Diving Alor and Flores

FLORES & ALOR DIVING

The Alor Island regency, in the far East of Indonesia, comprises two main islands Pantar and Alor, as well as a number of smaller isles. The undeveloped Alor regency is home to just 2 percent of Indonesia's population. The Alor Straight is one Indonesia's best kept secrets and a first class, undiscovered scuba diving region.

The water's surrounding the Alor regency are extremely rich with varied reef profiles; walls, seamounts, rocky outcrops, and pristine coral-reefs. The secret dive site in the Kalibahi Bay is home to harliquin shrimp, sea horses, ghostpipe fish, wonderpus, mimic octupus and hairy frogfish.

Sustainable fishing practices and eco tourism are prevelent in the Alor Island region and there are no signs of reef destruction. Opportunities abound to interact with the locals on the various island who are a traditional seafaring people. Visiblity is clear, waters warm and the density of divers is minimal, Alor is perfect tropical scuba diving.

Flores occupies a unique position at the junction of the Australasian and Asia submarine ridges and between the two distinct faunal regions marked by the Wallace line. The coral reefs of Flores sea are amongst the oldest in the world and are in pristine condition. The coral "Flowers" preserved in stone.Enormous sea fans line the coral walls and the variety and abundance of fish are outstanding. The shallow water reef areas are a snorkeled delight, a sun dappled playground teeming with brightly colored fishes. With an average 200 ft and an extremely rich marine life, Flores is real paradise for all divers, underwater photographers and for anyone with an interest in marine biology. International experts have already acknowledged Flores as among the best sites in the world.

ALOR
The regency of Alor comprises the islands of Pantar and Alor and a number of smaller islands. Kalabahi, the capital, is on Alor island. The dive sites is located at Selat Pantar, which has 24 especially good areas or point of diving. From the international rating point, the Alor Sea Park is one of the top five in the world. Alor district which is bordering Timor Leste is unequaled in a number of things which can not be found elsewhere in the world. There is a natural phenomenom which is called the "cold stream" which occures two or three times a year in a narrow strait stretching not more than 100 meters. The highlight of Alor's worldclass diving is BIG animals.Barracudas, schooling big-eye jacks, dog-toothed tuna, monster groupers, and sharks. Lots of sharks ! The masses of swirling, schooling fish and rich concentration of invertebrates may well make this the best diving Indonesia has to offer

TAKA BONERATE
Spread over 2200 square kilometers in the Flores Sea south of Sulawesi, Taka Bonerate is the largest atoll in Indonesia, the third largest in the world. This archipelago exist hundreds mostly inhabited tropical islands and atolls surrounded by crystal clear waters and lagoons. Many diving professionals believe this archipelago contains incredible diverse marine life. There are virtually no roads on these islands, allowing remote villages and dive sites to remain untouched.

TUKANG BESI
As one of the world's most unique diving destinations, the Tukang Besi chain of islands, south-east of Sulawesi, could be considered as one of the "last outspots of diving civilization" featuring colossal drop-offs and magnificent coral reefs. Remote and exotic, Tukang Besi was once referred by the Cousteau Society as the finest diving spot in the world. An enchanting world of natural beauty.

Diving Indonesia Archipelago - IndonesiaDiving.com