To provide guests with even more variety when selecting dive destinations, we started to look at new and relatively undiscovered regions of the country’s 13,000 islands. The search was easy, as all we had to do was to look in our dive logs and what we found surprised us.
We embarked in an exploration cruise that pushed even further east visiting the chain of islands between Flores and Alor, deep into what is called East Nusa Tenggara. What we found astonished us; endless visibility over pristine reefs teeming with marine life and fascinating critter dives loaded with all the rare creatures underwater photographers only dream about. To go with our marine adventures there was breathtaking topside scenery featuring active volcanoes, breaching whales and leaping dolphins along with the wonderfully friendly local people diving into the water alongside us – and this was only one trip! We had always wanted to find out more and so our quest to find a new dive destination for The Ombak Biru aka The Komodo Dancer was over relatively quickly; it was staring us in the face.
For selected cruises during the year, The Ombak Biru will be setting out on dive adventure programmes “East of Flores” to Alor. Great visibility, drift dives, sheer walls, dazzling coralgardens and magnificent muck combine to house one of the most prolific and diverse marine ecosystems on earth. Some of the critter sites here easily compare to the more well known Lembeh Strait and whale and dolphin sightings are common in the Alor and Pantar straits.
For pioneering diving off the beaten track the underwater world of Alor is hard to beat!
* Middle of the Indonesian archipelago
* 8 degrees south of the equator, 123 degrees east
* 500 nautical miles east of Bali
* Close to the end of the Nusa Tenggara archipelago
For our 11 days “Alor – East of Flores” cruises the Komodo Dancer starts and finishes in Maumere, Flores. After arrival in Bali our guests take a short flight to join the vessel at the harbour there. When the cruise finishes we fly from Maumere back to Bali, reversing the outbound route.
Large animals sometimes turn up in the Alor/Pantar Strait that are rarely seen in other destinations; Mola Mola, Thresher and absolutely huge Dogtooth Tunas. On other dives along our northern route we are often visited by massive Napoleon Wrasse, plenty of Whitetip, Blacktip and Grey Reefsharks, collosal Black Blotched Stingrays as well as squadrons of Eagle and Mobular Rays.
Huge schools of Dolphins are a common sight on our travels as they race towards to boat to play in our bowwave. The channels that separate the islands serve as a major thoroughfare for much larger cetaceans too and it is not unusual to see one or two huge whales surfacing to breathe, even the massive Blue and Fin varieties.
To produce a world class critter site conditions must be right; slightly sloping sandy gravel and silt is the preferred bottom composition, washed over daily by a gentle tidal current and preferably mixed with a fresh water outflow such as a stream or river. When these environments combine then things start to get interesting, and there are plenty of opportunities to find them in the hundreds of bays and coves that are a feature of the islands.
Along our route there are some incredible topside sights too – white sandy beaches, sparkling blue seas, emeral greenforests, scorched savannah and more strikingly – many active volcanoes. Earlier this year we decided to visit one of these fire breathing monsters located out in the ocean and were once again surprised. Creeping up on the smoke puffing beast before first light gave us the awesome sight of molten lava flowing down the mountainside into the sea punctuated by thunderous bangs blasting out clouds of dust from deep inside the island – so of course we decided to dive there and found even more fascinating but very different sites to add to our list.
What is not known is that the people of these Islands are especially rich in cultural traditions. The scenery throughout the Island is breathtaking, from the ever-imposing “Ile Ape” volcano of the palm fringed bays to the colorful bustling local markets – beauty and excitement are everywhere.
Although not densely populated we often get to meet the people of this far flung region, their smiling friendly faces making a welcome addition to any trip. The ladies from the islands of the Alor/Pantar Strait specialise in decorative Ikat fabrics that are entirely made from homegrown cotton, spun and dyed by the weaver and will brave the currents and row in their precarious water craft out for us to sample and buy their colourful weaves. If you like live entertainment don’t worry there is plenty of that too, we often roll up to a dive site to be greeted by an entire school of children singing and shouting to us from the shore or paddling their dugout canoes around the boat.
Lamalera village is an interesting place located on the southern tip of Lembata Island and is the home of a traditional whale hunting community. Here, Sperm Whales have been hunted for centuries using all hand made equipment; their spears, rope and boats are all made in the village. The boats are without motors and the harpooner must jump from the boat to implant his harpoon in to the whale to ensure success. All parts of the whale are either consumed or traded with other Islanders for corn or other food. While whale hunting is not generally condoned by modernsocieties, when consider the ancestral links, the primitive equipment used and the importance to the people of Lamalera it is understandable that this traditional hunting has been sanctioned by the United Nations.
The quality of the coral reefs of the Strait owe a lot to the local fishermen. Sustainable fishing practices using basket weave traps are in place and it is not unusual to see a spear fisherman going about his aquatic business whilst completing a safety stop after a dive, they love to pose for underwater photographs too.
The Ombak Biru and her experienced crew has now put East Flores and the Alor area firmly on the map of must see places for divers wanting to experience something exciting, new and out of the ordinary. For pioneering diving off the beaten track the underwater world of Alor is hard to beat!
Surprise yourself – we did!