Cruises
East Flores – Alor
Your adventure hits the high point
New discoveries every day
Miraculous and mostly untouched dive sites around Alor are waiting to be discovered by you. Most of them are hidden in the nutrient-rich Pantar Straits between Alor and Pantar. Over many years, Pindito uncovered some of the most secret mysteries of marine wonderlands that remain unknown to other liveaboards. Expect to immerse yourself in a diving paradise brimming over with vibrant creatures. And with a little luck, you might run into sunfish, hammerhead sharks, humpback whales and even marlin and sailfish.
What about the muck diving? There are many sites here to explore. Got a critter wish list? Start ticking these off here.
Pindito never has a set itinerary. We plan our trips and water activities based on weather, tides and currents. From our expertise and experience, we know the ideal sea conditions for all the best and famous sites and when to dive them. And of course we have the not so famous, and even secret, equally spectacular sites that only a few of us know about.
The view has never been wilder
Immerse yourself in the magical diver paradise of East Flores
Click on the marks to see frequently visited stop overs
Alor & Kumba
On the island of Kumba there is a spectacular volcano that contributes to some of the most gorgeous sunsets and sea vistas in this exotic destination. The surrounding waters harbor food-rich currents and cool waters (70-75 F), fantastic conditions for encounters with larger marine animals. White-tip and grey reef sharks, giant groupers, mantas, mola-mola, and whale sharks can be spotted around Kumba Island. Due to the volcanic activity you can also see streams of bubbles dramatically rising from the sand and surrounding reef.
On Alor you will have an opportunity to visit a local village. Here there are still local rituals that are practiced regularly. Visit the local market, where people sell everything from fresh exotic fruits, seafood, spices, handicrafts and clothing. The locals are very friendly and their smiling faces welcome visitors coming to their islands.
Buaya, Ternate & Pura
These small islands are situated in the Pantar Strait between Alor and Pantar. The water here at some dive spots like “The Bullet” or “Sharks Gallore” can get really cool (70-72F). We highly recommended that our divers use a 5-7mm wetsuit here and for some, a hood provides welcome warmth. But with the cool waters comes the opportunity of pelagics and riotous marine-life richness. There are also a couple of beautiful critter spots with mating mandarinfish, cryptic crawling Ambon scorpion fish, pensive Pegasus sea moths, secretive seahorses and unusual crustaceans. One of the highlights of these dives are the bamboo shark sightings, a species found very few other places in the world. Above water you can see whales and dolphins and with a little luck you can spot pilot whales and whalesharks.
Pantar & Marisa
Around these small islands you should keep your eyes open for octopus. Along the seabed move “close and slow” as you scan for mimic octopus, wonderpus, and the blue-ringed octopus. Also look for various scorpionfish species including Rhinopias. Next watch out for flying gurnards sneaking around the black sand landscape. Nestled in small sea fans, hydroids or crinoids, you can spot ghost pipefish, skeleton shrimps, decorator crabs, commensal shrimps and angling frogfish. The black sand provides welcome contrast for the vivid colors of the otherwise cryptic critters and it guarantees images that “pop”!
Kawula
Kawula offers the perfect habitat for muck critters. The visibility may be limited to 25ft, but these sites are meccas for frogfish, seahorses, rare scorpionfish, pipefish, and commensal crustaceans.
Solor
In Solor you may get the chance to visit the small village “Lamalera”, which is located in a little bay close to an old volcano. It is the extremely unique and traditional way of sustenance hunting that brings us to this village.
Lamalera may be the only place in the world where the locals go whale hunting using traditional methods. The methods are ancient and are passed on from generation to generation. The villagers sail out to the sea in their wooden dug-outs and hunt for sperm whales with simple bamboo spears. Occasionally they are successful, and when this rare event occurs the meat is shared throughout the village providing the rare necessity of protein for these people.
This area also has some amazing diving. We have spent some time exploring new places and have discovered pristine beautiful reefs, that are super fishy, lots of reef sharks and with occasional big stuff passing by.
Adonara
Many colorful species of corals and textured sponges adorn these lovely reefs. The 3-D structure forms rich habitat for a diverse fauna of coral reef species. Adonara sites are also notable places to see and film pygmy seahorses clinging to the gorgonian sea fans whose polyps and coloration the pygmies have evolved to match perfectly. You will also see schools of snappers, sweet lips and giant trevallies along the drop-offs. Keep an eye out for sea turtles, manta rays, reef sharks and other pelagics as you approach reef points and buttress edges.
Maumere
We may finish this cruise with dives in “Muck Central”… Maumere (on the island of Flores). Pindito is the original pioneer of this sleepy Indonesian fishing port that teems with cryptic odd-balls including frogfishes, Ambon Scorpionfishes, leaf-fishes, mercurial schools of venomous catfishes, mandarinfishes, seahorses, giant pen shells in black coral hedges under the town pier, bunches of purple tunicates, harlequin shrimps and so on. This is an awesome place for you to Photograph cool critters. And here you can fill up the final bits of digital memory in your reserve and you can create memories that will fuel your imagination for years to come.
Our next cruises
