Bima vs Alor: Where to go after Komodo Liveaboard?

[GirlonFire]

Hello all,
I am planning a trip that will give me 8-9 nights in Lembeh/Bangka (haven't decided how to split yet), then a LOB for 8 nights that starts in Labuan Bajo and ends in Bima.
After disembarking, I can either do 4 nights around Bima, or push to 8-9 nights.
The dilemma is whether to spend the 4 nights at Kalimaya Resort then end the trip, head out to Alor instead for the entire time or try and split between Kalimaya and Alor.
I have searched the board for insight on both places but still can't decide.

I have about 100 dives logged and this will be my first extended trip to Indo. I dove Bunaken and Ambon 20+ years ago and am trying to get a sampling.

In order to get from Bima to Alor, it seems I would have to overnight in Kupang and then on to Alor. Is there another routing I am missing?

To make it even more vexing, I am not set on Bima or Alor and am open to suggestions. But I don't want to spend days in transit though.

Thanks.

 

[nudisusie]

Sounds like a fun trip!

The Kalimaya Resort is not actually in Bima but on the east side of Sumbawa Island, about 2hrs overland. My pals stayed there and really enjoyed it "great resort, no wifi" but you may find that some of the dive sites overlap (Sangeang Volcano, Gili Banta) with your liveaboard trip, that said it looks like they have plenty of sites to keep you busy for at least 4 days.

Getting to Alor from Bima is also not an easy one. You will very likely have to fly to Bali and then back from there, via Kupang or maybe now direct, depending upon your travel day (check on www.nusatrip.com) so could lose more than 1 day in between

I'm also going on liveaboard from LB to Bima but then our group have chosen to fly back to Bali and head up to Tulamben for some critter diving there, it does mean a day of transit but part of the reason we chose Tulamben is we missed it due to the Volcano eruption on our last trip (to Alor) but also international flights can be out of Bali, so we don't lose many diving days.

 

[GirlonFire]

I'm also going on liveaboard from LB to Bima but then our group have chosen to fly back to Bali and head up to Tulamben for some critter diving there, it does mean a day of transit but part of the reason we chose Tulamben is we missed it due to the Volcano eruption on our last trip (to Alor) but also international flights can be out of Bali, so we don't lose many diving days.

Which boat will you be on?

I do think chilling for a few non dive days would be a good idea. Maybe Sanur or Seminyak since I already have Ubud planned.

 

[borisphotosafari]

Alor is awesome diving. It's a pain to get there but worth it. Saw 5 rhinopias on one dive. It's remote and not many divers.

 

[nudisusie]

Which boat will you be on?

We've chartered the Samambaia for 11 nights in Aug/Sept 2020 ;-)