How To Get To Alor
Being located in the Far East of Indonesia, common people tend to skip this destination as they are hesitant to travel this far. Although it requires an extra effort to reach, Alor offers exceptional diving experience, renowned as one of the most beautiful dive sites with pristine coral reefs and abundant marine life. By having these array of choices, you also get the experience to enjoy private dive sites, seeing no other people aside from your buddies and your dive guide.
Indeed, we are tucked away in the far South East of Indonesia, yet getting to Alor is not that difficult actually. You can fly to Alor from Jakarta, Surabaya, or Bali with Kupang as a transit point. Mali Airport (ARD) is the name of the domestic airport in Alor Island, to ensure that you choose the right one, as there is another Alor in Malaysia (Alor Setar), not this one. As per today, the schedule only has one option: fly and transit in Kupang (KOE), before heading to Alor with a smaller plane (ATR 72) by Wings Air.
There are daily flights from Jakarta to Kupang, we will suggest that you take a Batik Air flight that leaves Jakarta around 02:35 AM and will arrive in Kupang around 06:35 AM. From this you can continue to take the first flight from Kupang to Alor with Wings Air (they are the same company, so you don't need to transfer your baggage manually), and the flight leaves from Kupang at 8.40 AM and will arrive at 09:20 AM in Alor. Please make sure that you have enough baggage allowance when you bring your own gear, Batik Air provides you 20 KG free baggage all the way to Wings Air when you booked your ticket within the same booking code.
You can also find these possible alternative domestic routes:
- Via Jakarta.
- Via Surabaya.
- Via Bali.
For those who fly to Indonesia from other countries (international flights), the best route would be via Singapore. It is relatively cheaper and obviously more convenient compared to other airport hubs in South-East Asia. Singapore also offers a really good deal in-transit, more selection of flights, and excellent airport facilities.
The other popular alternative is taking a fast boat from Kupang - Alor (return), 3x per week. It can cut-off significant costs and you'll get flexibility if you bring heavy baggage. See the following details:
- Name: KM Bahari Express
- Time: 6 hours
- Ticket Price: IDR 275,000 (Eksekutif), IDR 410,000 (VIP)
- Baggage: up to 40kg
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Schedule:
- Kupang to Alor: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, at 10am
- Alor to Kupang: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, at 10am
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Contact for ticket:
- Kupang: +62 852 54224671 / +6281239100025 / +62 821 99913131
- Kalabahi, Alor: +6282144197900 (Rahimin)
For those who are a little bit more adventurous, the East of Indonesia is famous for its stunning scenic routes throughout the archipelago, especially from Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa all the way to the province of East Nusa Tenggara. For this kind of long journey experience, there are boats and ferries available which can take you to Alor Island from Larantuka (Flores Island), Lewoleba (Lembata Island), and Kupang (the capital province of East Nusa Tenggara, located in Timor Island).
Considering there are no daily schedules for these boats & ferries, you need to check the schedule with the locals as it can be changed due to weather conditions. For more details of these schedules, you can check on www.pelni.co.id
So… There are many alternatives available that you can choose to experience another hidden diving jewel in Indonesia. Someone said, if Raja Ampat is a Gold and Komodo is a Diamond, we can call Alor as Imperial Jade, Emerald, Ruby or even Sapphire, such an astonishing diving destination.