
The romantic Pink Beach of the Komodo Islands
A clear blue sky above, with fluffy white clouds drifting lazily across. Rolling green hills, covered luxuriantly in thick vegetation, interspersed with high, rocky cliffs. Calm, clear waters, tinted by the colorful corals beneath its surface, and alive with the movement of a hundred species of marine life. Last, but not least: a stretch of soft sand, but not white, not black, but PINK!Pink Beach, or Pantai Merah, as it is aptly named, is one of seven pink beaches on the planet, and is just one of the many amazing features of Komodo Island that make it truly a Natural Wonder of Nature. This exceptional beach gets its striking color from microscopic animals called Foraminifera, which produce a red pigment on the coral reefs. For this reason, it is called Red Beach in the local tongue. When the tiny fragments of red coral combine with the white sands, this produces the soft pink color that is visible along the shoreline. Aside from Pink Beach itself, a few small segments along Komodo’s eastern bay also have a pinkish tint.Located immediately west of Flores island in East Nusatenggara, Komodo Island is one of three larger and many islets that make up the Komodo National Park, and is particularly well-known as the natural habitat of the Komodo dragon. The Komodo Dragon is the largest living lizard, and takes its name after the island.