About Ocean Pro 2
Salt was already drying on my skin the first morning as I climbed up to the sundeck just after sunrise. I found a corner with a bent wooden stool and watched Labuan Bajo’s coastline fade behind us, the galley crew frying bananas for breakfast, the scent mixing oddly with diesel and sunscreen. We were on Ocean Pro 2, a 38-metre boat that didn’t try to be a floating palace — just solid, wide-decked, and built for moving through these currents without fuss.
The first stop was Menjerite Island around midday. We dropped our bags in the cabin — I had the Twin Ocean View, simple but dry, with a real window that opened and a fan that rattled just enough to remind you it was working. There were only two cabins on board, so we shared with just one other couple. It felt less like a group tour and more like a private charter that happened to be priced within reach. Menjerite’s sandbar was empty when we arrived, and we had it for nearly an hour before another boat appeared in the distance.
Padar Island at dawn was the moment the scale of this place hit me. We hiked up in the dark with headlamps, the trail loose and steep, and reached the top just as the first light split the horizon. The sun rose behind Komodo Island, painting the hills in stripes of gold and rust. Later that day, we walked the trail through Komodo National Park’s ranger station, staying close as the guide scanned the scrub for dragons. We saw three — one massive male sunning himself near a water hole, another digging in the mud, and a younger one darting between rocks.
Snorkeling at Manta Point was chaotic in the best way. Five or six mantas circled below us, some gliding inches from snorkelers, others banking sharply into deeper water. The current was strong, so we clung to the backline of the dinghy and let it pull us along the reef edge. That evening, we anchored near Kalong Island, the sky turning purple as thousands of fruit bats began their nightly exodus. We watched from the bow, barefoot, still damp from the last swim.
On our final full day, we motored to Taka Makassar. The sandbar was so shallow you could walk for minutes without it reaching your knees. Schools of tiny fish darted around our ankles. We swam out to Kanawa’s drop-off in the afternoon, where the reef fell away into blue. The boat’s dinghy dropped us with a marker float, and we drifted back toward the anchor line, passing turtles and a reef shark curled under an overhang. Back on Ocean Pro 2, the crew served grilled fish with sambal and cucumber salad as the sun hit the water.
The boat wasn’t luxurious — no air conditioning in cabins, no ensuite bathrooms — but it didn’t pretend to be. It had what mattered: strong railings, shaded deck space, clean snorkel gear, and a kitchen that kept coffee hot and water bottles full. We returned to Labuan Bajo just after noon on day three, sunburnt and quiet, already flipping through photos like we’d missed something.
