Friday morning dawned and we were ready for our liveaboard boat trip. After an interesting breakfast at the hotel (delicious pancakes, eggs, fruit and toast but the children had mixed success with the tray of sweet “puddings” – some were actually doughnuts, some were furry meat sweet buns masquerading as doughnuts!!), we met our guide (Yofan) and checked out.

We piled into a car with no seatbelts and were taken down to the harbour, where we were greeted by hundreds of other tourists all doing the same thing, all waiting for various boats and guides and pieces of equipment.

Thankfully we were in a shady spot, as we did wait over an hour and a half for Yofan to return and tell us the boat was ready.

After a rickety climb down the side of the wall into our little boat, we were soon on our way to the big boat and our home for 2 nights.

Whilst the idea of living on a boat for a few days sounds idyllic the reality of sleeping in a cramped space that heated up like an oven, rocking to and fro with the fumes of diesel is not a great way to encourage sleep. What we saw and did totally made it worth it but needless to say we were super tired by the end! (Plus we did cool off by leaping into the sea multiple times a day and Martin loved his now-favourite bucket and scoop shower).

Our first island stop of the day was Kelor Island, for a sweaty hot scramble up the hillock to see the gorgeous views and a bit of a swim/snorkel.

Second stop was Manjerite, a well known snorkelling spot further down the mainland. But before the snorkelling could commence there was a fierce amount of jumping-off-the-roof fun to be had!

The snorkelling really was fantastic, a huge array of fish and coral to see, as well as large bright blue starfish and lots of anemones. We even saw a school of fish swimming in a current – they looked like they were in a tube. The big highlight however, was seeing a big green turtle in the wild! Don’t think any of us will forget that moment.

Once back on board we headed to another island, which had a tiny fishing village on its edge, for a couple of our boat men to go ashore to sort something out. We’re not sure what they were doing but the kids had more fun jumping off the boat while we waited and Sylvie bought a miniature wooden Komodo dragon from a local boy, who had paddled up to our boat with various things to sell.

Then it was perfect timing for a beautiful sunset and our last island stop of the day, Flying Fox island (locally known as Pulau Koabe), where thousands of bats emerge out of the mangroves at dusk.

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Kate’s birthday morning began at 4:30am when we woke up to splash our faces with water and clamber into our little boat that took us to Padar Island. This also involved lots of climbing upwards (but this time with cement and rock steps rather than bare earth) towards the summit in order to watch the sunrise.

Once we got back on the boat, we were each presented with a freshly cooked hot banana pancake with chocolate sauce, a perfect way to start the day.

Next up – Komodo Island. It took another 2 hours to make our way there, so everyone just had a bit of chill or a nap – not as easy as it seems when the boat is rocking from big waves!

Getting from our boat onto the jetty was another funny moment in the trip – our captain basically just pulled up next to another boat and we climbed along our rooftop, across theirs and onto the jetty, simple!

We had been on the island for about 5 minutes tops when we spotted a little dragon on the beach, but we didn’t have long to investigate as Yofan had organised us a guide to take us trekking through the island and he was ready.

Our Komodo guide’s name was Yono, and he was fabulous. He was born on the island, grew up there and has been a dragon guide for 12 years. As we trekked, he pointed out many things and gave us so much information it was hard to remember it all! He also spotted a dragon pretty soon into our walk…

We saw wild boar (perfect snacks for a dragon!), guinea fowl nests that take the birds years to make (dragon’s steal these for their nests!), and holes in the river bed where the dragons rest. We also ate fresh tamarind fruit – sweet and sour at the same time!

We learned that once baby Komodo dragons hatch, they immediately scramble up into the trees to avoid being eaten by their parents. They often live in the trees for 3-4 years, eating geckos, insects and anything else that comes their way until they are large enough to make their way on land.

We were lucky enough to come across one of the largest males on the island, 3.5m long. A magnificent beast.

At the end of our trek we stopped for a cold drink under the shade before making our way back to our boat. It can be quite stressful negotiating even something as simple as a drink, as all the stall holders are just desperate for your custom – you just have to make eye contact with one person only and go with it!

Once we were back on our boat, we headed to Pink beach – named after its pink coloured sand. This is caused by microscopic animals called Foraminifera that produce red pigment on the coral reefs.

Back to the boat for a spot of lunch and chilling while we travelled onwards.

Taka Makasar was our next destination – a tiny island surrounded by a beautiful patch of coral and white sand. We mostly explored this while snorkelling amongst the coral so haven’t got many pictures, but if any island we visited was Instagram-perfect it would be this one. The deep ocean below us was so clear all the larger fish swimming far below were visible and it felt like a window into another world.

The swimming and snorkelling was amazing again, such a variety of fish and sea creatures, and made even more brilliant when we spotted another turtle!

Not far from Taka Makasar is Manta Point. As the name implies, it’s where manta rays are often spotted while feeding, so is a popular place to go! Giant, playful creatures that can grow up to 4 meters wide, manta rays are relatively harmless; they swim elegantly around Manta Point and feed on tiny plankton.

Once we arrived everyone (us and all the other boats) was looking for signs. Suddenly our guide noticed the manta rays potential location. We flayed around, hopping about the deck trying to put on our flippers, mask and breathing snorkel. Not a smooth look! Once we fell / jumped in we swam to the area, alongside many other tourists. Unfortunately, after two attempts, we couldn’t see any manta ray so navigated our way back onto the little boat, accepting we may have missed them passing through.

In one last ditch effort we motored back the way we’d come continually on the lookout. Our boat crew, and a few other boats already in the area, started shouting and pointing. This was our signal to again, in our usual undignified way, scramble to get kit on and flop back back into the sea. Immediately looking down we saw a gigantic blue-grey creature gracefully floating under us. We had found a manta ray! It’s hard to completely explain how huge he was, unlike anything we imagined.

We snorkelled with it some 20-30 feet below us, trying not to bump into other snorkelers. The large adult manta ray was then unexpectedly joined by a mother and her baby. We were so grateful to have seen these incredible creatures in the wild. Due to the slightly manic and stressful process of getting into / out of the water we opted to leave the camera behind. No photographic evidence! Shocking.

Following the Manta ray excitement, we were back on the boat to watch the sunset as we headed towards Kanawa Island.

Once there, one of our boat guys tethered us to the boat in front and we settled down for the night. The kids couldn’t imagine not having a last dip in the ocean, so it was night swimming/jumping for them.

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And all too soon it was time for one last sunrise viewing as we made our way back to Labuan Bajo harbour and then on to the airport.

We’re heading back to Bali, this time to Ubud (an area of rainforest and traditional rice paddies), for a bit of R&R before we head home.