ALOR Preserving Paradise

Savvy divers know this far-flung archipelago as the home of stunning reefs and exhilarating currents, and now a group of dive operators and conservationists have united with government to ensure the long-term preservation of this very special marine ecosystem

- Anita Verde

Against a gilded dawn sky, a reclusive, torpedo-shaped figure bathed in the day’s first light gently breaks the sea’s surface.

The blue whale, the largest animal to have ever existed, is making its way south from its breeding grounds in the Banda Sea, through Alor’s Pantar Strait, passing by Timor on its way down the west coast of Australia, to its feeding grounds in the Antarctic. This is the Alor Archipelago, a wild and beautiful region of Indonesia located to the east of Flores and to the north of Timor, and an important migratory path for more than 20 species of cetaceans.

Diving in Alor is like stumbling across a treasure chest with a kaleidoscope of colours and hidden gems that take your breath away. Boasting over 50 dive sites, with an array of marine life, the reefs are exceptionally healthy, tourism is relatively undeveloped, and the islands are still inhabited by many of the Flores subethnic peoples who preserve their traditional ways of life. Alor has everything: pristine reefs, sharks, whales, dolphins, rare critters, astonishing visibility and adrenaline pumping currents.