liveaboard cruise price?
Generally no, and they are not included in ours. Park entrance, ranger, snorkelling, diving and conservation charges are set by the park authority and paid separately in cash on the day. Any operator including them should state exactly which components they cover.
How much are Komodo National Park fees?
There is no official published table we can verify for 2025 or 2026. Traveller and operator reports through 2025 cluster around IDR 250,000 to 350,000 per person per day for the combined charges on a liveaboard, plus a port fee of roughly IDR 25,000 to 50,000. Those are reported figures, not an official tariff, and the authority can change them.
Can you pay Komodo park fees by card?
Assume not. Bring cash in rupiah. ATM access in Labuan Bajo is limited and there is none inside the park.
Do foreigners pay more than Indonesians in Komodo National Park?
Yes. The entrance ticket has different rates for foreign and domestic visitors, and the rate is commonly higher on Sundays and public holidays.
How much is a drone permit in Komodo National Park?
Our own exclusions list quotes approximately IDR 2.1 million per unit per day, and flying inside the park additionally requires written permission from the park authority.
Why will you not just publish an exact fee table?
Because we could not verify a current official tariff, and publishing an invented one would send you to Flores with the wrong amount of cash. We would rather explain the structure, give a clearly labelled reported range, and have you confirm the number with our reservations desk, which pays these fees weekly.
Talk to the people who sail this route
Ask us for the current park charges before you draw your cash. We pay them every week and we will give you today’s number rather than last year’s blog post.
WhatsApp: +62 811 3823 875
Email: [email protected]
Neptune Cruise is a 40-metre, seven-cabin phinisi operated by Komodo Luxury out of Labuan Bajo, Flores. Send us your dates, how many people are travelling, any dietary requirements and whether anyone in the party dives, and you will get availability and a written quote back – not a brochure.
