Alor

 

 

 

The string of islands stretching east of Java and Bali continue all the way to Alor, the last one before Wetar marks the beginning of the Maluku and the Banda sea. The straits between the islands east of Flores have a similar configuration as the ones in Komodo, and diving is as spectacular here as in Nusa Penida or Komodo. The water tends to have a deep ocean blue quality, and the reefs display a palette of pastel colours unique to this region, probably due to the volcanic composition of its shores. Many different types of diving take place here, from walls to ridges, from seamounts to muck diving, creating different opportunities for different levels and interests.

 

Topside, the volcanoes predominate, many of them populated by some of the friendliest locals in Indonesia. Combining Christianity and animism, there are villages still dedicated to traditional whaling for sustenance – as it is also a cetacean thoroughfare - while the women skilfully weave their famed ikat sarongs, both following traditional methods from their ancestry.
This route retains a flavour of wilderness, in spite of the fact that it is just a quick one-and-a-half hour flight from Bali.