Diving Flores and Alor

[gee13]

Anyone been there via lob and how is September weather and visibility-wise? How does it compare with Komodo or Raja Empat? Im looking for pelagics and wide angle opportunities mainly but macro is a bonus.

 

[mantajohn]

i did Alor with Komodo Dancer in 09 & then the regular komodo itinerary in 2010. If your take is that macro 'is a bonus' (which is my view also) then i would skip Alor. On our trip it was very largely macro.

Much better balance (& more pelagics) in Komodo.

 

[Zippsy]

I just returned from a Flores / Alor / Gunning Api / Ambon trip so this is late October, rather than September but.... The rains around Flores were just starting as we left so September should still have good weather. The viz was better than north Komodo in August. We definitely saw more sharks & mantas in Komodo but the landscape, number of fish and macro were incredibly stunning and better on our recent trip.

 

[DiveExploreIndonesia]

Mantas are guaranteed on Komodo, excluding this point Alor is very similar with a lot of fish and healthy corals, also many macro sites. Komodo sites are well known for years already, Alor and the islands between Alor and Komodo are still untouched and I would recommend to choose an operator that knows the area, this will make a big difference in experience. Actually most of the liveaboards don’t know the area very well, coming only once or twice a year while crossing from Komodo to Raja Ampat.

September is very good time for this part of Indonesia.

Regarding visibility, Raja Ampat is less predictable and as a general rule less good than Komodo or Alor in that time of the year, knowing that all live aboards move to Raja Ampat after October or November, I would guess there is better chance to have good visibility and weather in komodo-alor region in September.