I spent a fantastic week in October 2024 diving with Alor Divers Echo Resort.
Getting to Alor is a bit of an adventure. It is a 4-hour flight from Jakarta (CGK) to Kupang (KOE) or a 1 hour and 45 minutes flight from Bali (DPS) to Kupang (KOE), and another hour flight from Kupang (KOE) to Alor (ARD), a 40-minute taxi ride from the airport to Alor Kecil and, finally a 20-minute boat ride to Pantar island where Alor Divers is located. As one can see, Alor is well off the beaten path for most tourists, but diving is well worth the long journey.

Alor Divers Echo Resort is the oldest dive resort in Alor with great dive masters, friendly staff and excellent food. The accommodations are rustic with no A/C, but the bungalows are well ventilated with air flowing beneath the roof. All rooms have electric fans, large tables with many outlets to charge batteries and comfortable beds enclosed by mosquito nets. However, there are few mosquitoes during the dry season. All bungalows have on demand water heaters for hot showers. There is a gorgeous view from the bungalow where I could see the sun rise. The resort has very fast Wi-Fi reception except for the dining area in order to facilitate guest interaction without distraction from mobile media.

The food is very fresh with lots of vegetables, fish and meat. It is not oily like other places in Indonesia. This was my second trip to Indonesia and the food was far better than in many resorts, restaurants and live-aboard that I experienced. Alor Divers has beer and wine but no liquor. If you partake in hard liquor, you can bring one liter of liquor duty free into the country.

The resort has a very nice house reef. We boarded a proa on the beach in order to get to the dive boat that was anchored 30 meters away. I recommend wearing sandals or booties to avoid hurting your feet on the rocks and pebbles.

They have 3 dive boats with 200 HP engines that whisk you to and from the dive sites rapidly. The diving was spectacular for several reasons: strong currents bring nutrients which attract fish, the variety of hard and soft coral formations, pristine reefs, great visibility (15 to 35 meters). That visibility affords views of stunningly diverse sights: vibrant, healthy coral reefs teeming with fish, crustaceans, and plant life.

The strongest current can be found at Bama Wall because of the narrow straight between Pantar and Pura Islands. All dives were planned either during slack water or ebb tides. My favorite dive sites are listed below:

Bama Wall offers a stunning vertical drop teeming with marine life. It's perfect for spotting schooling fish, nudibranchs, and occasionally, larger pelagics like sharks and rays. It is great for both macro and wide-angle photography. I saw many anthias, fusiliers, and sweetlips, a few sharks and turtles.

Yellow Corner has strong currents, so we dove to 35 meters for 4 minutes in order not to get swept away, then ascended to 10 meters and hooked on a plateau waiting for the hammerheads. They did not rendezvous, but I saw 3 large grey sharks.

Biatabang, also called Babylon, located in the southeast of Ternate Island, is renowned for its rich biodiversity. The site features a reef wall dropping to 28 meters, bustling with numerous species of reef fish and colorful corals, providing excellent photo opportunities. I saw bubu (local fish trap), lots of schooling fish and soft corals.

The Edge, located in the northeast of Ternate Island, has some current with a drop off. I saw a frogfish, many anthias, trevallies and fusiliers with some sharks and turtles.

Jetty had a frogfish comfortably resting in its sponge with a high view atop the pillars. But surprises are everywhere. I saw a ghost pipefish.

I dove 10 times in 5 days, so I did not have enough time to see other dive sites such as the Arch and Cathedral.

One drawback is that the resort does not accept credit cards to pay for incidentals and tips, but I made a wire transfer at the end of the trip.

Diving in Alor was stupendous and I plan to come back soon.

Laurent Lafosse