Darnold9999
Contributor
Getting there was difficult and time consuming.
Victoria – Vancouver – Narita – Jakarta – Surabya – Kupang – overnight in Kupang at La Hacienda then on to Alor. Almost 60 hours door to door.
Alami was excellent. Diving was great and Niko my guide was superb. Food and accommodation top notch, with food served “family style” at a single table in the common area.
Three dives a day, two in the straight, one in the bay in the muck. Dove the first three days with a semi private boat, myself my guide Niko and a pair of snorkelers. One part of the other couple who were to dive with us managed to get covid somewhere and tested positive on the first day. Thanks to Cindy and Steve for doing the right thing and isolating right away. Nobody else at the resort caught it.
I arrived a day after full moon, and it was a “super moon”. The tides and currents were ridiculous, and the resorts current predictions based on regular full moons and tides were a bit off. The tides were super high and super low for the first few days and the rip tides in the straight were absolutely crazy. We were searching for Mola and the boat driver put us in a small whirlpool (intentionally) that was spinning the boat a full 360 every 3 or 4 seconds. Fun, but when we found a Mola Mola we couldn’t jump in, it was just too dangerous. I have been in exactly the same spot last year in the upwelling from the tide changes and we jumped in chasing a Mola Mola with no issues (except it was damn cold).
I now know what it would feel like to dive in a washing machine! On the Great Wall we jumped in drifted down the wall and halfway through the dive the current went crazy. Blasts of cold, upwellings, downdrafts, sideways current going one direction and a few seconds later the other. I took exactly one picture that dive. I couldn’t hold the camera steady enough to focus on anything. We surfaced to see the current ripping by the wall about 20 or 30 feet out. At no time did I feel in danger, but it was “interesting”. The next day the other boat did the same dive with exactly the same results, they were not impressed and bailed on the dive.
On the first day the other boat was at a site where the upwelling was so cold it was stunning the fish and the locals were gathering them up by hand. Something that while not common is an occasional happening in Alor in some extreme tidal exchanges.
Outside of the one “washing machine” dive the diving in the straight was excellent with a variety of soft and hard coral and abundant fish life. The muck diving did not disappoint either. Lots of critters, a pair of enormous harlequin shrimp guarding a starfish arm, tiger shrimp, boxer crab, the usual frog fish, scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish etc. etc. Fewer nudibranchs this year. Lots of eggs, but not the variety I have seen in past years. The highlight was a set of Weedy Rhinopia sightings, a translucent white juvenile about an inch and a half long, a pair of younger fish one cinnamon following a light brown one and an adult yellow one out in a drunken walk across the bottom.
Moka Alor Divers is a new resort this year. Currently they have two bungalows with three more under construction. The bungalow is a significant upgrade from Alami (which is pretty nice). Two bedrooms and a sitting room. One bedroom upstairs with an outside deck and another bedroom off the main sitting room. There is a deck with a small pool in front of each bungalow. Separate AC for each room and a fridge in the main sitting room. Boats are nice, a beach entry as opposed to a dock at Alami, but the boat is designed for it so a couple of steps in the water to shore on sand. Sam the dive guide is excellent. Initially I thought the food was going to be this resorts downfall. First meal, I ordered chicken teriyaki, I got tuna, calamari, a chicken wing and rice all cold. First breakfast I ordered oatmeal, got a bowl of dried oatmeal and a box of milk. An hour later the chef showed up profusely apologising with real oatmeal, fruit and a pastry – all very good. Meals thereafter ranged from OK to excellent. Meals can be at the restaurant attached to the resort or in your room. Not family style, meals are individually served which means there is almost no interaction between guests.
As I was the only diver at the resort I decided where I wanted to dive. I could dive muck or reef morning or afternoon. Three dives a day.
I would stay at either resort again in a heartbeat. Choose family style meals with conversation at Alami or a more upscale bungalow with individual meals in your room or a seated restaurant. Share four people in a bungalow, queen bed upstairs twin beds on the main floor at Moko or a single room with bed(s) at Alami.
I was in Alor at Alor Divers last year. For comparison, they do two dives a day all in the straight with one day a week in the Bay doing muck dives. You could do a third dive on their house reef (which is a very nice dive). Meals are similar to Alami, but buffet style at a long table. Bungalows are also similar, but a little more primitive (still very nice). Most of my diving at Alor divers was “near” the guides as most of the diving was out in the straight.
Victoria – Vancouver – Narita – Jakarta – Surabya – Kupang – overnight in Kupang at La Hacienda then on to Alor. Almost 60 hours door to door.
Alami was excellent. Diving was great and Niko my guide was superb. Food and accommodation top notch, with food served “family style” at a single table in the common area.
Three dives a day, two in the straight, one in the bay in the muck. Dove the first three days with a semi private boat, myself my guide Niko and a pair of snorkelers. One part of the other couple who were to dive with us managed to get covid somewhere and tested positive on the first day. Thanks to Cindy and Steve for doing the right thing and isolating right away. Nobody else at the resort caught it.
I arrived a day after full moon, and it was a “super moon”. The tides and currents were ridiculous, and the resorts current predictions based on regular full moons and tides were a bit off. The tides were super high and super low for the first few days and the rip tides in the straight were absolutely crazy. We were searching for Mola and the boat driver put us in a small whirlpool (intentionally) that was spinning the boat a full 360 every 3 or 4 seconds. Fun, but when we found a Mola Mola we couldn’t jump in, it was just too dangerous. I have been in exactly the same spot last year in the upwelling from the tide changes and we jumped in chasing a Mola Mola with no issues (except it was damn cold).
I now know what it would feel like to dive in a washing machine! On the Great Wall we jumped in drifted down the wall and halfway through the dive the current went crazy. Blasts of cold, upwellings, downdrafts, sideways current going one direction and a few seconds later the other. I took exactly one picture that dive. I couldn’t hold the camera steady enough to focus on anything. We surfaced to see the current ripping by the wall about 20 or 30 feet out. At no time did I feel in danger, but it was “interesting”. The next day the other boat did the same dive with exactly the same results, they were not impressed and bailed on the dive.
On the first day the other boat was at a site where the upwelling was so cold it was stunning the fish and the locals were gathering them up by hand. Something that while not common is an occasional happening in Alor in some extreme tidal exchanges.
Outside of the one “washing machine” dive the diving in the straight was excellent with a variety of soft and hard coral and abundant fish life. The muck diving did not disappoint either. Lots of critters, a pair of enormous harlequin shrimp guarding a starfish arm, tiger shrimp, boxer crab, the usual frog fish, scorpionfish, octopus, cuttlefish etc. etc. Fewer nudibranchs this year. Lots of eggs, but not the variety I have seen in past years. The highlight was a set of Weedy Rhinopia sightings, a translucent white juvenile about an inch and a half long, a pair of younger fish one cinnamon following a light brown one and an adult yellow one out in a drunken walk across the bottom.
Moka Alor Divers is a new resort this year. Currently they have two bungalows with three more under construction. The bungalow is a significant upgrade from Alami (which is pretty nice). Two bedrooms and a sitting room. One bedroom upstairs with an outside deck and another bedroom off the main sitting room. There is a deck with a small pool in front of each bungalow. Separate AC for each room and a fridge in the main sitting room. Boats are nice, a beach entry as opposed to a dock at Alami, but the boat is designed for it so a couple of steps in the water to shore on sand. Sam the dive guide is excellent. Initially I thought the food was going to be this resorts downfall. First meal, I ordered chicken teriyaki, I got tuna, calamari, a chicken wing and rice all cold. First breakfast I ordered oatmeal, got a bowl of dried oatmeal and a box of milk. An hour later the chef showed up profusely apologising with real oatmeal, fruit and a pastry – all very good. Meals thereafter ranged from OK to excellent. Meals can be at the restaurant attached to the resort or in your room. Not family style, meals are individually served which means there is almost no interaction between guests.
As I was the only diver at the resort I decided where I wanted to dive. I could dive muck or reef morning or afternoon. Three dives a day.
I would stay at either resort again in a heartbeat. Choose family style meals with conversation at Alami or a more upscale bungalow with individual meals in your room or a seated restaurant. Share four people in a bungalow, queen bed upstairs twin beds on the main floor at Moko or a single room with bed(s) at Alami.
I was in Alor at Alor Divers last year. For comparison, they do two dives a day all in the straight with one day a week in the Bay doing muck dives. You could do a third dive on their house reef (which is a very nice dive). Meals are similar to Alami, but buffet style at a long table. Bungalows are also similar, but a little more primitive (still very nice). Most of my diving at Alor divers was “near” the guides as most of the diving was out in the straight.
