Looking for Indonesia warm water suggestions for a September/October trip

[Cali_diver]

Unfortunately all the anemones are gone from Anemone City.... hopefully they will come back (I saw some little tiny ones in the rocks) but not really a need to dive it other than we have seen Threshers there. We have also seen Mola mola in Alor as well as hammers! Alor is one of my favorites!

 

[Luko]

but not really a need to dive it other than we have seen Threshers there.

With or without anemones I still love the spot for the pools, there are awesome wide angle opportunities, although the tidal surge makes it quite challenging to shoot.
I always ask for diving it and time in the shallows even after the anemones were gone.

 

[Cali_diver]

@Luko I agree but I find most of Alor like that! ...and most sites are a bit warmer than Anemone city so I would probably choose the warmer sites! Either way it was always known for its amazing anemones and we would always brave the cold.. (lowest was 18) to enjoy its one a kind uniqueness. There were a couple other sites that seemed to have changed completely as well. It was very sad. But such is life and nature!

 

[ojo]

With a little bit of luck and timing (2-3 days around full moon) hammerheads that I can confirm (with sometimes silkies within the school), thresher sharks have been reported as well.
With more luck blue whales in oct-nov.
Alor is MUCH better dived from a resort.

Great!

 

[ojo]

...and a dry suit! So freakin' cold.

I don't see that reflected here: Sea water temperature Alor Island today | Indonesia
Maybe just at the odd site?

 

[Luko]

There were a couple other sites that seemed to have changed completely as well. It was very sad.

Anemone city changed since a while, even in 2015 I didn't notice as many anemones as there were 2 years before.
This year Red Sand Beach was a mess with quite scarce life and quite some coral damage, only its dropoff was worth the dive. Macro in Kalabahi was meh. No reports of hammerheads on Yellow Corner either.
In the mean time I thought some sites improved this year like Rumah Biru, I hadn't seen so many fish before even though it's a spot I always ask for every time I go there.

 

[Dan]

I don't see that reflected here: Sea water temperature Alor Island today | Indonesia
Maybe just at the odd site?

I checked my logbook for Alor water temperatures the first time I was there in September 2012, they were 26-27C, about 2C cooler than now. In September 2019 they were even cooler, 24-26C.

 

[Dan]

Anemone city changed since a while, even in 2015 I didn't notice as many anemones as there were 2 years before.
This year Red Sand Beach was a mess with quite scarce life and quite some coral damage, only its dropoff was worth the dive. Macro in Kalabahi was meh. No reports of hammerheads on Yellow Corner either.
In the mean time I thought some sites improved this year like Rumah Biru, I hadn't seen so many fish before even though it's a spot I always ask for every time I go there.

Would warmer temperatures have something to do with the change?

 

[Dan]

Water temperatures in Banda Sea were also warmer now. For example, water temperature in Lava Flow, Banda Neira on 17 September 2019 was 25C and on 26 November 2022 it was 30C.

Hammerheads would go deeper (beyond recreational diving depth) during warmer temperatures.

Are we in El Niño season in Banda Sea now?

 

[Luko]

Would warmer temperatures have something to do with the change?

Probably.
Alor in august was 28-29C in the north, never less than 26C even in Anemone City.
2022 was a La Nina year with lots of rain, weather was quite sh*tty everywhere in SEA august until december (in fact meteorologists say it's a triple dip La Nina starting since August 2020 that would last until june 2023! the same phenomenon already occured in between 1999 and 2002), though water temps were warmer
If La Nina means colder water in the equatorial West Pacific, it doesn't mean cooler waters in the western/IndoPac region but a more humid weather (and that showed!!!).