| Native name: Pulau Rindja | |
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Rinca island |
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Rinca
Rinca (Indonesia)
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| Geography | |
| Location | Maritime Southeast Asia |
| Archipelago | Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Area | 198 km2 (76.4 sq mi) |
| Country | |
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Indonesia
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| Province | East Nusa Tenggara |
Rinca, also known as Rincah and Rindja, is a small island near Komodo island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The island is famous for komodo dragons, giant lizards that can measure up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) long. Rinca is also populated with many other species such as wild pigs, buffalos and many birds.
Being less known and less visited than Komodo it is an excellent place to see the Komodo Dragon in its natural environment with fewer people to disturb them. Day trips can be arranged from Labuanbajo on Flores by small boat at the park headquarters.
The island's area is 198 square kilometres (76 sq mi).[1]
Rinca and Komodo bracket a north-south passage between the Indian Ocean and the Flores Sea. Due to the large bodies of water and narrow gap, the waters between Rinca and Komodo are subject to whirlpools and currents in excess of 10 knots.[2]
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 20 miles (32 km) from where their dive boat abandoned them. They survived on oysters and other shellfish.[3]