Rinca is a small

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

near Komodo and

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

island,

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara (; ) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, within the

West Manggarai Regency West Manggarai Regency () is one of the eight regencies which comprise the island of Flores, located in the province of East Nusa Tenggara (''Nusa Tenggara Timur'') in Indonesia. The Regency was created on 25 February 2003 by the separation off o ...

. It is one of the three largest islands included in

Komodo National Park Komodo National Park ( Indonesian: ''Taman Nasional Komodo'') is a national park in Indonesia located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. The park includes the ...

. The island is famous for

Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...

s, giant lizards that can measure up to long. Rinca is also populated with many other species such as wild pigs, buffalos and many birds.

Area

The island's area is .

Living conditions

Living conditions for local people on the island are often difficult. Education facilities, for example, are quite limited for children. Some non-government organisations help with the provision of books for children on Rinca. Local people must also take some care to avoid Komodo dragons because Komodos in the area occasionally attack and kill humans.

Sea conditions

Rinca and Komodo Islands bracket a north-south passage between the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and the

Flores Sea The Flores Sea covers of water in Indonesia. The sea is bounded on the north by the island of Celebes and on the south by Sunda Islands, the Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Geography The seas that border the Flores Sea are the Bali Sea ...

. Due to the large bodies of water and narrow gap, the waters between Rinca and Komodo are subject to

whirlpools A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...

and

currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (hy ...

in excess of 10

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

. Diving in the region requires care. In June 2008, five scuba divers (three British, one French and one Swedish) were found on the southern coast of Rinca after having been missing for 2 days. The group had drifted from where their dive boat abandoned them. They survived on oysters and other shellfish.

Fauna

Being less known and less visited than Komodo Island, Rinca is a good place to see the

in its natural environment with fewer people to disturb them. Day trips can be arranged to the Loh Buaya park facility on Rinca Island from

Labuan Bajo Labuan Bajo () is a fishing town located at the western end of the large island of Flores in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. It is in Komodo District. It is the capital of the West Manggarai Regency, one of the eight regencies on ...

by small boat at the park headquarters. A jetty marks the entrance to the park facility. A short walk leads to the local park office where there are rangers to accompany visitors on short or medium-length walks to see komodos and other animals such as monkeys, deer and buffalos. https://komodocruises.com/rinca-island/

Gallery

File:Rinca at dry season.JPG,

Dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

at Rinca File:Juvenile Komodo dragon at Rinca.JPG, Juvenile

File:Water buffalo at Rinca.jpg,

Water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called domestic water buffalo, Asian water buffalo and Asiatic water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also kept in Italy, the Balkans ...

at Rinca File:Crab-eating macaque at Rinca.JPG,

Crab-eating macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settlem ...

File:Rinca Island - Pulau Rinca.jpg, Rinca shore File:Indonesia1-1386-1.jpg, Juvenile Komodo Dragon, Rinca Island

Notes

References

{{reflist Landforms of East Nusa Tenggara Lesser Sunda Islands Komodo National Park Islands of the Indian Ocean Populated places in Indonesia Islands of Indonesia