**Alor’s strongest dive window runs April through November, with October and November delivering the most powerful currents and the best odds of pelagics. September is your mola mola month. The rainy November-to-March stretch brings unsettled surface and thinner visibility. That pattern holds as the working outlook for 2027 and 2028.**
Why does a multi-year Alor dive calendar matter now?
Booking a remote frontier like the Alor–Pantar Strait is a timing game, not a last-minute scramble. Flights into Kalabahi are limited, the best land-based bungalows on Pantar cap capacity at 16 divers, and the seasonal liveaboards that swing through the strait sell their September–October slots months ahead. Locking your window early is how you get the boat and the conditions you actually want.
Treat everything below as an outlook, not a forecast. Nobody can promise a specific animal on a specific date. What we can do is read the dated signals from 2026 — the monsoon rhythm, the current patterns, the plankton blooms — and project the shape of the 2027 and 2028 seasons from them. The underlying weather machine barely shifts year to year, so the calendar here is the pattern, and the pattern is what you plan around.
If you already know your travel month, you can start shaping an itinerary through our [Alor diving expeditions booking](/book-alor-diving-expeditions/) desk, which arranges every trip via licensed established Alor operators rather than running boats itself.
What does the month-by-month Alor calendar look like for 2027 and 2028?
The table below maps the expected rhythm across a full year. Use it as a planning skeleton for either 2027 or 2028, then confirm current-year specifics before you pay a deposit.
| Month | Conditions outlook | Best for | Booking note |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Rainy season, unsettled surface, reduced visibility | Kalabahi Bay muck diving | Quiet, low demand |
| February | Wet and variable, surface chop | Macro, black-sand critters | Quiet |
| March | Rainy tail, water near 25°C | Muck, early transition dives | Quiet, shoulder pricing |
| April | Season opens, conditions steady, water near 25°C | Gorgonian walls, macro | Shoulder, reserve ahead |
| May | Southeast monsoon builds, water warms toward 31–32°C, plankton can cut visibility | Macro fed by blooms | Demand building |
| June | Dry season clarity returning, visibility climbing | Wide-angle walls | Popular |
| July | Dry, warm 31–32°C, strong visibility | Schooling fish, walls | Busy |
| August | Dry, warm, excellent visibility | Wide-angle, walls | Busy |
| September | Best month to spot mola mola, dry clarity | Mola mola, liveaboard season | High demand, book early |
| October | Peak currents begin, water cooling to about 25°C | Pelagic odds, drift dives | Peak, book early |
| November | Most prevalent currents of the year, rainy turn late month | Currents, pelagics | Peak into shoulder |
| December | Rainy season returns, unsettled | Muck, quiet reef work | Low demand |
The through-line: dry months from June to October reward wide-angle shooters, while the current-heavy October–November stretch is when the strait shows its wildest side. Muck divers, by contrast, are covered any month — more on that below.
How do water temperature and visibility shift across the year?
Water in the Pantar Strait is not uniform, and thermoclines can surprise you. Here is the seasonal spread to pack for.
| Period | Water temperature | Visibility outlook |
|---|---|---|
| November–March (rainy) | Cooler surface, unsettled | Reduced by rain and runoff |
| March–April | Around 25°C | Variable, improving; thermoclines can drop some sites to 20°C or lower |
| May–September (SE monsoon) | 31–32°C at surface | Down to 15 m or less during plankton blooms |
| June–October (dry) | Warm, tapering to cooler October | Up to roughly 40 m at its clearest |
| October–November | Around 25°C | Normally 25–30 m, with the strongest currents |
The counterintuitive part is that the warmest water — May through September — can also bring the murkiest visibility, because those plankton blooms that feed the macro life also cloud the column. A five-millimetre wetsuit plus a hood or thermal layer covers the thermocline dips even in peak summer.
When are Alor’s pelagics most likely in 2027 and 2028?
This is where honesty matters most. Blue-whale and hammerhead encounters in Alor are possible, not predictable, and any calendar that hands you a guaranteed date is selling fiction. What the pattern does support is a probability curve.
- September gives the strongest odds for mola mola, which surface in the dry-season clarity.
- October and November bring the most prevalent currents, and those currents push wide-angle action across Pantar Strait sites — schooling fish, dolphins, pilot whales, and the occasional orca.
- One documented scalloped-hammerhead site sits at around 32 m with very strong current, so it demands genuine fitness and comfort in blue water.
Frame your 2027–2028 trip around the season, not around a single species. If a blue whale passes, treat it as a gift, not a booking guarantee.
What rules and readiness should shape your 2027–2028 booking?
Alor’s waters are a managed marine protected area, and the rules are non-negotiable no matter which month you pick. Every diver must attend a mandatory briefing by MPA officers, pay a marine park fee, and hold a permit before any in-water activity. Diver numbers per site are capped by WWF-determined carrying capacity, and guides need special MPA certification on top of standard agency credentials. Fishing and spearfishing are off-limits for visitors.
Experience expectations run higher than a typical warm-water trip:
- PADI Open Water is the floor for fun diving, but 50–100 logged dives are recommended for comfort in the strait’s currents.
- All dives are no-decompression, solo diving is not allowed, and bottom time typically caps at 60 minutes or when a diver reaches 50 bar.
- The Pantar Strait’s strong surface currents require rapid descent, quick equalising, and regrouping around 5 m.
- DAN (or equivalent) dive-accident insurance is mandatory, because the nearest hyperbaric chamber is in Bali and evacuation and chamber costs are not covered by standard medical insurance.
On cost: there are no reliable public price tables for Alor dive packages, liveaboards, or the marine park fee — only the confirmed requirement that a fee and permit apply. Any figures you see on our pages are Currentline Alor’s own indicative commercial data as of 2026, dated and subject to change, never presented as sourced fact.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will the 2027 and 2028 Alor dive seasons follow the same pattern as 2026?
The monsoon-driven rhythm is stable year to year, so the April–November window, the October–November current peak, and the November–March rainy lull should hold across 2027 and 2028. Treat it as a working outlook rather than a guarantee — surface conditions and animal sightings always vary, so confirm current-year timing before you commit a deposit.
Which months should I book first for a 2027 Alor liveaboard?
September and October fill fastest. Seasonal liveaboards run their Alor–Pantar itineraries in the September–October window, boarding at Kalabahi Bay, and land-based bungalows on Pantar cap at 16 divers. If you want peak-current pelagic season in 2027 or 2028, reserve those slots several months ahead of your travel date.
Is it worth diving Alor during the November–March rainy season in 2027–2028?
Yes, if macro is your priority. The rainy months bring unsettled surface and thinner visibility, but Kalabahi Bay’s black-sand muck diving stays productive year-round because critters like mimic octopus, seahorses, and Pegasus sea moths don’t travel far. Wall and wide-angle divers, though, are better served waiting for the drier April–November stretch.