Pink Beach Flores tide times

The pink colour comes from fragments of Marginopora vertebralis, a foraminifera — a single-celled marine organism that builds a reddish-pink calcite shell. When these shells break up and mix into the standard white silica and coral sand, they produce the beach's characteristic tint. The colour is most concentrated at the eastern end of the beach, below the rocky outcrop where the foraminifera colony is densest in the shallows. Light quality determines how vivid the pink appears: overcast sky or low-angle morning and late-afternoon light renders the colour most clearly. Midday sun bleaches it to pale beige in photographs. The practical photography window is the first 2 hours of daylight (06:00–08:00) or the final 90 minutes before sunset. Day trips from Labuan Bajo arrive mid-morning, which is not optimal for colour photography but is the standard schedule.

Mid-to-high tide is the recommended snorkel window at Pink Beach. Spring range in the Komodo park area is approximately 2.5 m. At low spring (predicted low 0.1–0.2 m above Chart Datum), the reef flat in Pink Beach bay sits at 0.5–1.0 m depth — snorkellable but shallow, requiring careful fin technique to avoid coral contact. At high spring (2.4–2.5 m), the reef flat has 2.0–2.5 m of water overhead: clear, comfortable, and the best visibility down to the coral structure. The outer reef drop-off on the southeastern headland (150 m swim from the beach) starts at 5–6 m and is accessible at any tidal stage. Day trips from Labuan Bajo typically arrive 10:00–11:00; check whether that aligns with the mid-to-high window on your visit date using the tide prediction on this page.

Komodo dragons range freely across Komodo Island, which is entirely within the national park. The coastal vegetation behind Pink Beach is within their territory; sightings at the beach are not unusual, particularly in the early morning when dragons move to warmer open ground. The National Park requires all visitors to be accompanied by a park ranger at all times on Komodo Island; this rule applies at Pink Beach as on the ranger-station trails. Rangers maintain a safety perimeter around any dragon encountered. Do not leave the group or approach a dragon independently. The rangers at Pink Beach are stationed there during day-visit hours. The standard Pink Beach day trip from Labuan Bajo includes ranger escort as part of the park entry arrangement.

Pink Beach is on Komodo Island's east coast, 3–4 hours from Labuan Bajo by standard day-trip boat or 2.5 hours by fast boat. It is not accessible overland — Komodo Island has no road network. Day trips are booked through operators in Labuan Bajo and typically combine Pink Beach with a snorkel stop at another site (Bat Island, Manta Point, or Batu Bolong), a komodo dragon walk on Rinca or Komodo Island, and a sunset stop. Full-day tours depart 07:00–08:00 and return by 18:00–19:00. Liveaboard dive boats include Pink Beach as a standard itinerary stop. National park entry fees apply and are usually included in the day-trip price; check whether the fee is bundled or payable separately.

Predictions on this page are from Open-Meteo Marine, a free gridded global ocean model, with typical accuracy of ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2–0.3 m on height. The tidal predictions here are useful for planning the snorkel window at Pink Beach — whether to expect shallow or deep water over the reef flat on arrival. For vessel operations in Komodo National Park waters, use BIG (Badan Informasi Geospasial) official tide tables and the park's current charts. Day-trip and liveaboard operators in Labuan Bajo have site-specific current knowledge for the park channels. Not for navigation.