Diving Alor or Moluccas?

[gabyne]

Hi fellow divers,

I'm thinking of trying Alor or Moluccas this summer. Since there are (at least around Alor) several resorts/operators now, do you have any first-hand infos on these? I think, I would prefer staying out of the town of Kalabahi to have some nice island feeling...

Has anybody dived both areas and prefers one? How is it compared to Raja Ampat (Kri), Komodo or Wakatobi?

Is summer a good time (visibility)?

Thanks a lot for your help,

Gaby

 

[kilo_fox]

Hi Gaby -

I dived in Alor in October/November last year.

I went first to a place run by a French couple, La p'tite Kepa. They set up a couple of bungalows and the dive shop on a tiny island (Pulau Kepa) just off the main island Alor. A beautiful, relaxing place, fantastic food, however I didn’t like it very much. It was the atmosphere that made me feel uncomfortable, kind of "this is a place for real divers, and what do you want here?" So I did a few dives and decided then to move.

I then stayed in a hotel in Kalabahi and dove with Alor Dive, run by a German guy, Thomas. Great dive operator, good equipment, very knowledgeable about the dive sites.

I heard about a brand new place, based on one of the islands off Alor, with free house reef diving, but I heard about it only when I was on my way from Alor to Maumere, hence I couldn't check it out.

I have not dived in Maluku yet, but I can compare it with Komodo and I would put it on the same level.

By summer you mean the Austrian summer, June - August (if lucky ), right?

Btw, you have terrific pix on your website!!

PS: I hate it when I start all my sentences wit "I".....

 

[silent running]

Hi Gaby -

I dived in Alor in October/November last year.

I went first to a place run by a French couple, La p'tite Kepa. They set up a couple of bungalows and the dive shop on a tiny island (Pulau Kepa) just off the main island Alor. A beautiful, relaxing place, fantastic food, however I didn’t like it very much. It was the atmosphere that made me feel uncomfortable, kind of "this is a place for real divers, and what do you want here?" So I did a few dives and decided then to move.

I then stayed in a hotel in Kalabahi and dove with Alor Dive, run by a German guy, Thomas. Great dive operator, good equipment, very knowledgeable about the dive sites.

I heard about a brand new place, based on one of the islands off Alor, with free house reef diving, but I heard about it only when I was on my way from Alor to Maumere, hence I couldn't check it out.

I have not dived in Maluku yet, but I can compare it with Komodo and I would put it on the same level.

By summer you mean the Austrian summer, June - August (if lucky ), right?

Btw, you have terrific pix on your website!!

PS: I hate it if I start all my sentences wit "I".....

Hi KF, thanks for the post on Alor. I'm curious about it too. What did you see there? Any big stuff? Alor had a great reputation for having lots of big fish, pelagics and sharks. But in the last few years some liveaboards have come through and were disappointed with the lack of big stuff.

Did you have any interaction with Dive Alor, the older, Austrailian operator?

 

[silent running]

Hi Gaby, I have been to Komodo twice and Ambon once, and while Ambon was a really good value and had great diving, I would rate it a notch below Komodo's best sites, which is not surprising as there is not the same level of conservation effort in Ambon right now, I was there in April of last year and viz was mostly great. I actually saw more sharks in Ambon than in Komodo, but Komodo has even more large schools of fish and I saw lots of mantas on my first trip to Komodo, which was off season for the South, but that's where we found them.

Ambon was also very good for critters-leaf rhinopias, inimicus, ornate ghost pipefish, etc..and has a very fishy wreck too. If I go back to Ambon/Moluccas, I will go on a liveaboard out of Ambon to get some diving in on Banda and the few uninhabited islands nearby, should be at least as good as Ambon.

As for Wakatobi, I haven't heard anything that would compel me to go there as it's expensive and nobody ever sees any big fish or sharks-a no go situation for me. Haven't been to Raja yet, but I'd bet there's less chance of shark/pelagic activity there than in the Moluccas, but probably Komodo size schools of fish or bigger and better critter action in R.E... -Andy

 

[kilo_fox]

Hi KF, thanks for the post on Alor. I'm curious about it too. What did you see there? Any big stuff? Alor had a great reputation for having lots of big fish, pelagics and sharks. But in the last few years some liveaboards have come through and were disappointed with the lack of big stuff.

Did you have any interaction with Dive Alor, the older, Austrailian operator?

Big stuff: a couple of black tips, the biggest nurse shark I've ever seen (5m), it came out of a cave and we were just 5 meters away, hehee, even the DM backed away a bit, the shadow of a disappearing Mola Mola (and when I left Alor by Pelni ship for Maumere, I saw the fin of a Mola Mola from the ship). So regarding the big ones, I saw more in Komodo, but then, I did only eight dives in Alor which is definitely not enough Oh, and there was only one time when we did NOT see dolphins from the boat.

Other highlights were a big sea slug (20 cm) amongst heaps of "normal" nudis, stargazer (during an awesome night dive), turtles, many frog fishes.... and all the usual beauties (but I was recently told that I am spoiled now, after my 75 dives in Indonesia during the past year :11:....). But then, you dived already in Indonesia, so I hope you see what I'm trying to say.

Visibility was always 20 – 25 m. Never saw any other dive boats or divers.

I had not been in touch with Dive Alor (the Graeme guys) mainly because I didn't like their website (I found the tone kind of aggressive) and because they are based in Kupang, so their packages always include the transfer to and the hotel in Alor which made it to me more expensive than necessary. I prefer to travel around on my own and check out dive shops on the spot before committing to one.

 

[silent running]

Big stuff: a couple of black tips, the biggest nurse shark I've ever seen (5m), it came out of a cave and we were just 5 meters away, hehee, even the DM backed away a bit, the shadow of a disappearing Mola Mola (and when I left Alor by Pelni ship for Maumere, I saw the fin of a Mola Mola from the ship). So regarding the big ones, I saw more in Komodo, but then, I did only eight dives in Alor which is definitely not enough Oh, and there was only one time when we did NOT see dolphins from the boat.

Other highlights were a big sea slug (20 cm) amongst heaps of "normal" nudis, stargazer (during an awesome night dive), turtles, many frog fishes.... and all the usual beauties (but I was recently told that I am spoiled now, after my 75 dives in Indonesia during the past year :11:....). But then, you dived already in Indonesia, so I hope you see what I'm trying to say.

Visibility was always 20 – 25 m. Never saw any other dive boats or divers.

I had not been in touch with Dive Alor (the Graeme guys) mainly because I didn't like their website (I found the tone kind of aggressive) and because they are based in Kupang, so their packages always include the transfer to and the hotel in Alor which made it to me more expensive than necessary. I prefer to travel around on my own and check out dive shops on the spot before committing to one.

Thanks KF, great to hear about your experience there. I saw some 3M nurse sharks in deep water Belize-but a 5M one, good lord! I once awoke a large leopard shark on a solo night dive in the middle of the Coral Sea, it was sleeping in the sand next to a bunch of coral, blended right in. I was right on top of it before it moved, probably never seen a diver before. It was the size of a large dairy cow, scared the s--- out of me.

I didn't realize that Dive Alor were based out of Kupang and not Alor. And yes their site is a bit aggressive. But, if what they say is true about other, less knowledgeable operators coming there after them and diminshing the reputation of the place by diving sites at the wrong time when there are much less fish and screwing up their livelihood, I might get a little aggressive with my marketing too. There have been many disappointed reports on the place in the recent past. I'm curious to see if they answer my email, as I'd guess that I'm in the target demographic of divers they cater too.

Do you know of any direct flights from Bali/ Jakarta to Alor? -Andy

 

[kilo_fox]

Thanks KF, great to hear about your experience there. I saw some 3M nurse sharks in deep water Belize-but a 5M one, good lord! I once awoke a large leopard shark on a solo night dive in the middle of the Coral Sea, it was sleeping in the sand next to a bunch of coral, blended right in. I was right on top of it before it moved, probably never seen a diver before. It was the size of a large dairy cow, scared the s--- out of me.

I would have loved to be there, say, 5 m behind you, peeking from behind my buddy!!?

Do you know of any direct flights from Bali/ Jakarta to Alor?

No. I mean, yes.

Means, I know that there are no direct flights to Alor neither from Bali nor from JKT. The normal route is Bali - Kupang - Alor, it is however possible to do it in one day to avoid staying overnight in Kupang.

 

[gabyne]

Hi kilo_fox and Andy,

thanks for the interesting info!

I thought the Whitfords (Graeme and son, I think?) operate out of Kalabahi? Because on their website they say that customers stay in a hotel 5 min. away from the harbour of Kalabahi...

Concerning their knowledge and experience, I guess, they are the best. But I'd prefer to stay on a nice island in between dives, walking along the beach or so - instead of being on the boat the whole day or in the hotel. I read a lot of reports on LOBs cruising the area where people were disappointed with what they saw and it was said that it was mainly due to the lack of knowledge of the dive sites... So if dive guides don't know where to dive when, even the best dive sites are not as good as they could be.

This eco dive resort on Pantar island looks like a good alternative...
eco dive resort in alor archipelago, indonesia.

@kilo_fox: why did you have the impression that they didn't want you at La p'tite kepa? So, obviously you are a "serious diver"...?

And thanks for your compliments on my website - I'm just in the process of updating - I was very lazy the last few years, so I still have to work on my images from Raja Ampat, Wakatobi, Lembeh, Bonaire...

And: yes, I meant the "Austrian summer" - you were quite right with June to August (if lucky)...

Gaby

 

[frogfish]

Hi kilo_fox and Andy,

This eco dive resort on Pantar island looks like a good alternative...
eco dive resort in alor archipelago, indonesia.

I spent a week at this resort in early November last year - We were the only guests and really had a fantastic time. Gilles and his wife are great hosts, the food is excellent, the beach beautiful and the bungalows comfortable. Diving wise the house reef is outstanding and actually consists of three dive sites (wall, slope and sandy). The sites around Alor are 30' minutes max by speed boat, in general less.

 

[kilo_fox]

@kilo_fox: why did you have the impression that they didn't want you at La p'tite kepa? So, obviously you are a "serious diver"...?

I'm not saying they didn't want ME as a person, I simply didn't feel comfortable in what I perceived as a snobby atmosphere.
Most divers going to Alor are pretty much experienced, and I had at that time "only" 53 dives, came without my own gear and without a huge u/water camera (contrary to the other 3 divers that were there). When Cedric asked me if I dived with my own dive computer he told me clearly on the non-verbal channel that he would not play nanny for me if I did not have one.
He didn't believe me when I said that I needed 3kg for the weight belt. He insisted that I take more and just rolled his eyes when I refused..... Even when I did the buoyancy check on the surface and it was OK, he grumbled and took one extra weight of 1 kg in his pocket, "just in case" as he said (however, I didn't need it).
All in all, I doubt he took me for a serious diver