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Dive Review of Alami Alor/Same in
Indonesia/Alor

Alami Alor/Same: "Lot's of black sand diving and chilly water---Great Diving", Sep, 2022,

by Michael J. Millet, CA, US (Top Contributor Top Contributor 96 reports with 61 Helpful votes). Report 12094 has 2 Helpful votes.

Photos Submitted with this Report


Click on an image to see an enlarged version and captions

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 5 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Our original booking was for 10 nights at Alami Alor Resort. However, due to the flight cancellations and schedule changes, it was necessary to spend an extra night in Kupang, Timor. So we stayed 9 nights at the resort. The resort did not offer any consideration for the night that we missed. The resort was aware that we would be arriving a day late.

Upon arrival at the resort, we were able to do a couple of afternoon black sand dives in Kalabahi Bay. I did 24 dives at Alami that were about evenly split between Kalabahi Bay and the walls and coral gardens at the islands located outside the bay. (See the dive site map).

The dive day started at 8 AM with a 2-tank trip. The boat time in the bay was 5-10 minutes and 30-45 minutes to the outer islands. The 1-tank afternoon dive was at about 2:30 PM. I also did 3 dives on the house reef with just a giant stride off the boat dock.

The local dives were all black sand diving in the bay. The water temps here were in the low 80’s so a 3mm wetsuit was adequate. There was very little current on these dives. The dives at the outer islands (Pura, Ternate, Pantar) were on coral gardens and walls providing a nice change from the black sand. There was considerable current at some these dive sites and the water temp was noticeably colder (76-78F). The Bakalang Jetty on Pantar Island and Babylon on Ternate Island were very nice dives.

Our party of 4 were provided 2 dive guides who were very knowledgeable regarding the dive sites and were excellent critter finders. However, at times, my dive guide would spend the last several minutes of a dive practicing his bubble rings rather than finding photo opportunities for us. The crew would bring the dive gear to the boats at the beginning of the dive day, change tanks and then rinse and hang dive gear at the completion of the dive day.

The resort has an excellent camera room with plenty of space and electrical outlets. It also has A/C. The dive operation would be greatly improved if a restroom was added to the dive center. Currently. it is either slogging back to one’s room or just peeing off the dock.

The rooms at the resort are quite spacious and very clean. The toilet and shower are outside in a secluded outdoor bathroom. The rooms have decks providing very nice views of the bay at sunset. The rooms have plenty of closet space and also have a desk. An improvement to the rooms would be the addition of reading lights. The rooms have A/C and ceiling fans.

Breakfast is made-to-order and begins about 7 AM. When diving in the bay, the boat returns to the resort for lunch. Lunch is provided on the boat when diving the outer islands. Lunch and dinner is primarily Indonesian food, which is both tasty and interesting. Unfortunately, the tuna steaks and some pork and chicken dishes were often over-cooked— very dry.

The staff, including the management team of Max and Rhome, were always quite helpful and truly interested in making sure the guests had a great experience at Alami.

Would I make a return visit to Alami Alor? Perhaps, if the air travel is less complicated and shorter than the 48+ hours that it took to get there on this trip.

Websites Alami Alor   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving All over the Caribbean; Galapagos, Socorro, Fiji, Solomons, GBR, Vanuatu,
PNG, Philippines, Indonesia, Palau, Yap, Kosrae
Closest Airport Alor Getting There Due to cancelled and changing flights, it was necessary to overnight in both Bali and again in Kupang, Timor. We arrived Alor one day later than originally planned due to the airline schedules.

Dive Conditions

Weather dry Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 76-82°F / 24-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions No Deco; 60-70 min. dives
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles None Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 5 stars
Small Critters 5 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments The photography at Alami is primarily macro; the walls at the outer island dive sites do provide some wide-angle opportunities. The resort has an excellent camera room with plenty of space and electrical outlets. It also has A/C. The dive guides are very good at finding critters and know the dive sites very well.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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