Rangko Cave in Labuan Bajo was the first place I went to as soon as I settled myself in a hostel. I arrived at Labuan Bajo a day before the 3-day tour and I had the whole afternoon free with no agenda. A fellow hosteller told me to explore Rangko Cave and she was raving about it. She showed me photos of the cave and I was wowed! So, without thinking twice, I hopped on a gojek (Indonesia’s Uber) motorbike.
Directions to Rangko Cave
Going there is pretty easy – that is – if you drive a motorbike. If you don’t, like me, here’s what you are going to do: Take a gojek that brings you to Rangko village. The trip should be around 45 minutes. Remember that this is a very small village and it’s very rare to get a gojek so it is wise to ask your driver to wait for you. Negotiate for a reasonable price.
From Rangko Village, there are outrigger boats that you can rent. As a solo traveler, I rented it for 250k rupiah ($20) for the whole trip. The “captain” also became my photographer. From the shore to the cave, the boat ride took us 15 minutes. When we arrived, we were the only people there + the ticket master. The water was very clear but the shore where we disembarked was full of plastics. Tourists pay 50k rupiah to enter but no one really cares about cleaning the site. It’s heartbreaking to see those floating plastic bottles and boxes.