Alor September 2019

25th August to 5th of September 2019

with the Samambaia Liveaboard in Alor

This trip is now SOLD OUT, if you would like to be put on the waiting list please Contact Us today.

Join us in Alor for an incredible trip on board of the beautiful Samambaia Liveaboard. The Samambaia crew is one of the most experienced operators in the area, they conduct several trips in the region every year. Alor is one of the most incredible locations in the Indonesian Archipelago with great wall dives and some of the best macro sites in Indonesia.

The remote and untouched 18 islands of the Alor and Solor group are considered one of the best diving destinations in Asia. This is not a busy tourist area and only a few divers have explored these waters.

Expect excellent dives on sheer walls with beautiful corals, black sand sites with amazing critters such as frogfish, ghost pipefish, colourful nudibranchs and the wonderful rhinopia scorpionfish.

Interact with locals in traditional canoes wearing the traditional wooden googles and maybe even swim with a Dugong. An Alor trip is an incredible experience both underwater and at the surface.

The Samambaia

This brand new Liveboard is fitted with all the features of a modern dive boat. With a powerful marine engine that can reach up to 10 knots cruising speed, the Samambaia covers ground quickly. During the design process the focus was focused on every detail. Functionality was paired with aesthetics and quality materials. The layout of the ship was built around the needs of the guests with comfort and service a high priority on board. The atmosphere is relaxed and cozy yet social and private at the same time.

The Alor Itinerary

11 Night Trip

Day 1: Embarkation
Arrival in Maumere with domestic flight. Crew members will pick up guests at the airport. A
general orientation will be given onboard.

Day 2: Serbete & Adonara
After an initial general dive briefing, we will do our check dive at an easy and protected dive
site. Check dive in the sense of you checking your gear and weights, making sure
camera housings are properly sealed and guides are checking your buoyancy. No skill
demonstrations are required.
We will offer two more macro focused dives this day, at two of our
secret spots south of the island of Adonara.

Day 3: Lembata’s Critters
Sandy critter diving par excellence. One spot is at a pier, the other ones are a bit further to the
east. Critter hunting at it’s best: Seahorses, different species of Rhinopias, frogfish, all sorts of cephalopods: Truly a world class dive spot.

Day 4: Lembata South
Time for some action packed diving in the morning. We have two great dive sites here. One
of them is a secret cavern which is home to several White Tip Reef Sharks. The other one,
‘Pulau Suangi’ is a rock, exposed to the open ocean. Stunning coral growth on the reef, very
good fish life, but don’t forget to look out in the blue as we often spot pelagic fish passing
by.

The Famous Whaling Village

In the afternoon we offer a visit to the traditional whaling village of Lamalera. The people of
this village are fundamental animists and are living their ancient traditions until today in our
modern world. Alternatively we offer a dive of course.
We finish this day with a night dive at an excellent secret spot of ours, ‘The Corner Shop’ –
we named it that because it has a little something of everything.

Day 5: Kambing & Pantar
Facing the Savu Sea, the southern coasts of Pantar and Pulau Kambing are exposed to strong
upwellings and swells full of nutrition from the deep. Hence the marine life here is mind
boggling with the potential for large pelagics. Besides the known sites around Pulau Kambing,
our favourites here are our secret spots.

Days 6: Beangabang
A protected bay which is said to have better macro life than the famous Lembeh Strait. Be
prepared for some cold water upwellings which will not stop you from having extended
bottom times if you are a critter lover. No time limit here on the night dive.
An excerpt of the spotting list from 1 (one!) dive we recently did here: Wonderpus, Blue Ring
Octopus, Coconut Octopus, Pegasus, Frogfish, Rhinopias, Ambon Scorpionfish, Robust
Ghostpipefish, Roughsnout Ghostpipefish, Thorny Seahorse, Melibe nudibranch and more!

Day 7: Pura & Alor
Time for some action packed current drift dives with potential for big stuff. All of our dives are
going to be either slope or wall dives. We have spotted here in the past: Oceanic Sunfish,
big Dogtooth Tuna and Thresher Sharks.
Popular dive sites here: School’s Out, Anemone City, The Great Wall of Pantar

Week Two

Day 8: Kalabahi Bay
Today we spend all day hunting critters in the protected bay of Alor’s capital: Kalabahi. With a
little bit of luck our dive guides might show you the ‘Holy Grail of Critter Hunters’, the
Rhinopias. Other than that you can expect: Frogfish, Ghostpipefish, all sorts of cephalopods
and Crustaceans as well as colourful Nudibranchs. Popular dive sites here: Mucky Mosque,
Black Rhino, Pertamina Pier

Day 9: North Alor
Before we leave the area around Alor to head back west again, we will offer you three more
dives here. Either wide-angle wall and slope dives or some more macro dives. Maybe a
blend of both. We make this depending on the preferences of our guests.

Day 10: Lembata & Komba
We will do three dives in daytime. Either at a spot we call ‘The Shark Wall’ or alternatively at
a fantastic critter spot. This depends on the preferences of the group. I

Day 11: Maumere Bay
Our last day before disembarkation we will spend at a beautifully quiet and protected
anchorage in the bay of Maumere. In the morning we offer a wreck dive (Wodong Wreck)
that turns into a critter heaven in the shallows: Pipehorses, Ghostpipefish, Nudibranchs. A
beautiful dive with no time limit to finish this cruise. If your flight schedule permits our guides
will happily offer a second dive as well.
The afternoon we spend at this anchorage, filled with some in-water fun such as wake
boarding and waterskiing and the famous Floating Bar.

Day 12: Disembarkation in Maumere

Depending on your flight schedule, our crew will check your luggage in for you in advance so
you can rest on board and let us shuttle you to the airport when your plane is ready to leave.

Interested in other Underwater Tribe Trips?  Check out our Upcoming Trips page for a list of all of our upcoming travel plans.