Route Description - East flores & Alor or Komodo
Maumere - Maumere for Alor
or
Maumere - Labuan Bajo for East Flores & Komodo
The beginning of your trip
The closest airport is Maumere airport (MOF)
Pickup time at the airport is according to your flights. Give yourself enough time to go through immigration and pickup your bags
You will be met by someone carrying a Samambaia sign who will take you directly to the boat
Hotel pickup time is in the morning
You can check in on the boat as of 12:00
The boat departs Maumere early in the afternoon on the same day
Itinerary highlights
If you dream of perfect isolation, crystal clear waters and magnificent corals then liveaboard in Alor is definitely for you
Frogfish, Snappers and Barracuda are there. White Tipped and Grey reef sharks patroll around the reefs or sleep with their tails sticking out from under table corals.
The remoteness of the islands has led to reefs bursting with life, huge seafans and sponges, some monumental hard corals, and more fish than your mask can cope with.
At most sites you'll see enormous schools of fusiliers and thousands of redtooth tirggerfish but also prolific mandarinfish and the native Ambon scorpionfish.
No cruise on MV Samambaia is like the other. Every single trip is tailor-made to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The decision on the itinerary is made by the cruise director as we cruise along and is based on factors such as weather conditions, dive conditions, requests of guests and schedules of other liveaboards.
DAY 1
Safety Briefing, Crew Introduction, Necessary Dive Paperwork, Cabin allocation and ship orientation will take place before departing the Harbour.
During the journey to our first dive site for a check dive, please take this opportunity to familiarize yourselves with the vessel and make yourself comfortable.
Dinner on board
Please Note: This is a sample itinerary and nº of dives, dive sites, etc. may be subject to change due to weather conditions and other unforseeable factors
DAY 2 - 6
Diving in Alor is a marine life surprise, with a wealth of small creatures to big fish and mammals
Offer divers the opportunity to see some of the most spectacular and untouched coral reefs in Indonesia along with the chance to witness unique behaviours of the many rare and wonderful critters to be found in the Pantar Strait
Divers can expect to see Rhinopias (lacey scorpionfish), pygmy seahorses, manta rays, schools of trevally and even the occasional whale!
The straits in the area play an important role in the exchange of marine life between the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Each year whales and dolphins travel from the Pacific and Indian Ocean through the deep but narrow Nusa Tenggara island chain. The four island passages between Flores and Alor seem to be some of the richest in large marine life of all of Nusa Tenggara, and are especially abundant in whales and dolphins.
Unspoiled, remote, captivating and accessible Seven Seas, the 2 dozen islands East of Flores are now recognized as one of Asia's top ten dive destinations
Dive sites
Sharks Galore is a must on any Alor dive cruise. This is the place to see Grey reefs sharks, swimming over the reef along with White Tipped reef sharks and Tuna. Big grey reef sharks and white tips tend to cruise around in the company of hefty dog-toothed tuna, sometimes combining to make the human tourists feel very small indeed. Depending on the conditions you may finish this dive in the adjacent site known as Clown Valley.
Clown Valley (Apuri): This dive site is astonishing, because every surface is covered with sea anemones. Nearly all of the anemones are Bulb-tentacle Sea Anemone mostly with Clarks Anemonefishes and a few with Tomato Anemonefish in them. While surfacing you can also noticed bubbles coming out from the ground - a testimony to the volcanic nature of Pura Island.
The twilight zone, or Biangabang beach, is a critter paradise. The area is full of hot springs and volcanic sand perfect for muck diving. There are Sea Moths and Mantis Shrimp to delight photographers and perfect for night dives too.Snake eels stick their heads out of their holes rarely seen in day light but lucky divers may see them hunting aggressively at night. Also on the reef are Spanish dancers that can be seen performing their incredible dance on night dives. The Twilight Zone is also one of the few places in the world where the Djibouti Giant has been seen. Like a Spanish dancer, this huge nudibranch is very rare
Kal's Dream a wonderful and colourful site where a large number and variety of fish are all but guaranteed. Swarms of anthias flicker above the various corals as you look out for the big boys. Depending on your luck you may see schools of fusiliers, surgeons and snappers. Grey reef sharks, barracudas and rays may also be seen
Mucky Mosque dive sites: Along the northern coast of Kalabahi bay are several muck dive sites. These dive sites are also good for night dives. You find from Rhinopias scorpionfishes to leaffishes, ghostpipefishes (Halimeda, Ornate and Robust) to frogfishes, seahorses and dragonets as well as crabs, shrimps and a lot of different nudibranchs. Often long ropes covered with hydroids and small corals come down from the shore - a good place to look for frogfishes perching there.
The Cathedral (Motolang): Above water there is a steep rock wall descending into the sea covered with lots of hard and soft corals and sponges. You can spot Barbiganti seahorses, Potohi Seahorse (in the Halimeda algae), Octopus and different species of Frogfish. There is a swim through with a cave at about 25 meters and if you are lucky you can see huge Nurseshark lying in the cave there
Hari Lalong: A really beautiful dive site with huge rocks lying side by side with many narrow spaces in between to swim through. You can spot Comet fish, Mandarin fishes and large Morey eel. Good for a slow drift dive with a gentle slope at the end, covered with soft corals and plenty of small fish. You finish the dive looking at group of Barracudas in the shallow and taking a close look at the huge coral blocks covered with glassfishes.
In Lembata we have a fantastic new site claimed to be the latest and greatest muck diving area recently discovered in this region. At this site we have found the rare and sought after Rhinopias or "weedy" scorpionfish on every visit to date. Also numerous other rare and unusual forms of marine life are found here, such as frog fish and various species of octopus
DAY 7
Kalabahi Bay - We finish this cruise with the finest muck diving at our favourite secret spots in the bay of Kalabahi.
Two dives in the morning.
In the afternoon we fill the diving gap of the mandatory 18 h break before flying with a land excursion to visit a traditional village of the indigenous people of Alor, the Kabui tribe.
DAY 8
Unfortunately our trip has come to an end and we have to say goodbye, but we hope to see you again soon!
The end of your trip
Your last dives will be on the second to last day in the afternoon
It is your responsibility to ensure you respect the 24 hour no-fly time after your last dive!
The boat docks back in Maumere in the evening on the second to last day
Check out and disembarkation is between 06:00 and 14:00 on the last day.
Hotel drop-off time is in the morning
Airport drop-off time is according to your flights