Tourism of Indonesia
Ready to Go to Flores Island
Planning to go on a tour or travelling, we definitely want a smooth trip, comfortable accommodation, cheap hotels, good food, cheap plane tickets, close to everywhere, and can rent a motorbike or car.
Attraction
In Flores Island, there is natural beauty and unique culture of the local community. There are many uniqueness, starting from the village (desa), sub-district (kecamatan), district (kabupaten) and provincial levels.
In Indonesia, each province has different and interesting characteristics. Each province has a different and unique culture and lifestyle.
Flores island or Pulau Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. The population was 1,931,000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere.
The name Flores is derived from the Portuguese for “flowers”.
Flores is located east of Sumbawa and Komodo islands and west of Lembata island and the Alor Archipelago. To the southeast is Timor.
To the south, across the Sumba Strait, is Sumba island and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is Sulawesi.
The government is taking good care of the preservation of nature and maintaining the condition of the forest.
The environment is also well maintained.
Activity
Visiting Flores Island, we will witness routine community activities in unique traditional cultures. And there are special dishes and food as part of culinary tours that are delicious and yummy.
There are many activities in Flores which is the most fascinating and beautiful island. Long hidden in the shadows of its more famous neighbor Bali, the island of Flores is finally emerging as a unique destination of its own.
It is a very nice activity, after visiting the lair of the Komodo dragons, take time to marvel at some of the wonders of Flores.
Here you can swim in pristine lakes and waterfalls, dive at one of the 50 spectacular dive sites, go kayaking among craggy coasts and mangrove shores, explore mysterious caves and be warmly welcomed by the island’s people in their rituals, dances and daily life.
Flores spells adventure, diving, eco-tours, and mountain climbing interspersed with visits to prehistoric heritage sites, traditional villages and cultural events.
Until recently, many tourists have only been familiar with Labuan Bajo, the small port located on the western-most tip of the island, and the taking off point for a visit to the last natural habitat of the prehistoric Komodo dragons, the islands of Komodo, Rinca and Padar.
Situated in the province of East Nusatenggara, Flores is a long island that contains some of the world’s best kept secrets.
A chain of volcanoes stretches the length of this 450 km long and narrow island, creating complicated V-shaped valleys and knife-edged ridges terrain that was near impenetrable until recently and has separated the island into many distinct ethnic groups.
Administratively the island is divided into 8 districts; West Manggarai, Manggarai, East Manggarai, Nagekeo, Ngada, Ende, Sika and East Flores.
Further east are the adjacent islands of Alor and Lembata. Here you will find some of the world’s most exotic underwater life.
Diving in the pristine seas of Komodo, divers find themselves swimming along with huge manta rays, dolphins and dugongs, while whales can be seen passing Flores’s east coast during their migration period. The island is surrounded by sparkling white beaches, where one beach even has pink sand.
Mount Kelimutu, near the town of Maumere, has three different colored lakes that can change colour from time to time.
Besides Komodo dragons, Flores has been in the world’s limelight with the discovery of the Flores hobbit, or homo floresiensis, a new hitherto unknown prehistoric human species, whose remains were found in the caves of Liang Bua.
This island is indeed ancient, having been untouched for centuries, once inhabited by prehistoric men and still living prehistoric animals, as well as containing remnants of a petrified forest.
At the easternmost tip of the island, Larantuka is famous for its Easter-week rituals that still continue the old Portuguese traditions brought here some 500 years ago.
While at adjacent Lembata , islanders hunt whales manually, harpooning precariously from small boats. If you have one week to spend here.
Travel agents can take you by road across the island, from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng, and on to Bajawa, Ende, Detusoko, Kelimutu, ending up in Maumere, from where you take your flight out. Ruteng is a small, cool town in the mountains.
This is where you will find the unique formation of spider web rice fields at Lembor and Cancar, At Bajawa is the traditional village of Bena, according to megalithic tradition handed down through generations, people pay respect to their ancestors who are believed to dwell in the conical thatched roof huts called “Ngadhu” and “Bhaga”, symbolizing the spirits of their male and female ancestors.
Note the huge boulders of stones and stone seats planted in front of their houses, not unlike the ones seen in the villages on the island of Nias in North Sumatra.
Onekore by the the town of Ende, is famous for its beautiful ikat weaving. From here stay overnight at a missionary guesthouse at Detusoko.
For adventure, take the drive up Mount Kelimutu, where visitors must still walk another 1.5 km. then climb 127 steps to the edge of the crater, from where one has a panoramic view of the three lakes, currently green, blue and black. When Dutch geologists discovered the craters in 1914, the colours were red, blue and white.
At Maumere enjoy the pristine beach and snorkel to your heart’s content before taking your flight out.
Maumere offers great diving. There are 40 wonderful dive spots in the marine gardens in the Bay of Maumere. If you only have a few days to explore West Flores you might want to try one of these attractions: In the Komodo National Park, besides watching the dragons you can find numerous species of birds including imperial pigeons, sunbirds, egrets, quail, and exotic mound-building megapodes.
There are also horses, wild pigs, crab-eating macaques, flying foxes, besides snakes, cobras and vipers. Its flora includes orchids, lontar palms, bamboo, sour sop, tamarind and custard trees.
In the waters of the park live a rich variety of cetaceans, including whale sharks, marlin, tuna, whales and dolphins.
There are colorful corals, nudibranches, giant clams, turtles, and a plethora of reef and pelagic fish. Many tour operators run live aboard tours for divers out of Bali.
When you get back to the mainland hike through canyons, watch clear water cascade down boulders into pristine pools that just invite visitors to plunge in.
Not far from Labuan Bajo are the limestone formations known as Batu Cermin, or Mirror Caves. There is also the Snake Palace, or Istana Ular, that has an amazing collection of pythons and bats.
Make sure that you have a local guide with you and obey the customs here, since people believe in a mystical relationship between the snakes and the local people.
Here you can also see petrified large trees. Do not miss the legendary Caci or “Whip fight Dance”, that combines ritual, legend, mysticism and music in one single colorful spectacle.
In this place there are also regular events or activities held every year, both national and international.
Accessibility
The journey to Flores Island is now very easy. We can enter through various modes of transportation.
Access to go to Flores Island:
Transnusa in cooperation with Aviastar now operates twice daily flights from Denpasar (Bali) and Labuan Bajo, leaving Bali at 08.00 am and 12.00 noon.
The flight takes about 1 hour. While starting 27 May, Batavia Air has started flying daily Denpasar-Labuan Bajo at 09.00 returning from Labuan Bajo at 10.45.
Transnusa also has 3 weekly flights to Maumere from Bali using Jet BA3-146 with 82 seats capacity. Additionally Transnusa flies Bali – Ende – Kupang (Timor) – Ruteng on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, and Kupang (Timor)- Labuan Bajo daily.
Transnusa also serves Kupang – Larantuka. Batavia Air has started operating Surabaya-Denpasar-Kupang-Maumere-Kupang flights using B737-200 aricraft.
Flights to Maumere are 4 times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. While Merpati flies Kupang-Maumere and Garuda Indonesia flies only Jakarta-Kupang (on the island of Timor) from where you can connect on local airlines to Flores.
The condition of the infrastructure is getting better. Starting from highways, airports, trails, ports, bridges, stairs, even some places can be reached by toll roads.
We can visit by plane, car, ship, bus, motorcycle and bicycle. At some point, we can take the train. We can also walk freely.
Amenity
In Flores Island, as technology getting better. We can easily find locations for mini markets, shops (warung kedai), Money Changer, ATMs, Bank BRI BCA BNI Mandiri, BTPN Bank Nagari BJB, supermarkets, and restaurants. So we will not starve or lack the necessary items.
If you are sick and need help, you can also visit clinics, drugstore pharmacies (apotek), practice doctors, hospitals, and health centers (puskesmas).
In this place we can also look for places of worship such as mosques, churches, and others.
Accommodation
Finding place to stay in Flores Island is very easy. We can stay at home stays, hotels, inns, hostels and other places.
To get lodging at a cheap and definitely comfortable price, please see below:
Booking.com
Experience and Reviews
There are already many visitors have visited Flores Island, there are many interesting stories that are told. Like feeling satisfied, happy, wanting to come again, sleep well, and almost no one is disappointed or complains to come here.
So, visitors will find out on how to find the best hotels, where is exactly located, why it is amazing, how much is the fare and rate, who are the people, whom to ask, and when is the best time to visit.
We can visit these tourist attractions from Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Redep, Tanjung Selor, Tapak Tuan, Tarakan, Tarutung, Tasikmalaya, Muara Bungo, Muara Enim, Muara Teweh, Muaro Sijunjung, Muntilan, Nabire, Negara, Nganjuk,
That’s all the information we provided, hopefully useful.
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