I’ve been snorkeling all over Southeast Asia, but there’s something special about snorkeling in Alor, a remote island in eastern Indonesia. In just five days, I floated eye-to-eye with octopuses, watched blue whales surface next to our boat, and even snorkeled with a hammerhead shark. Alor ticks every box for adventurous snorkelers: teeming reefs, crystal-clear waters, and resort operators who actually cater to snorkeling needs. You might grumble as you’re trying to get there, but you’ll be so glad you made the trip.

Why Snorkel in Alor?

I chose Alor for the reefs.

Yes, every snorkeler with a camera has a picture of a clownfish — probably dozens. But Alor promised gardens of soft corals that wave like fields of grass, plus a variety of reef life for which the Coral Triangle is rightly famed. It felt irresistible.

I also chose Alor because I stumbled across a resort whose website said “boutique dive and snorkel resort” in big letters on the front page. My sister wanted to snorkel; I wanted to dive. This sounded perfect. But I arrived on the island with a wicked sinus infection, so I spent every day with a snorkel instead of a regulator, and I don’t think I missed a thing. Alor boasts several snorkel-friendly resorts, so you won’t spend your days out on boats crowded with dive gear feeling like a second-class citizen.

Snorkeling From Alami Alor

You’ll have a few resorts to choose from for your snorkeling adventure, and we were thrilled to stay at Alami Alor Here’s how you know that Alami pays attention to its snorkeling clientele:

• They have multiple sections of their website dedicated to snorkeling.
• They dedicate gear spaces to snorkelers.
• They give separate briefings to snorkelers every night.
• They offer muck and night snorkeling.
• They have guides who specialize in snorkeling — not just dive guides who get the short straw by having to go out with the snorkelers.

Alami also has a house reef right off the jetty.

The water wasn’t especially clear during our visit, but that didn’t keep me from going out and poking around in the shallows every morning before breakfast.

Plus, we had one of the most fantastic night snorkels I’ve ever experienced, complete with a huge octopus, moray eggs floating in the water, tiny darting cuttlefish, at least five mandarinfish, and this fantastic radiant sea urchin.

Snorkeling in Alor

I could spend a long time waxing rhapsodic about our days out on the water in Alor. Visibility for ages. Fun current rides from time to time. Water a tad bit on the chilly side, but nothing my Sharkskin outfit couldn’t handle.

And the reefs, and the fish, and the critters … it’s just magical. For snorkelers, Alor offers long, shallow plateaus that quickly transition from muck near the shores to vast plains of coral.

The boats take you to two different snorkeling spots every morning, and we always had each one to ourselves. Alor’s resorts use a booking system to divvy up the day’s sites, so no spot ever feels crowded.

It’s hard to decide where to look. Should you just drift over the coral? Should you duck dive to investigate a weird shape? Should you hang out with some clownfish and watch their anemones wave in the current? You’re never at a loss for choices, and if you remember to look up, you’ll find jaw-dropping vistas in every direction.

Because you snorkel over such shallow areas — and because you have a designated snorkeling guide — you are able to see marine life that’s often only accessible to divers: extra-large nudibranchs, frogfish, and even octopuses out hunting in the middle of the morning.

For a peek into island life, you may encounter traditional woven fishing traps called bubu.

As another bonus, local kids might jump in to swim with you, amidst songs and cheers of “hello” from their friends on the piers above.

Muck Snorkeling in Alor

You hear about muck diving — diving in the sand or rocks rather than over coral reefs — but I’d never heard of muck snorkeling. What a fascinating experience! Strange things live in the muck, from dragonets and snake eels to scorpionfish and all kinds of nudibranchs.

Muck snorkeling is all about search and discovery; it’s a game of “look what I’ve found!” When your buddy points at something, your first response is often “what, where?”

Instead of drifting over coral and thinking “wow, that’s beautiful,” you’re actively hunting for cool stuff. And if you’re lucky, you might just stumble on a seahorse.

You’ll be grateful for the sharp eyes of your snorkel guide when you’re out in the muck, though it’s even more fun when you find things yourself.

Night Snorkeling in Alor

If muck snorkeling is weird, night snorkeling may be even weirder. You can only see whatever falls in the path of your torchlight’s glow, so your thoughts drift to questions of what might be behind you. Even though you know you’re perfectly safe, it can take a while to get used to the unknown. And the creatures are less familiar. It’s an odd and delightful experience.

One of the best parts of night snorkeling is coming back with a photo that has everyone at the resort saying “wow — I’ve never seen that thing before!” This time, our guide found us a five-lined ribbon worm.

Alor is far enough off the beaten path that it attracts experienced divers and snorkelers. One of them dryly remarked, “you know you’re with your people when we all get excited about a worm.”

Unexpected Adrenaline: Snorkeling with a Hammerhead

You don’t come to Alor to snorkel with hammerhead sharks. They usually swim far too deep — usually at depths of 20 to 35 meters — in cold thermoclines and heavy currents. That’s advanced diving territory. So when I heard my sister yell “shark,” I expected something small. To my amazement, I looked out into the blue, and there was a hammerhead.

It’s not my best underwater photography, but there’s a hammerhead out there. And thankfully, I have better proof in a grainy, shaky video I took in pursuit of a better look (note to my future self: it’s probably not a great idea to chase sharks).

Boat Sightings: Dolphins and Whales

We spent twenty minutes or more traveling from the resort to most snorkeling sites, and we never tired of large mammal sightings. Playful dolphins put on a regular show.

But the real standouts were the blue whales, which migrate through the waters of the Pantar Strait and often surface along the snorkel boats’ daily routes.

These are pygmy blue whales, to be fair, so they’re not the very largest animals on the planet — but clocking in at up to 24 meters long and weighing up to 90 tons, they’re still among the largest creatures on Earth. And you don’t have to be on a boat to see them; since they come through the channel in front of Alami Alor, you might catch a glimpse of them right from the water’s edge.

Note that blue whales are a June-through-November phenomenon in Alor. If you’re lucky, this is a time when you also might have a chance to jump in the frigid waters and snorkel with a mola mola. Despite our tremendous luck elsewhere — and my sister’s penning of a mola mola invitation song — luck failed us here. We spent many hours waiting in vain for a mola mola to rise up out of the depths.

Alor Island: Time on Land

What do you do with your time out of the water? The usual answer seems to be “not much,” at least between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00. After lunch, people usually retreat to their rooms, edit photos, or hang out by the tiny pool.

The resort managers told us that they can arrange island tours, but we did not meet anyone who had taken advantage of that offer. Instead, people seemed happy to lounge through quiet, restful afternoons before eventually drifting out to the common couches for an informal pre-dinner cocktail hour.

Alor vs. Raja Ampat for Snorkeling

It’s tough to compare two magical snorkeling destinations — I loved them both. But if you’re looking to make a choice and are planning to stay at a resort, here are some factors to take into consideration.

Raja Ampat

• Offers a wider variety of fish, including some bigger fish than we generally saw at Alor (think Napoleon wrasses and humphead parrotfish)
• Is even harder to get to than Alor, though you’ll have more options of places to stay once you’re there
• Often requires long boat rides to get from a resort to a snorkeling site
• Has karst formations that add an extra “wow” of natural beauty once you’re out of the water

If you want to read more, I have posts on Snorkeling in Raja Ampat and a Raja Ampat Travel Guide.

Alor

• Makes unusual creatures easier to spot (think nudibranchs and frogfish), and has fields of waving corals — oh and mola mola (maybe), and hammerhead sharks (unlikely), and whales!
• Is more off the beaten path than Raja Ampat, so you feel like you’re in a place that’s more undiscovered
• Has fewer snorkeling sites overall, but generally requires shorter boat rides than Raja Ampat
• Allows for more interactions with local people and glimpses of culture and daily life

At the end of the day, I wouldn’t pick a winner — I would happily return to both (right now, if I could).

More Snorkeling Photos From Alor

Curious about other things you might find in Alor? Here’s more from our time in the water.

Ready to Travel? Keep an eye out for my post on getting to Alor, staying at Alami Alor, and other practical details — coming soon.

Looking for another snorkeling adventure off the beaten path? Head to Bunaken National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia, where you can stay on the tiny island paradise of Siladen. For a taste of what you’ll see there, explore my posts on night snorkeling, giant clams, and clownfish.