Last updated: August 2026 · Prices & availability verified for the 2026/2027 season
In 2026 a foreign visitor pays IDR 650,000, about USD 40, for a dated Komodo National Park ticket. It covers one named person on one calendar date inside the park’s core zones. Entry is capped at 1,000 visitors a day across three timed sessions, and the permit is reserved in advance through the park authority’s SiORA system.
What lands on the invoice, and what does the regulation actually say?
Two numbers circulate online and both are real. The figure a foreign guest is billed for a standard dated park ticket in 2026 is IDR 650,000 per person, roughly USD 40 at about IDR 16,000 to the dollar. The figure written into the tariff schedule is smaller, because the schedule is only one line of several. Guests pricing a Komodo boat tour against a private yacht meet the same government lines either way.
Government Regulation 36 of 2024 sets the statutory entrance tariff at Komodo at IDR 250,000 per foreign visitor. Indonesian citizens pay IDR 50,000 on weekdays and IDR 75,000 on weekends and public holidays. Those rates took effect on 30 October 2024 and are still the published figures.
The gap between IDR 250,000 and IDR 650,000 is not a markup. It is the sum of the other tariff lines a normal itinerary triggers: activity charges, the certified ranger who must accompany any walk through dragon habitat, the harbour line, and conservation components. One dated ticket, several statutory lines underneath it.
What is the full 2026 fee ledger for a foreign visitor?
This is the table we work from when we build a quote. Every rupiah figure below is a government charge, not an operator fee, and every one of them is remitted rather than retained.
| Charge | 2026 amount | Basis |
| Dated park ticket, foreign visitor | IDR 650,000 (about USD 40) | Per person, per entry date |
| Statutory entrance line, foreign | IDR 250,000 | PP 36/2024, in force 30 Oct 2024 |
| Statutory entrance line, Indonesian | IDR 50,000 weekday / IDR 75,000 holiday | PP 36/2024 |
| Ranger escort | Charged per group, not per head | Quoted between IDR 120,000 and IDR 200,000 depending on the island |
| Harbour line | IDR 25,000 | Commonly invoiced per person |
| Drone use | IDR 2,000,000 per unit per day | Permit-controlled, needs prior approval |
| Sport fishing | IDR 5,000,000 per person per activity | Separate tariff line |
| Visa on arrival / e-VOA | IDR 500,000 (about USD 31) | 30 days, one 30-day extension |
| Bali tourist levy | IDR 150,000 | Only if you stop in Bali as a destination |
Notice which line is per group. The ranger fee is split across everyone walking the trail, so a family of six pays it once. Read carelessly, that line is the source of a lot of forum arguments about being overcharged.
Is the park fee included in a charter price or added on top?
Labuan Bajo has no single convention, which is exactly why guests get surprised. Some operators quote an all-inclusive rate with permits folded in. Others quote a vessel rate and bill park charges separately at cost. Both are legitimate. Only one of them is honest if the inclusions list stays vague.
Our own practice is simple: park charges appear as a named line, priced in rupiah, with the government receipt attached. Guests booking a private whole-boat charter in Komodo see the ticket count multiplied by the number of entry dates, not a rounded lump sum.
Before you sign anything, ask one question of any operator: is the national park ticket inside or outside this number, and for how many entry dates? A three-day itinerary that enters the core zones on two separate dates carries two tickets per person, not one. Rate structures across the market are set out on our Komodo yacht charter rate page.
How does the 1,000-visitor daily cap change your planning?
The park now runs a hard ceiling. Indonesian state news agency ANTARA reported the authority capping entry at 1,000 visitors per day, split into three sessions of roughly 300 to 330 people each. Full implementation was set for 1 April 2026, following a trial run from January to March 2026.
At 1,000 a day, the park’s annual ceiling is about 365,000 visitors. Komodo received more than 300,000 in 2024, so the cap is not theoretical headroom. It bites hardest on the sunrise Padar session in July, August and the Christmas window, which is the slot every photographer wants.
The practical consequence is that dates now behave like inventory. Across 1,063 confirmed bookings between November 2025 and August 2026, our median lead time was 74 days. Guests who book a shared open trip departure inside three weeks of travel are increasingly choosing between a date and a session, not both.
The reasoning behind the ceiling is habitat pressure, not revenue. ANTARA’s reporting frames the cap explicitly as a response to overtourism damaging Komodo dragon habitat, which is also why ranger accompaniment on the trails is mandatory rather than a service upsell.
How large is the park fee against the rest of the trip budget?
Proportion matters more than the headline. Whole-boat charter in Komodo runs from USD 1,800 to USD 30,000 per night, and across 179 vessels we surveyed, the 61 with published rates sat at a median of USD 7,150 per night. Against that, a USD 40 dated ticket is rounding.
The number that actually moves a budget is the entry-date count, not the ticket price. Two core-zone dates for eight guests is sixteen tickets, roughly USD 640, plus one ranger line per group per trail rather than sixteen. Operators who quote “park fees from USD 40” without stating the date count are describing one person, one day.
What are the actual entry hours at each site?
The park authority publishes its opening windows per location, and they are narrower than most itineraries assume. Loh Liang on Komodo Island runs 07:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00 WITA. Loh Buaya on Rinca runs 07:00 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 16:30 WITA.
Padar Selatan operates on the three session windows: 05:00 to 08:00, 08:00 to 11:00 and 15:00 to 18:00 WITA. There is no midday entry at Padar. Any itinerary that promises a Padar climb at noon is either mistaken or describing a different hill.
This is why sailing order matters more than distance in Komodo. A Komodo liveaboard itinerary is built backwards from these windows, anchoring overnight within reach of the first session rather than steaming at dawn.
Who buys the permit, you or the operator?
The park authority’s booking channel is SiORA, its own reservation app, launched to move ticketing off the dock and into a dated, quota-controlled system. Every visitor is registered individually, children included, with passport details entered per person.
Two details cause most of the friction. First, permits are issued as non-refundable and non-transferable, tied to a named person and a date. Second, payment inside the app leans on Indonesian bank virtual accounts and local e-wallets, and foreign card acceptance has been inconsistent for travellers reporting in 2026.
That is why licensed operators register guests. We hold the rupiah rails to pay the park directly, while guests settle with us through Stripe, Airwallex, AMEX, Visa or Mastercard in their own currency. If you would rather handle it yourself, our step-by-step SiORA permit walkthrough covers the app flow screen by screen.
What happens if weather cancels your park day?
A permit is dated. If the crossing is unsafe and the ranger post is not reached, the ticket for that date is spent. The park does not underwrite the weather, and no operator can promise a refund of a government charge it has already remitted.
What can be engineered is the itinerary. Marine stops, snorkel sites and the harbour side of the archipelago do not sit under the same session-quota mechanics as the three core land destinations, so a blown Padar morning can often be rebuilt around the water rather than written off.
Operating from Labuan Bajo since 2015 under PT Komodo Bahari Nusantara, we run 9 owned and operated vessels alongside 200+ vetted partner yachts. On the owned fleet the captain reports to us, which is why a schedule can be rebuilt at 05:30 without a broker in the chain. You book with the operator, never a middleman.
What should you verify before you pay anything?
- How many separate entry dates your itinerary triggers, since the ticket is per date and per person.
- Whether the quoted price includes the park ticket, the ranger line and the harbour line, in writing.
- Whose name and passport number go on each permit, and when your operator locks the session.
- Whether your travel dates fall in the July to September or Christmas peak, when sessions close earliest.
- Whether a drone is on board, because that carries its own permit and its own IDR 2,000,000 per day tariff.
Guests rate us 4.9 out of 5 across more than 1,500 verified reviews on Google and TripAdvisor, and our listing holds the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice award for 2025 and 2026. Much of what those reviews describe is exactly this part of the job: the numbers were on the table before departure, and nobody was surprised at the dock.
If you want the government charges for your specific dates set out line by line before you commit, send us the dates and headcount on WhatsApp at +62 811 3823 875 or email [email protected]. You will get the arithmetic, not a sales call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Komodo National Park fee included in the tour price?
It depends entirely on the operator, and Labuan Bajo has no single convention. Some quote all-inclusive rates with permits folded in; others bill park charges separately at cost. Ask for it in writing before booking. Our quotes show the park ticket as a named rupiah line with the government receipt attached.
Is the Komodo park fee charged per day or per trip?
Per person, per entry date. The ticket is dated and does not roll over to the next day. A three-day itinerary that enters the park’s core zones on two separate calendar dates carries two tickets per person. This is the single most common cause of unexpected charges at the dock.
Can I still buy a Komodo National Park ticket in cash on arrival?
No. The system moved to dated, quota-controlled permits reserved in advance through the park authority’s SiORA app, and walk-up purchase is no longer the route for foreign visitors. There are no ATMs inside the park, so arriving with cash and no reservation is not a workable plan.
Do children need their own Komodo park permit?
Yes. Every visitor is registered individually in the booking system, children included, with identity details entered per person. Plan for the paperwork rather than the price: the registration requirement applies regardless of age, so a family of five needs five named entries on the reserved date.
What happens to my permit if bad weather cancels the trip?
Permits are issued as non-refundable and non-transferable, tied to one name and one date. A government charge already remitted cannot be returned by an operator. What can change is the itinerary: marine and snorkel stops sit outside the session-quota mechanics that govern the three core land destinations.
Do I need an Indonesian visa as well, and what does it cost?
Most European, American and Australian travellers use the visa on arrival or e-VOA, priced at IDR 500,000, roughly USD 31. It is valid for 30 days and can be extended once for a further 30 days inside Indonesia. It is separate from any national park charge.
Is the 1,000-visitor daily cap actually in force?
Yes. Indonesian state news agency ANTARA reported the cap at 1,000 visitors per day, split into three sessions of roughly 300 to 330 people, with full implementation from 1 April 2026 after a January to March trial. That equates to an annual ceiling near 365,000 visitors.
Can I book the SiORA permit myself with a foreign credit card?
You can register yourself, but payment is the sticking point. The app leans on Indonesian bank virtual accounts and local e-wallets, and travellers reported inconsistent foreign card acceptance through 2026. Licensed operators register guests precisely because they already hold rupiah payment rails to the park.
