I dove with Alor Dive (Thomas Schreiber -- www.dive-alor.com). Thomas handled a world of details for me, on everything from accommodations in Kalabahi and Kupang, to flight schedules, to helping me deal with lost luggage, and who knows what else; he was a wonderful host and made life in Kalabahi a lot easier.
GETTING TO KALABAHI/ALOR. On the way to Kalabahi/Alor, you must spend the night in Kupang, and fly to Alor the next day on Riau Airlines’ only daily flight.. The return allows for a one-day trip from Alor to Kupang to DPS or Jakarta (or, maybe, other spots). The Kristal Hotel in Kupang is more than adequate. Thomas will arrange for transport from the Kalabahi airport to the hotels; my transport ended up being a small pickup truck, but it got me where I needed to be.
THE DIVE BOAT AND CREW. The boat is purpose-built for diving and easily handled the eleven divers. The boat sailed smoothly (not a lot of rocking, etc). The head/bathroom is very large, and includes a full-size toilet and a sink. There’s plenty of room to lounge around on the shaded dive deck and the roof. Good kitchen area. There was a large fresh-water bucket for cameras, and it generally was adequate; about everyone was a photographer, so another camera bucket would have been helpful. The boat crew was generally adequate and helpful, assisting with tank changes, re-boarding after dives, and the like, though they only sporadically took much initiative on the “extras”. We had a lunch each day (big hunk of rice, some meat or fish and some veggies), and tea, coffee and water were always available.
The Indonesian divemaster left before we arrived, so Thomas was the only divemaster with ten divers; I think that another divemaster would have been a very good idea, particularly given the sometimes-challenging dive conditions.
Thomas gave a detailed dive briefing before each dive, including a drawing of the dive site terrain, and did a good job of pointing out marine life.
GETTING TO THE DIVE SITES AND GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT ALOR DIVING. Alor Dive’s boat is based in Kalabahi harbor, so that the ride to the various dive sites is an hour to hour-and-a-half. Generally, we planned in three dives per day, left the mooring at about 8AM, and returned by 3-4PM; the third dive often was in Kalabahi Bay. If the group was doing a night dive, we’d leave about 8-8:30AM and return well after 7PM.
Alor and the nearby islands (Pura, Pandar, Ternate and Kepa) have a LOT of current that often is very strong, and the current can reverse itself once or more during a dive; our daily dive sites were determined in part by the severity of the currents at a particular time of day. It’s probably a good idea to use a dive op that is based in Alor and is familiar with the currents. Alor is not a good place for a new diver.
The current can make photography into a real adventure.
The coral at virtually every dive site was in excellent condition.
We enjoyed several dolphin sightings at the entrance to the bay, and one school of tuna in the bay.
Overall, I think that Alor should be consistently very good for smaller stuff (including nudis) and has an abundance of the usual reef inhabitants (fish, eels, etc) but, because of the deep channels and strong currents, it also has the potential for bigger marine life. The general dive approach is to keep one eye on the wall and one eye into the blue.
DIVE SITES.
Day 1 – Coconut Grove & The Boardroom (by Pura Island), and Comet Bay (in Kalabahi Bay).
Day 2 – Tritop (near entrance to Kalabahi Bay – looking for dolphins – found none), Babylon (nice wall dive by Ternate Island), Pink Forest (Kalabahi Bay – much diving spot with lovely pink coral).
Day 3 – The Bullet (great hard and soft coral, but a wild ride with tons of current – everyone was a flag – off Kepa Island), Kal’s Dream (a seamount that reminded me of Crystal Rock in Komodo, loads of reef fish, a negative entry due to strong current, strong current throughout dive, turtle passing by at the end of the dive), and Ampera (Kalabahi Bay – home of a very thoroughly-photographed frogfish).
Day 4 – Sharks Galore (Off Pura Island – two whitetips below us when we entered, an eagle ray soon after, and then the ripping downcurrent hit – I went from 45 feet to 144 feet way too fast), Kal’s Dream II (near KD, but not as nice – but, after Sharks Galore, a little rest wasn’t bad). I sat out the third dive.
Day 5 – The Arch (Ternate Island, a pretty coral slope where we reversed direction twice due to currents), The Edge (Ternate Island, a real wholly-vertical wall dive a la Cozumel, great coral, not much current until the end of the dive), Fault Line (Off Alor, generally across from Ternate Island, pretty easy dive).
Day 6 – Bat Cave (off Alor, south of entrance to Kalabahi Bay, a swim through with maybe six feet of water, and an open-air cave, which houses thousands of bats and at least one Indonesian python on a ledge – that was cool), Aldi Cave (near Bat cave, sea snakes in the cave, and a nice sloping coral area outside of it).
ACCOMMODATIONS AND OTHER ITEMS. Accommodations in Kalabahi are spartan. The Hotel Nufitra is located on Kalabahi Bay, a ten-fifteen minute walk from town; the bungalows seemed okay, but the other rooms were not great (and not all fully finished, I think). It’s not too far from an open air market. It has a restaurant.
Hotel Pelangi Indah is located on the main drag in Kalabahi, and also was basic. Hot water is sort of a dream. Sink and shower didn’t work. Toilet was sporadic. But, a/c worked well. Morning coffee or tea, and a snack item.
Internet (Warnet) in a little store on the main drag in Kalabahi.
Lots of small stores and an openair market on the main drag.
The people in Kalabahi are very nice – it was very rare that a smile wasn’t returned or greeting in Indonesian wasn’t acknowledged -- but don’t expect much English aside from “Hello Mister”. A [your language]-Indonesian dictionary is very worthwhile.
Per Thomas, the exchange rate in Kalabahi isn’t very good, so get your rupiahs before you arrive there.
Though doing so isn't essential to my report, I'd like to thank my nine dive buddies and new friends from Hong Kong (Berwick, Cassie, Joey, Kee, Lily, Mary, Steve, Trudy, and Vincy). I appreciate so much their willingness to include me in things. Since I was the only non-member of their semi-regular dive group, there was the potential for my being excluded inadvertently, particularly since my Cantonese is…nonexistent. Of course, their English is wonderful. We enjoyed many conversations, on diving and other topics, and their friendliness certainly made my trip a lot better than it might have been. One day, I shall have ten t-shirts prepared that say, “I dived at Sharks Galore…and Lived”, and shall distribute them on my next trip to Hong Kong.
GETTING TO KALABAHI/ALOR. On the way to Kalabahi/Alor, you must spend the night in Kupang, and fly to Alor the next day on Riau Airlines’ only daily flight.. The return allows for a one-day trip from Alor to Kupang to DPS or Jakarta (or, maybe, other spots). The Kristal Hotel in Kupang is more than adequate. Thomas will arrange for transport from the Kalabahi airport to the hotels; my transport ended up being a small pickup truck, but it got me where I needed to be.
THE DIVE BOAT AND CREW. The boat is purpose-built for diving and easily handled the eleven divers. The boat sailed smoothly (not a lot of rocking, etc). The head/bathroom is very large, and includes a full-size toilet and a sink. There’s plenty of room to lounge around on the shaded dive deck and the roof. Good kitchen area. There was a large fresh-water bucket for cameras, and it generally was adequate; about everyone was a photographer, so another camera bucket would have been helpful. The boat crew was generally adequate and helpful, assisting with tank changes, re-boarding after dives, and the like, though they only sporadically took much initiative on the “extras”. We had a lunch each day (big hunk of rice, some meat or fish and some veggies), and tea, coffee and water were always available.
The Indonesian divemaster left before we arrived, so Thomas was the only divemaster with ten divers; I think that another divemaster would have been a very good idea, particularly given the sometimes-challenging dive conditions.
Thomas gave a detailed dive briefing before each dive, including a drawing of the dive site terrain, and did a good job of pointing out marine life.
GETTING TO THE DIVE SITES AND GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT ALOR DIVING. Alor Dive’s boat is based in Kalabahi harbor, so that the ride to the various dive sites is an hour to hour-and-a-half. Generally, we planned in three dives per day, left the mooring at about 8AM, and returned by 3-4PM; the third dive often was in Kalabahi Bay. If the group was doing a night dive, we’d leave about 8-8:30AM and return well after 7PM.
Alor and the nearby islands (Pura, Pandar, Ternate and Kepa) have a LOT of current that often is very strong, and the current can reverse itself once or more during a dive; our daily dive sites were determined in part by the severity of the currents at a particular time of day. It’s probably a good idea to use a dive op that is based in Alor and is familiar with the currents. Alor is not a good place for a new diver.
The current can make photography into a real adventure.
The coral at virtually every dive site was in excellent condition.
We enjoyed several dolphin sightings at the entrance to the bay, and one school of tuna in the bay.
Overall, I think that Alor should be consistently very good for smaller stuff (including nudis) and has an abundance of the usual reef inhabitants (fish, eels, etc) but, because of the deep channels and strong currents, it also has the potential for bigger marine life. The general dive approach is to keep one eye on the wall and one eye into the blue.
DIVE SITES.
Day 1 – Coconut Grove & The Boardroom (by Pura Island), and Comet Bay (in Kalabahi Bay).
Day 2 – Tritop (near entrance to Kalabahi Bay – looking for dolphins – found none), Babylon (nice wall dive by Ternate Island), Pink Forest (Kalabahi Bay – much diving spot with lovely pink coral).
Day 3 – The Bullet (great hard and soft coral, but a wild ride with tons of current – everyone was a flag – off Kepa Island), Kal’s Dream (a seamount that reminded me of Crystal Rock in Komodo, loads of reef fish, a negative entry due to strong current, strong current throughout dive, turtle passing by at the end of the dive), and Ampera (Kalabahi Bay – home of a very thoroughly-photographed frogfish).
Day 4 – Sharks Galore (Off Pura Island – two whitetips below us when we entered, an eagle ray soon after, and then the ripping downcurrent hit – I went from 45 feet to 144 feet way too fast), Kal’s Dream II (near KD, but not as nice – but, after Sharks Galore, a little rest wasn’t bad). I sat out the third dive.
Day 5 – The Arch (Ternate Island, a pretty coral slope where we reversed direction twice due to currents), The Edge (Ternate Island, a real wholly-vertical wall dive a la Cozumel, great coral, not much current until the end of the dive), Fault Line (Off Alor, generally across from Ternate Island, pretty easy dive).
Day 6 – Bat Cave (off Alor, south of entrance to Kalabahi Bay, a swim through with maybe six feet of water, and an open-air cave, which houses thousands of bats and at least one Indonesian python on a ledge – that was cool), Aldi Cave (near Bat cave, sea snakes in the cave, and a nice sloping coral area outside of it).
ACCOMMODATIONS AND OTHER ITEMS. Accommodations in Kalabahi are spartan. The Hotel Nufitra is located on Kalabahi Bay, a ten-fifteen minute walk from town; the bungalows seemed okay, but the other rooms were not great (and not all fully finished, I think). It’s not too far from an open air market. It has a restaurant.
Hotel Pelangi Indah is located on the main drag in Kalabahi, and also was basic. Hot water is sort of a dream. Sink and shower didn’t work. Toilet was sporadic. But, a/c worked well. Morning coffee or tea, and a snack item.
Internet (Warnet) in a little store on the main drag in Kalabahi.
Lots of small stores and an openair market on the main drag.
The people in Kalabahi are very nice – it was very rare that a smile wasn’t returned or greeting in Indonesian wasn’t acknowledged -- but don’t expect much English aside from “Hello Mister”. A [your language]-Indonesian dictionary is very worthwhile.
Per Thomas, the exchange rate in Kalabahi isn’t very good, so get your rupiahs before you arrive there.
Though doing so isn't essential to my report, I'd like to thank my nine dive buddies and new friends from Hong Kong (Berwick, Cassie, Joey, Kee, Lily, Mary, Steve, Trudy, and Vincy). I appreciate so much their willingness to include me in things. Since I was the only non-member of their semi-regular dive group, there was the potential for my being excluded inadvertently, particularly since my Cantonese is…nonexistent. Of course, their English is wonderful. We enjoyed many conversations, on diving and other topics, and their friendliness certainly made my trip a lot better than it might have been. One day, I shall have ten t-shirts prepared that say, “I dived at Sharks Galore…and Lived”, and shall distribute them on my next trip to Hong Kong.
