Diving and Snorkeling in Flores

Part of the Flores travel guide — see every topic in All Flores Guides.

Flores sits in the middle of the Coral Triangle and its diving is good, varied and almost completely uncrowded outside Komodo. Maumere Bay on the north coast was one of Indonesia's first dive destinations before a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and tsunami in 1992 devastated the reefs and the town; the reefs have substantially recovered and the area is quiet again. Riung's marine park in the north has easy shallow snorkelling among small islands. Further east, Alor has some of the most demanding and rewarding diving in the country.

Maumere

The bay and the islands off it — Babi, Pangabatang and the reefs around them — hold sloping walls, coral gardens and good macro life, with resorts on the coast east of the town running boat trips. The 1992 earthquake and tsunami killed over two thousand people and destroyed much of the reef; the recovery has been slow and patchy but is real, and the diving is now decent rather than spectacular, with the advantage that you will not share a site. A two-tank day is 900,000–1,500,000 rupiah.

Riung and the seventeen islands

On the north coast, a marine park of small islands — more than seventeen despite the name, which was chosen to match Indonesia's independence day — with white-sand beaches, shallow coral and a large flying fox colony in the mangroves that leaves at dusk. Boat trips from Riung village visit three or four islands with snorkelling stops for 500,000–900,000 rupiah per boat, split among whoever is going. It is a relaxed, shallow, easy day and Riung itself is a quiet fishing town with a handful of homestays.

Alor

East of Flores proper and reached by flight or ferry, Alor is a serious dive destination: strong currents through the Pantar Strait, dramatic walls, black-sand muck sites with rare critters, and cold thermoclines that surprise people. It has a small number of operators and a reputation among experienced divers for both the quality and the demands. It also has traditional villages in the interior and a well-known ikat weaving tradition. Getting there takes a day from Flores, which is why almost nobody does.

Practicalities

The dry season, roughly April to October, gives the best conditions everywhere, with visibility highest around the middle of it. Operators are few and small, so book ahead rather than turning up. There is no decompression chamber on Flores; the nearest are in Bali and Labuan Bajo has facilities, so dive conservatively and insure for evacuation. Bring your own mask and computer. And note that Komodo, at the western tip, is a completely different and far more famous proposition — covered separately.

Diving and Snorkeling at a glance

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