Flores Diving

From marine megafauna to endemic macro treasures, Flores hosts diverse marine life of all shapes and sizes. Discover Maumere’s deep walls, wrecks and sheer drop-offs or visit Komodo for a world of manta rays, Mola mola and fast-paced current diving.

 

Info We don't currently have any dive centers or liveaboards in Flores, but that might change. In the meantime, take a look at other dive experiences nearby in East Nusa Tenggara.

Diving in Flores

When divers mention Flores, the first thought that comes to mind is Komodo National Park, with its swift currents and manta ray squadrons. Yet, there is more to this island in the Lesser Sunda Islands than just the bountiful waters of Komodo. Maumere, located in the middle of Flores, offers impressive wall dives and a multitude of muck dives home to numerous endemic species. Together, Maumere and Komodo National Park showcase world-class drift dives and muck dives as well as dramatic pinnacles, walls and drop-offs where you’ll find everything from frogfish to sunfish as pilot whales stream past in the blue. 
 
To access Komodo National Park you can fly direct to Labuan Bajo where there are many dive centres and resorts to take you on daily trips to the park. It’s a popular option to take dive courses at Komodo, where there are calm sites for the novice divers and challenging currents for those aiming to improve their buoyancy and trim. Before booking onto daily trips, it's important to know that most dive centres spend most of their time at North and Central Komodo dive sites and further out dive sites are normally only possible by liveaboards.
 
After experiencing the adrenaline-pumping dives at Komodo, head to Maumere where you can search the sandy seabed for otherworldly creatures. If you want to avoid inland travel completely, dive from a liveaboard sailing across the East Nusa Tenggara region - bringing you closer to the action underwater.

Best time to dive

Scuba diving in Flores is best during the dry season, from April through to November. Yet, some species are seen more often in the rainy months. In Maumere, sperm whales are seen from November to December while the best season to spot manta rays in Komodo is between December and February. January through to March may have rough conditions at Komodo’s northern dive sites while southern dive sites are rough in July and August. Despite this, daily trips and liveaboards run throughout year-round and are rarely affected.

Types of diving

Komodo diving offers warm, calm and colourful shallow reefs at Siaba Besar and stunning wall dives with soft corals enveloped by swarms of golden and orange anthias at Batu Bolong. At almost every dive site you’ll find yourself drifting along in sites with strong currents among unruly underwater jungles. In North Komodo, the park is full of staggering pinnacles and seamounts which attract incredible schools of fish to the area while at muck dives its possible to investigate the sandy bottom for all types of macro life. At Maumere there are a number of fantastic muck dive sites as well as deep walls, wrecks and drop offs exposed to the strength of the ocean. 

What to see

Due to nutrient rich waters, you will be amazed at the sheer diversity of life that can be found while scuba diving in Flores. Many sites offer abundant coral growth, which reveal to divers exactly what it is like to dive in a pristine coral reef ecosystem. At Maumere, you’ll find frogfish, pygmy seahorse and blue-ringed octopus while spotting pilot whales, sperm whales and dolphins during your surface intervals. In the southern region of the marine reserve you can catch mola mola enjoying the colder waters as dogtooth tuna, giant trevallies and reef sharks all hunt in fierce currents.

Best places to dive

Maumere is a muck divers dream. At South Pangah Balang, you will have to tackle the currents while descending over a large mass of leather corals along a sloping wall that plateaus at 28-metres. When you reach the sandy bottom you’ll be delighted to find mantis shrimp, several leaf fish and other interesting macro-creatures. At this dive site, with the small also comes the big, as sharks and eagle rays glide in the current. Also in Maumere, you’ll find the Wai Terang wreck dive sitting at a depth of 25-metres. The wreck harbours lionfish, cuttlefish and abundant soft coral life.
 
In South Komodo National Park, you can dive the Yellow Wall of Texas. At the drop-off you can watch as white-tip reef sharks eye visiting divers and green turtles wake up from their resting spots. Divers eyes are enchanted as small fish dance among the wall’s crevices and light reflects from their vivid scales. At Gili Lawa in North Komodo, descend onto a pinnacle which hosts large cuttlefish, pyramid butterflyfish, hawksbill turtles and several scuttling octopus. You may even spot a pod of dolphins coming to hunt in the clear water.
 
Those who are keen to see manta rays can visit Makassar Reef in Central Komodo. At the bottom of this dive site you’ll find a sea bed that resembles the surface of the moon due to various craters and rubble. Lacking coral, due to the past dynamite fishing, the site provides the perfect cleaning station for manta rays. In high season you can witness mantas in huge flocks while eagle rays and reef sharks are also a common find.

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