Alor Archipelago

Alor sits at the eastern end of the Nusa Tenggara chain and is known among divers for the Pantar Strait, where cold water pushed up from the deep by strong currents brings nutrients and, with them, a density and strangeness of marine life that puts these sites among the best in Indonesia - along with genuinely dangerous currents that require experience. On land the archipelago is linguistically extraordinary: dozens of distinct languages are spoken across a small area, most of them non-Austronesian Papuan languages, an outlier that far west. The moko, small bronze drums of uncertain origin found across Alor and used as bride price and heirloom, have been debated for a century - Dong Son, Javanese and other sources are proposed. Villages inland keep distinct traditions.

What you actually see

• Cold-current diving - upwelling in the Pantar Strait feeding exceptional marine life.
• Dozens of languages - mostly Papuan, in a small archipelago far west of New Guinea.
• Moko bronze drums - heirloom drums of contested origin, used as bride price.
• Traditional inland villages - Takpala and others with distinct house forms.

When to go

May to October. Four days.

Honest expectations

Currents here are strong and have killed divers - go with experienced operators only. Flights are small and cancelled often. Facilities in Kalabahi are basic; banking is limited.

Nearby

Pantar is across the strait; Flores and Larantuka are west; Timor is south.