Alor Tanapi, Alor

Alor’s scuba diving is characterised by clear waters and currents, near-pristine reefs and fields of beautiful corals, sponges and anemones. Unusually, visitors can explore an entire spectrum of different dive sites - from colourful reefs packed with marine life and current swept pinnacles with big pelagic species, to sheltered bays with amazing muck diving - all in a single day. Throw in the occasional eagle ray, reef sharks and sea snakes, the possibility of encountering hammerhead sharks, thresher sharks and even mola mola and whales, and you can understand why Alor and the sites of the Pantar Strait are considered to be amongst the best in Indonesia.

Some of the classic reef sites include the Great Wall of Pantar, Cathedral, Max’s Point, Current Alley and Apuri, or Clown Valley. These sites offer beautiful drift dives along dramatic walls or over fields of colourful corals and anemones, as well schools of fish and even plenty of smaller species such as pygmy seahorses, leaf scorpionfish and frogfish. At sites exposed to the strong currents, divers can expect schools of jackfish and barracuda, tuna and rainbow runners, and - if the conditions are right  - hammerheads, thresher sharks and even mola mola. In fact, along with sites in the Banda Sea, Alor is one of the few places left in Indonesia where visitors have a reasonable chance of sighting hammerheads during the cold water periods.

Muck diving in Alor

As well as its spectacular reefs, Alor is building a reputation as a world-class muck diving destination - particularly amongst divers that would like to get away from the crowds. Most of the reef sites have a fantastic diversity of life, but it is the proper ‘muck’ sites in Kalabahi Bay on Alor, and Beangabang Bay on Pantar, that attract those divers in search of unusual ‘critters’.  The currents that run through the strait push nutrient-rich, cold water into these bays, creating perfect conditions for critters. Rhinopias are the star of the show, but seahorses, frogfish, ghost pipefish, Ambon scorpionfish, Coleman shrimps, mandarinfish, weird and wonderful nudibranchs and plenty of unusual crustaceans and cephalopods are all on the cards as well.