Your Guide to Diving in Alor

Volcanic Mountains G'Alore

...Highlights: schooling fish & big pelagics, great macro life/ marine diversity...
...Diving environment: healthy reefs, drift diving, advanced divers, off the beaten track...

When scuba divers talk about wanting to get away to a remote location in the middle of nowhere to do some amazing diving then Alor is often what they mean. North of West Timor, this small island in Eastern Indonesia offers dives which are absolutely world class, and it is a long, long way from the office. The dramatic topside scenery, typical of the Ring of Fire, is an added bonus and is a principal driver in the massive marine diversity of the region.

Superb macro life, amazing coral and benthic varieties, huge anemone fields, schooling fish, mola mola, and a resident endangered dugong population, are the main marine attractions for scuba divers in Alor. The region is volcanic and the muck dives of Kalabahi Bay area are generally great for macro life photographers, whereas the Pantar Strait region, with its varied underwater topography, has bigger fish and is better suited to wide-angle photography.

An unusual and excellent bonus of diving here is the likelihood of spotting pilot whales and dolphins from your dive boat. Alor tends to be a liveaboard diving destination and is suitable primarily for experienced divers due to the prevalent strong currents and eddies and its remote location.

Dive Site Descriptions

Kal's Dream

Although some recent reports from liveaboards in Alor suggest it is not all that it once was, this remains a wonderful and colourful site where a large number and variety of fish are all but guaranteed. A further guarantee is the low density of scuba divers.

You make a negative entry here and fin sharply down to the sea mount around which the action takes place. Swarms of anthias flicker above the various corals as you look out for the big boys. Depending on your luck you may see schools of fusiliers, surgeons and snappers. Grey reef sharks, barracudas and rays may well also feature in what can be a physical and emotional ride.

Sharks Galore

Off the coast of Pura Island at Sharks Galore, divers can take a breather from the currents without compromising your fun. Not surprisingly, given the name, there is a good chance of you seeing plenty of sharks here in what is normally a still or gentle drift from your diving boat.

Big grey reef sharks and white tips tend to cruise around in the company of hefty dog-toothed tuna, sometimes combining to make the human tourists feel very small indeed. Depending on the conditions you may finish this dive in the adjacent site known as Clown Valley.

The Twilight Zone

This site is just off the beach outside Biangabang village on Pantar Island. The steaming hot springs on the beach might make you think that the water here is warm but don't be fooled, it can get pretty chilly here. The dive starts by a lava flow to the south of the beach and divers can choose to explore further south over the reef or to hunt around to the north in the volcanic black sand.

You can drop down to 40 metres or below but most life is found shallower. This is an Alor dive site for critters and the name alludes to the amount of weird and unusual creatures that the eagle-eyed can spot here. Snake eels stick their heads out of their holes and spearing mantis shrimps peer up at divers, focusing their independently movable stalked eyes. These nocturnal creatures are rarely seen out of their holes in day light but lucky divers may see them hunting aggressively at night.

Pegasus seamoths are hard to find in the rubble areas. Octopuses are all over the coral mounds including the much sought after mimic. Bobbit worms and gurnard lionfish inhabit the sand while the rare soapfish inhabit the reef areas. Also on the reef are Spanish dancers that can be seen performing their incredible dance on night dives. The Twilight Zone is also one of the few places in the world where the Djibouti Giant has been seen. Like a Spanish dancer on steroids, this huge nudibranch is very rare indeed.

How to Dive Alor

Although there are now a couple of dive resorts in the Alor archipelago, these tend to focus their options solely in the Pantar Strait - the body of water that separates Alor's 2 main islands.

However, the remoteness of the region lends itself well to a liveaboard trip that can visit other amazing Indonesian diving destinations in the vicinity, such as Flores, the Banda Sea, the Forgotten Islands, Ambon, and even the imperious Raja Ampat. This simply would not be possible if you were to stay at and dive from a resort.

For more information on the cruise routes and durations, and all the other travel information you might need to visit Indonesia, check out our Alor - Flores liveaboard section.

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