Kalabahi, Indonesia

Kalabahi is the only town situated on Alor Island, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia.

Alor Island is the largest island in the Alor Archipelago located at the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands that runs through southeastern Indonesia, which from the west include such islands as Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, and Flores.

Alor is of volcanic origin and has very rugged terrain. The region near Kalabahi is the only flat area. This is why the Dutch placed the capital and the main harbor (Alor-Kecil) of the area here in 1911 and why Kalabahi is the only town on the island of Alor.

"The best" snorkelling and diving in Indonesia can be found in the Alor archipelago. Due to intriguing and often very strong currents it is best to snorkel or dive with someone who knows the area well. Alor's highly esteemed snorkeling and diving promise an increase in tourism in the future. Depletion of the fisheries has however damaged the coral reefs in recent years.

In the villages, vanilla, tamarind, almonds and other nuts are cultivated. In the forests sandalwood is cut down for trade. The latest geological explorations have discovered valuable resources such as gypsum, kaolin, petroleum, natural gas, tin, gold, and diamonds.

Cruises are available year round in the region as weather in the South East part is warm all year round – though both cruising and weather are better in the non monsoon period. Weather in this region is tropical so it is warm and humid all year round. The Tropics don’t have seasons as such, they have the wet and dry periods. The wet season or monsoon period is from June to September.

General Information:

Population: 60,000
Language: More than 15 different indigenous languages are
spoken on Alor Island, the majority of them
classified as Papuan or non-Austronesian. These
include: Abui, Adang, Hamap, Kabola, Kafoa,
Woisika, Kelon and Kui, with Alorese (Bahasa Alor),
a Malayo-Polynesian language being spoken along the
south-western coast.