OP
Alor, best dive resort? ?
- Thread starter Immeriswas
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OP
Immeriswas
Contributor
Dear Luko thanks for the Information as well! One moore questions. Whats about strong especially down current? ? My wife does not like them at all!
Luko
Contributor
I don't think currents should be a worry with experienced dive resorts.
They are able to schedule dives accroding to the tides and assess the currents, so they should not lead you to currents you can't handle unless you ask them too. I've seen the inhouse instructors discouraging some of the less killed dive guests to go on certain spots, usually there are two dive groups that can evolve every day according to the divers skills and wishes, if you don't like currents you won't be taken into the currents.
This is also one of the reason why I recommend diving Alor with a land resort rather than a liveaboard that don't have the same experience as the "locals".
They are able to schedule dives accroding to the tides and assess the currents, so they should not lead you to currents you can't handle unless you ask them too. I've seen the inhouse instructors discouraging some of the less killed dive guests to go on certain spots, usually there are two dive groups that can evolve every day according to the divers skills and wishes, if you don't like currents you won't be taken into the currents.
This is also one of the reason why I recommend diving Alor with a land resort rather than a liveaboard that don't have the same experience as the "locals".
We stayed at Alor Divers for two weeks in Oct 2016.
We had two boat dives a day, the house reef could also be a drift dive with the boat dropping you off or picking you up if there was a current running. Night dives were always to and from the moored boats on the house reef.
It was certainly reef and wall oriented as the muck sites were further away from the resort. The Bacalan Pier dive was a great mix of muck and reef creatures.
We had some crazy currents but I have to say the guides got it spot on most of the time. The only time we had a dangerous down current was due to a last minute dive site change. The arrival of a big boatload of divers from Le Petit Kepa to the dive site that we were already on called for a change of plan. I have to say I stuck with the guide and he made sure that I stayed out of the washing machine that was going on around us. Two strong currents crashing into each other caused a laminar vortex at 20m. He gestured for me to move into an alcove in the reef and wait a few minutes until the strength of the current had dropped. It was interesting watching the bubbles go around and around. After a few minutes we made our way up the reef in a much more manageable current.
We really enjoyed our stay there but it was obvious that the owner's focus had shifted to his new venture (part owner of Alami Alor). A lot of guests moved back and forth between the resorts, from what we heard the newer resort was more luxurious but with two boats at Alor Divers the diving plans were a little more flexible.
Sharon
We had two boat dives a day, the house reef could also be a drift dive with the boat dropping you off or picking you up if there was a current running. Night dives were always to and from the moored boats on the house reef.
It was certainly reef and wall oriented as the muck sites were further away from the resort. The Bacalan Pier dive was a great mix of muck and reef creatures.
We had some crazy currents but I have to say the guides got it spot on most of the time. The only time we had a dangerous down current was due to a last minute dive site change. The arrival of a big boatload of divers from Le Petit Kepa to the dive site that we were already on called for a change of plan. I have to say I stuck with the guide and he made sure that I stayed out of the washing machine that was going on around us. Two strong currents crashing into each other caused a laminar vortex at 20m. He gestured for me to move into an alcove in the reef and wait a few minutes until the strength of the current had dropped. It was interesting watching the bubbles go around and around. After a few minutes we made our way up the reef in a much more manageable current.
We really enjoyed our stay there but it was obvious that the owner's focus had shifted to his new venture (part owner of Alami Alor). A lot of guests moved back and forth between the resorts, from what we heard the newer resort was more luxurious but with two boats at Alor Divers the diving plans were a little more flexible.
Sharon
OP
Immeriswas
Contributor
Sharon, thanks for sharing the nice videos. Gives me a impression and encourages me to go there next autum.
Perhaps there is now 4 ??
I'm a bit confused by these 2 similar sounding Alor dive companies
Dive Alor Dive - 22 years and 4,500 dives in Alor - Tauchen Alor.
Claim to be "the original founders and developers of Alor diving and have been running a land based diving operation in Alor for more than 22 years"
Alor Divers - Eco resort- Alor Archipelago - Indonesia
"We are Gilles and Neya, a French Slovenian couple..."
I'm a bit confused by these 2 similar sounding Alor dive companies
Dive Alor Dive - 22 years and 4,500 dives in Alor - Tauchen Alor.
Claim to be "the original founders and developers of Alor diving and have been running a land based diving operation in Alor for more than 22 years"
Alor Divers - Eco resort- Alor Archipelago - Indonesia
"We are Gilles and Neya, a French Slovenian couple..."
Luko
Contributor
Dive Alor Dive is australian owned by Donovan Whitford , he really is the pionneer in diving Alor (he's the one refered by Kal Muller in the mythical Periplus book "Dive Indonesia", that we Indonesian lovers have all read at least 15 times), however they are based in Kupang and don't own a land resort in Alor but use of the hotels in Kalabahi and local boats.
They are not permentely based in Alor and operate whenever they have a group booked for Alor.
Alor Divers is based in Pantar and that's the lovely resort on a sand beach owned by French (now indonesian citizen) and Slovenian couple.
They are not permentely based in Alor and operate whenever they have a group booked for Alor.
Alor Divers is based in Pantar and that's the lovely resort on a sand beach owned by French (now indonesian citizen) and Slovenian couple.
Dan
Contributor
I was in Alor Divers back in 2012. When Giles took us to the resort, tons of dolphins greeted us. Check out the video, below.
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No matter where you choose to stay, be sure to bring enough wetsuit and a hooded vest. Like a knucklehead, before I visited Alor I didn't pay all that much attention and froze my backside off. Completely my fault. One day I will head back with a bunch of neoprene and have a much better time.
Alor is a unique place. I stayed at La P'tite Kepa and enjoyed it. It is backpacker, but the rooms are cool at night, they have tons of beer, great sunsets, and decent food. The staff is as nice as can be. The dive boat is big and slow, but it is nice to have a toilet (cold water equals much time in the head) and space to stretch out in the sun. There ain't much else to do on Kepa, so there really is no real reason to rush around and get back to the island. Sadly, they only do two dives a day. I sure wished they did one more as afternoons are pretty chill.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Alor is a unique place. I stayed at La P'tite Kepa and enjoyed it. It is backpacker, but the rooms are cool at night, they have tons of beer, great sunsets, and decent food. The staff is as nice as can be. The dive boat is big and slow, but it is nice to have a toilet (cold water equals much time in the head) and space to stretch out in the sun. There ain't much else to do on Kepa, so there really is no real reason to rush around and get back to the island. Sadly, they only do two dives a day. I sure wished they did one more as afternoons are pretty chill.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Huge love for La Petite Kepa. The first row traditional huts are da bomb: open your eyes first thing in the morning and the view is so pretty your eyes hurt. Sometime a whale or two. One time a guy snorkelled in the house reef and he swore he saw 6 different sharks. Another time I went snorkeling and a mama shark with her two babies followed me around in the shallow reefs waiting to pounce on me and eat me. Ha. One time my eyes hurt from sunscreen so passed the dive and lay around on the boat while the crew fished. Suddenly a school of dolphins congregated to eat. Put my mask snorkel fins on and jumped in the sea and swam with the dolphins. Then looked around and boat was gone - far far away they were picking up divers. Alone, with the dolphins, in darkest blue water, the long narrow huge bay empty as far as eye can see. Sometimes the best experiences are not the dives.
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