Padar Island is located between Komodo and Rinca Islands, east of Komodo Island. To the south east of Pillar Island is a popular dive site called Pillarsteen or Pillar Rock. This is an expansive dive site made up of pinnacles, walls, sloping reefs, caves and swim-throughs.  This is another dive site that is not suitable for beginner divers with strong currents and surge. Although it is not necessary to dive deep here it is possible to descend below 40m.
The deeper section of the dive site to the south are has some caves and caverns. The wall to the west is covered with colourful soft corals of yellow and orange plus seafans, sponges and sea squirts.
In the shallow areas is sloping reef with large leather corals, yellow sea cucumbers (holothurians) and purple fire urchins that divers will regret coming into contact with. Reef fish include sweetlips, angelfish, butterflyfish and black snapper. Schools of fuslier and surgeonfish are present as are lionfish, scorpionfish and moray eels.
Slightly north of Pillarsteen is Tiga Dara or Three Sisters, three large submerged rocks that start at 4m below the surface and drop down to around 30m. Soft coral and sponges cover the rocks and are home to reef fish and nudibranchs. |
