Rinca, 17 nautical miles from Labuanbajo, gets the most visitors, as the dragons tend to congregate around the park ranger offices and spotting them is easy.

BBC: Flores shakes off Bali��s shadow

On Kalong, a pimple of land set inside a bay on the east coast of Komodo, tens of thousands of giant flying foxes emerge from mangroves at dusk and fly east to Rinca hunting for food.

CNN: West Flores: So much more than Komodo dragons

You can charter a local boat from Labuanbajo for two or three day cruises in park waters, snorkel over pristine reefs, lounge on pink sand beaches and hike on Rinca and Komodo (one and a half and three hours by boat from Labuanbajo respectively).

BBC: Flores shakes off Bali��s shadow