Alor
Getting to Alor
Alor is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago, and is located to the north of Indonesia's Timor Island. It's accessible by air from Kupang, and there are also flight connections from Maumere and Larantuka.
At present time (September 2024), it's still a lovely, unspoiled destination - with few tourists, other than intrepid scuba divers who stay at the handful of tiny resorts and basic guesthouses mostly scattered around the western side of Alor island.
We travelled up from Rote, so spent one night in Kupang at the Harper Hotel, to make sure we got the early morning Lion Air flight from Kupang to Mali Airport in Alor.
At the airport, our resort Alor Tanapi had arranged a road transfer for us and while the drive was long (90 mins approximately), the road was ultimately in better condition than in Rote. From our perspective, the Alorese seem to be more developed and wealthier than their southern neighbours - we came across not one, but two overhead pedestrian crossings, and there was no livestock on the road.
However, the climate also seemed much more favourable to human habitation here. Compared to Rote, Alor was lush and green. The trees here had swollen jackfruits hanging on their trunks, papaya trees were loaded with fruit and the animals were healthy and plump. I expect the volcanoes here had offered up much fertile soil and later, we would discover why the waters of Alor were absolutely bubbling with life.
Alor Tanapi - our Alor accommodation
Alor Tanapi opened in 2023 so it was only about a year old when we stayed. Set atop a hill in the little village of Sebanjar, Alor Tanapi is one of the nicest accommodation options in Alor and the view from the reception/dining area is spectacular. A towering volcanic peak named Pura looms over the Pantar Strait, her summit occasionally shrouded by fluffy white clouds. In the deep blue water below, we often spotted large pods of dolphin/melon-headed whales in pursuit of tuna who leapt for their lives. One lunchtime, we also saw a passing pair of whales.
There are just six chalets on the property, nestled into the sloping hillside - all featuring air-conditioning, outdoor ensuite bathrooms and spacious furnished verandahs. We stayed in a Standard Oceanfront Bungalow - which featured a partial view of the (public) beach below, but the trees which obscured the view offered privacy and shade from the blazing afternoon sun. We did hear that the Deluxe Seaview Bungalows had views to die for though.
Note that the stairs between the dining area, dive centre and guest bungalows are steep and rocky so take care and wear shoes.
The view from the dining area
As for food, we never went hungry. Breakfast starts at 6.30am and you order off an a la carte menu the evening before (options included homemade bread, homemade granola, homemade yoghurt, pancakes, crepes, eggs to order, mi goreng or nasi goreng). There is also Italian style and plunger coffee. Lunch and dinner are served family-style, with plates of food shared around a communal dining table. We had rice with protein and veg most meals during our stay, but were treated to steak one evening, and lasagne on another.
Alor Tanapi does not really have a house reef - the water comes right almost to the edge of the resort when the tide comes up, but at low tide one day we saw a pair of blue-ringed octopus just before we boarded the resort's single dive boat. At high tide, expect to take a tender out to the boat.
The dive centre is simple but perfectly adequate - there are tubs to rinse off your gear, lots of space to hang up wetsuits/boots, showers and a bathroom. We found the desk in our cottage to be well suited enough to set up and charge all our photographic equipment but there is also a small camera room should you wish to use it.
Things to do in Alor
Dive
What else?!
If I had one word to describe scuba diving in Alor, it would be: variety. There are both muck and reef sites all within a half hour's boat ride to our resort, and we saw a range of wonderful species both big and small. In the muck, there were all manner of crabs, shrimps, cuttlefish and seahorses. Rhinopias were in hot demand - we saw a red, a white and a yellow - but not the coveted pink or purple. In the reef, octopus, eel, masses of colourful reef fish, starfish, soft and hard coral of all kinds. And out in the blue, there were tuna, barracuda and trevally.
Whilst we didn't encounter any sharks, some of our fellow guests came across a small school of hammerheads. On several boat rides heading out to dive sites, we also regularly came across dolphins and melon-headed whales in pods of about a hundred individuals. One very special day, we spotted a mola mola and two marlins.
Most places we have dived such as Bunaken, Misool, Papua Paradise and Wakatobi have either reef or muck sites, so diving Alor was an absolute treat!
A pair of stunning Coleman shrimp
Marlin hunting for tuna
Dolphins, always a favourite!
Another thing that was very special about Alor: the people. Many Alorese still fish using traditional methods - using simple lines, homemade spear guns and woven traps (known as bubus), which they freedive down to check. Watching them fish from their wooden catamarans while diving was a privilege and a very unique experience.
Freediving for food
A bubu or traditional fishing trap made of wood
Finally, the landscape. Many of Alor's nicest dive sites are around the base of Pura and the surrounding volcanic islands, so there are caves, caverns and some dramatic walls. In some places, you could see bubbles of hot air escaping from the base of Pura and the ground was warm to touch. Dropoffs were very deep and the water that welled up from them freezing (on our trip in September 2024, we recorded a low of 18 deg Celsius) - sometimes, the thermocline was mere metres below the surface so bring plenty of layers if you get cold easily!
Make sure your torch is fully charged for cave dives!
Waterfall trek
On our last day, we opted to take a guided hike to a waterfall about 90 minutes from Alor Tanapi by car. The trek there was slightly over an hour, with many water crossings, as we navigated our way upstream. This waterfall shares its name with a nearby village - Ilawe (ILL-AH-WEH) - and a long metal pipe brings fresh, cool water from it down to the residents. Along the way, we came across kapok, cashew and coffee cash crops, saw a hunter with his fresh parrot quarry and passed villagers with hardwood sleepers hewn from local trees. At the end, we were rewarded with a refreshing swim in the pool.
Bring plenty of your own drinking water as the hike can be sweaty, and be aware that water crossings can be slippery - I found my dive booties to be the best form of footwear for this endeavour!
The beautiful Ilawe Waterfall