Alor's top dive sites

Deep in the heart of the Coral Triangle, in one of the planet’s most biodiverse regions, Alor and the nearby Pantar Strait offer incredible and uncrowded scuba experiences for advanced and adventurous divers. Utilising our first-hand experience of this remote destination, we’ve selected some of Alor’s very best dive sites, helping you create the perfect dive trip. 

These sensational dive sites offer a variety of experiences – from stunning coral gardens and plummeting reef walls, to powerful currents, cryptic macro critters, and vast schools of hammerheads – and you’ll likely have them all to yourself! 

At a glance…

• Considered one of Indonesia’s last diving frontiers
• Remote location, free from tourist crowds
• Exceptional marine biodiversity, ranging from macro to megafauna
• Cold, plankton-packed upwellings and powerful currents

This fantastically diverse diving area lies more than a thousand kilometres east of Bali, in a little-explored area commonly considered one of Indonesia's last diving frontiers. Above water, you’ll have the opportunity to explore traditional local villages, trek to volcanic peaks, relax in rustic resorts and homestays, or just take it easy in a hammock under a patch of swaying palms. This is the perfect place to get away from it all and focus on the underwater world and exploring what Indonesia has to offer. 

The seas surrounding Alor and the nearby islands are home to a range of marine habitats and exceptional marine biodiversity, with thousands of species from mighty mola molas to minuscule pygmy seahorses. The region’s thriving reefs receive a daily influx of nutrients thanks to powerful currents that filter through the Pantar Strait, fuelling incredible coral growth. Cold, plankton-packed upwellings also rise from the ocean depths, supporting a marine ecosystem that harbours plenty of sizeable species – including some of the biggest of all. Top that all off with expanses of volcanic silt and muck and mangroves, and you have all the ingredients for an exceptional range of marine creatures.

There are dozens of dive sites around Alor, with new hotspots being discovered all the time. Divers can comb submerged volcanic slopes in search of frogfish barely larger than a fingernail, scour vertical coral-carpeted walls for gorgonian sea fans loaded with pygmy seahorses, or head out into the blue where you might find schooling hammerheads – and that’s all before the night dive!

The conditions in Alor aren’t for beginners but intermediate and advanced divers will find themselves blown away by what they find here. And, to give you a little taste of what’s to come, here’s a selection of Alor’s best dives sites.

This towering pinnacle is one of Alor's most known sites, with near-vertical walls blanketed in colourful soft coral. You'll descend through schooling reef fish, then let the current carry you along for a high-speed drift. Though it's easy to turn your gaze and focus on the wall itself, the real treat here is what passes by in the blue, where sharks, rays, and barracuda join pelagics like tuna and trevally. Even rare animals like mola mola are known to make surprise appearances! Schooling hammerheads are often seen here, especially during dawn dives.

As its name suggests, this site is home to powerful, and sometimes positively ripping, currents. A fast-paced drift packed with pelagic action, this massive underwater ridge is exposed on all sides to the power of the sea, and plummets sharply to the abyss. You'll spend most of your dive cruising the deepwater drop-off here, where reef sharks, massive trevally, and tuna buzz by in the blue. Current Alley is one of Alor’s most reliable sites for hammerhead encounters, as they gracefully emerge from the depths.

Depending on the conditions, you'll spend your dive zig-zagging back and forth over massive hard coral gardens, or drift slowly along the drop-off, combining this site with neighbouring Clown Valley – an area home to more anemones than any other known reef! This is an excellent site for wide-angle photography, with fascinating formations and nearly-guaranteed encounters with reef sharks. Other wildlife commonly seen here includes dogtooth tuna, trevally, and sea turtles, not to mention massive schools of anthias gracefully shimmering and flashing in the gentle current.

This is easily Alor's best muck dive, with a combination of silt, mud, and rubble, ideal for a full-on macro hunt. Keep your eyes peeled for elusive animals like the blue-ringed octopus and bobbit squid, well camouflaged among the debris, as well as rare species like the paddleflap scorpionfish. This site is also home to countless nudibranchs and flatworms, as well as minuscule crabs, shrimp, and tube dwellers like blennies and gobies. The black volcanic sand in much of Kalabahi Bay creates a striking backdrop for some of Alor’s most colourful species, making it a favourite site among underwater photographers.

This site features a unique bottom composition, with a sprawling garden of pink soft coral trees rising several metres in height rising from the sandy seafloor – one of Alor's most photographed underwater attractions. Once you've paid a visit to this strange, submerged forest, you'll likely spend the rest of your dive exploring the reef’s edge, where vast schools of colourful reef fish stream along the near-vertical drop-off  and just about anything could potentially pass by in the current. Sponges, black coral bushes, sea whips, and massive gorgonian fans coat this picturesque wall, gently swaying in the site's flowing waters, making for a lovely and leisurely drift.

This is one of Alor’s few sites where the reef itself isn’t a main attraction. Instead, divers drift along in the current, intently focused on the open ocean. Bigger marine life of all kinds can turn up here, with sharks, mola mola, and even migratory cetaceans like dolphins and blue whales! Depending on the day's conditions, your group may head out into the open ocean, where hammerheads might pass by. Deep water species also grace this site, with thresher sharks sometimes seen during dawn dives. 

This site is particularly prone to cold upwellings, making for a fascinating, if at times chilly, underwater experience. You'll likely pass through several thermoclines during your descent, with a chance for extreme temperature differences ranging more than 20°C from top to bottom. Then, feast your eyes on a stunning array of hard and soft coral swarming with minuscule marine life. Lucky macro hunters will find leaf scorpion fish, pygmy seahorses, frogfish, nudibranchs, and more. If you look up from the coral for long enough, you might also spot bamboo sharks, massive marble rays, and banded sea kraits.

Also known as Bamah Wall, this site boasts the most scenic drop-off in Pantar, just across the strait from Alor. The wall itself is awash in orange and pink, with soft coral trees, sponges, sea fans, and anthias all gently swaying in the current. Drift through giant schools of snapper, barracuda, and rainbow runners, suddenly splitting for the occasional passing shark. Napoleon wrasse, bumphead parrotfish, and other large species commonly pass by here, but it’s easy to get lost in the reef itself. Peer into crevasses to find kaleidoscopic nudibranchs, leaf fish, and mantis shrimp, and keep an eye out for fast-moving and hard to spot juvenile reef fish.