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

[Dan]

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 occuring since August 2020 that would last until june 2023!), though water temps were warmer.

I was in the South Komodo (Horseshoe Bay) in August 2022. The water was green. So we skipped the south & went back to central Komodo.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Super-helpful, thank you. Are you referring only to LOBs, or have you also stayed on land in Raja? I've been in touch with some people who said the conditions were fine in central Raja in October when based at a resort or homestay. Also great to know about Raja in April as a possibility.
Are there large pelagics in Alor? That's not been on my radar.

I have done both land based (Papua Explorers) and liveaboards (a few) in Raja Ampat as well as Komodo. I have dived liveaboards there in October and April as well as land based in April/May.

There are blue whales (swimming right by the house reef!), hammerhead sharks, dolphins, and mola mola possible.

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.

Blue whales kept passing by the house reef when I was in Alor in Oct 2022. I hear there are also possibilities of mola mola.

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.

Your pictures make me miss Alor so much!!! Indonesia in general. Great photos!

 

[scubajunky17]

Is Alor all about muck diving then or does it also have schools and bio diversity / topography like R4 ? I generally like big stuff and big schools.

 

[Dan]

Is Alor all about muck diving then or does it also have schools and bio diversity / topography like R4 ? I generally like big stuff and big schools.

Alor has some pretty good muck diving sites. Also there are some sites for bigger stuff there too. I have been there 3 times. However, IMHO, Alor is may be rank 3rd after Komodo. You need to go around September-October to see bigger stuff like hamnerheads, dolphins, whales, etc.

My first YouTube video was about Alor dolphin encounter back in September 2012, as posted previously in post #37, page 4 of this thread.

A more recent trip to Alor was in April 2023 on Amira as part of Forgotten Island trip from Saumlaki to Maumere. I’m still putting together my trip video to Alor (too many diving trips, not enough time at home). I just finished making a video of the Current Alley part of Alor, below,

 

[scubajunky17]

Thanks for the info.