Pink Beach (Pantai Merah), Komodo

Pink Beach, known locally as Pantai Merah, is a short curve of sand on the eastern side of Komodo island, and it is a boat stop rather than a place you stay. The beach is uninhabited, backed by dry brown hills, with a reef that starts within a few metres of the shore. Almost every day boat and liveaboard itinerary out of Labuan Bajo includes it, usually for an hour or two of snorkelling between the ranger walk and the crossing home.

The colour comes from fragments of red coral broken down and mixed through ordinary white sand, not from a mineral or a filter. That means the tint is uneven and reads strongest where the sand is wet, right along the waterline and just after a wave pulls back. Away from the water, on dry sand in flat midday light, it looks closer to pale cream with a blush through it. Manage expectations before you land: the effect is real and subtle, and a lot of the images online have been pushed hard in editing.

For most visitors the snorkelling is the better half of the stop, because the reef begins close in and you can swim to it straight from the beach. Coral cover starts in shallow water and drops away into deeper blue a short distance out, with reef fish through the shallows. Bring your own mask if you are fussy about fit, since kit handed out on boats varies. Do not stand on coral, do not touch anything, and be aware that the reef edge is where the current picks up.

Treat this as an exposed, unsupervised beach: there is no shade worth the name, no drinking water and no lifeguard. Current runs through this part of the park and can be strong just off the reef edge, so stay inside the sheltered water in front of the beach and keep track of where your boat is anchored. The sun on white sand is fierce by late morning. Water, a rash vest or shirt for swimming, and reef-safe sun protection do more for the day than anything else you can pack.

Pink Beach is reached only by boat from Labuan Bajo, generally as one stop on an itinerary that also takes in Padar and a ranger walk on Komodo or Rinca. Boats anchor offshore and you wade or take a tender in. The beach sits inside Komodo National Park, so entry charges apply, and those charges have been raised, withdrawn and restructured more than once in recent years. Do not trust a number from an old post. Confirm the current amount through official park channels, and get in writing which fees your trip already covers.

There is none: coverage inside Komodo National Park is absent, and you are offline from the moment the boat leaves Labuan Bajo harbour. Goodbars runs on Telkomsel, the Indonesian network with the widest reach, and as of July 2026 even that gives you nothing out here. No eSIM changes that, because there is no signal to connect to. The workable plan is the same one every boat crew uses: do the connected part of your day in town, download offline maps, send your messages before you sail, and treat the hours in the park as time nobody can reach you.