There are fifteen islands northeast of East Nusa Tenggara. Two of them, namely the islands of Alor and Pantar, are separated by a strait full of beautiful coral and marine life. Pantar Strait even serves as a marine park, driving tourism in Alor regency.
Even foreign tourists who have traveled around the world admit that Pantar Strait Marine Park is the second most beautiful in the world only losing out to the beauty of Caribbean Islands Marine Park in South America. Is this true? The foreign tourists are acknowledging it.
From Kompas’ observations from a transparent glass motorized boat traveling for two hours in the waters of Pantar Strait Marine Park, millions of colorful unique corals could be seen. The corals decorating the seabed are purple, green, yellow, brown, red, gray, orange and white.
Arsip Dinas Pariwisata Alor
The Sea Park in Pantar Alor strait in East Nusa Tenggara has its own unique characteristics. Various types of coral and sea plants are found here. Every morning and evening, hundreds of dolphins dance in the waters in the strait. This photo was taken on Thursday (27/10/2016).
The Pantar Strait is also enlivened by beautiful fish, including flashers, aliens and invanders. The fish are multicolored, each having three to four colors. There were also shoals of reef and pelagic fish adorning the underwater panorama.
The underwater beauty clearly constitutes wealth for Alor regency, which has a total area of 2,864.64 square kilometers. Alor regency borders the waters of Timor Leste and Southwest Maluku regency.
Of course there is no other way to enjoy Pantar Strait Marine Park than diving straight in. A week is apparently insufficient to satisfy the desire to see the park’s entire beauty. Why? Because there are at least 26 diving points in the marine park.
These include Fallt Line, Peter’s Prize, Crocodile Rook, Cave Point, Baeylon, the Edge, the Arch, the pacth, Nite Delht, Kal’s Dream, the Ball, Trip Top, the Mlai Hall, No Man’s Land, Half Moon Bay and the Cathedral.
Meanwhile, around Pantar Island alone there are 18 diving points called “Baruna’s Dive Site at Alor”. The 18 diving points include Baruna’s Point, Never Never Wall, Cave Point, Three Coconut and Rahim’s Point.
Don\'t be surprised if the names of the diving points are in English because it was foreign divers who first came to enjoy Pantar Strait. They named the diving points. Moreover, it must be recognized that they dive better that most Indonesians.
Mulut Kumbang
Between Alor Island, precisely in Alor Kecil village, and Kepa Island, is Kumbang Strait, locally known as Mulut Kumbang (the Beetle’s Mouth). In this strait, especially between May and September, swarms of dolphins can be seen, as well as low-flying fish-eating birds.
The presence of the dolphins and fish-eating birds is usually sparked by changes in water temperature.
This phenomenon often attracts the attention of foreign tourists who wait at certain points to take photographs of themselves with a background of dancing dolphins.
When Kompas arrived at the strait, a boat with about 20 foreign tourists onboard had docked in the strait. Several tourists were seen jumping into the sea to dive and snorkel.
After watching the dolphins at Mulut Kumbang, the tourists usually unwind on Kepa Island. On this island is La P\'tite Kepa lodging, which has four villas belonging to a couple from France.
Even though it is not a luxury inn, there are always foreign tourists staying there. Journeys to Kepa Island are usually in two stages, namely a 30-minute drive by motorcycle or car from Kalabahi, the capital of Alor regency, to Alor Kecil. Then from Alor Kecil the journey continues in boats belonging to the local people, taking about 20 minutes to reach Kepa Island.
Not boring
Esther Nanchy, 43, a tourist on Kepa Island from Australia, said she liked Alor very much because nearly all the tourist attractions could be found there. Diving was not boring because of the many diving points.
"After we dive, we can go to the traditional village of Takpala to see the 1,000 Moko Museum or Nekara in Kalabahi or to see the fishing kampong in Alor Besar. In the 1,000 Moko Museum there are usually dance performances or art displays. Sometimes, we go trekking up Mount Koya-Koya or Mount Delaki Sirung on Pantar Island," said Nancy, who is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia as she has frequently explored Indonesia.
Aside from Kepa Island, to the west is Pura Island, which has eight villages and a population of about 16,760 inhabitants. Their main livelihood is fishing, dry-land farming and tapping palm sap. Foreign tourists can explore the villages.
To the north of Pura Island is Ternate Island. The name of the island is the same as that of Ternate Island in North Maluku. It turns out the ancestors of the inhabitants of Ternate Island in Alor were from North Maluku and came to Alor to teach about Islam.
Meanwhile, the northernmost island in Pantar Strait is Buaya Island. Inhabitants of the islands mostly rely on fishing and farming as their main livelihood.
How do you reach Pantar Strait Marine Park? From Jakarta, visitors can take a direct flight to Mali airport on Alor Island, transiting at El Tari airport in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. The total flight time varies from five to nine hours, depending on the route and flight schedule.
Certainly it is not cheap. Monitoring airline ticket prices in February 2017, tickets to Alor can costs three times those to Singapore.
However, if visitors want to really feel the atmosphere of an island province, they can travel from Kupang by boat straight to Kalabahi. The other option is by ferry from Kupang to Larantuka, Flores. From Larantuke the journey can be continued on wooden boats to Kalabahi port on Alor island.
Travelling by boat from Kupang will of course take a long time. However, the experience will certainly not be forgotten, even avoiding the season of high waves.
