My World in Words

It was like entering a time capsule and emerging in a lost world. As the wooden boat crossed the Alor Strait to Kepa Island, taking me to my ‘home’ for the next four days, Alor’s volcanic origin was apparent. Rugged terrain and spectacular backdrops of mountainous forest are obvious results of volcanic actions in the past. Traveling with six friends who had also never been to Alor before, I fell silent on the 15-minute boat ride, taking in every bit of this paradise.

The archipelago had been relatively isolated for centuries due to limited transport, keeping its environment pristine and unspoiled. Today, however, with considerable improvement of transport to Alor and its surroundings, the area has started to flourish as a world-class diving destination. And diving is what we came here to do.

Plunging in on our first dive at a site called Umapura, I was immediately stunned by the grandiose of its underwater scenery. Umapura features an outstanding wall with excellent hard and soft corals.

A bandit sea snake hurriedly swam away as we drifted with the mild current and descended further along the wall. Damsels, lionfish, moray eels and snappers also greeted us on this very first dive. The water was a bit cold at only 26 degrees Celsius, but visibility reached more than 40 meters, giving us a great introduction to the incredible marine biodiversity of Alor.

Biatabang was another great wall. When we reached the reef, the beauty of the wall shone forth with brilliant colors. Azure vase sponges shimmered and a large brain coral glowed a rich crimson. Scorpionfish waved its beautiful yet venomous spines while a tiny purple leaf fish seemed oblivious to our intrusion. But I had to say that the highlight of the day was after the dive when we saw huge schools of dolphins on our way back to land.

On the two next days, we dove at four more sites. Abila is a paradise for cryptic critters such as electric clam and Mandarin fish. Contrastingly, Tangabang was teeming with pelagics. Then there are Bama and Limarahing. ‘Action’ began as soon as we submerged as underwater residents entertained us throughout both dives. At Limarahing we even saw spawning aggregation of groupers. That was a perfect way to end our trip.

We set a course for land while offering up a fervent prayer of thanks for such a rare glimpse into the raw passion of life in the heart of Alor’s bountiful sea. This trip was certainly too short and we made a promise to return for more. Till next time, Alor!