Shotgun

Shotgun is northern Komodo's amusement-park dive with substance. It starts sedately in a sandy bowl where garden eels sway and white-tip sharks rest, then the channel between the two Gili Lawa islands narrows, the flood tide gathers, and divers are fired up over the lip of the Cauldron in a few weightless seconds, hence the name. Mantas often feed in the accelerated water at the north end, holding effortlessly where divers must hook or drift, and trevally use the funnel as a hunting lane. Done on the right tide it is exhilarating and controlled; on the wrong one it is simply off the menu. The finish is a gentle coral slope where the adrenaline wears off.

The moment you come for: The ride through the funnel; mantas feeding in the stream; garden-eel bowl and hunting trevally.

Topography: Sandy amphitheater and bowl between Gili Lawa Darat and Gili Lawa Laut, necking into a shallow channel.

Current: The dive is the current: a controlled flight through the narrowing channel, flown on the flood with a guide who knows the exits.

Hazards: Accelerating current with topography-driven eddies; equalize early, protect gauges, and keep off the bottom in the neck.

Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).