Flores travel guide

Here be dragons… our Flores travel guide fills in the blanks not only on the giant lizards of Komodo in the national park nearby, but also what you can expect from cultural village visits, and the practicalities of a Flores vacation – spoiler alert: be prepared to rough it. You’ll also learn how to travel responsibly in what can be a very sensitive environment.

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Flores travel guide

First a word of warning: Flores is definitely suited best to the adventurous traveler, those content to do without luxuries if it means seeing the ‘undiscovered Indonesia’. Because apart from the west coast, which is a staging post for cruising around Komodo National Park – Flores sees very few visitors.

Flores is so far off the beaten track in Indonesia that you need to be ready for seriously basic infrastructure. Not many chocolates on pillows here.

Exploring Flores properly means not limiting yourself to the scaly, scary inhabitants of Komodo, but immersing yourself in the unique culture here, where tribal communities practice a unique mix of traditional beliefs with Catholicism, and rural villages sport spiderwebbed paddy fields, thatched cottages and ancient stone shrines.

Read on in our Flores travel guide for more details.

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Flores is…

rapidly growing in popularity – a destination to visit sooner rather than later if you still want that ‘off the beaten track’ feeling.

Flores isn’t…

simply a jumping-off point for nearby Komodo National Park. There is much more to discover here beyond dragons, especially the island’s unique culture.

What does a Flores vacation entail?

Labuan Bajo on the western tip of the island, is a gateway to Komodo National Park, beyond that Flores is virtually untouched by tourism. As such, you can expect mainly very basic infrastructure from accommodations to eating places – Flores is recommended most for the intrepid traveler, happy to ‘rough it’ for a while. Flores is a world apart from the luxury resorts of Bali, or the lush rainforest of Sumatra. Everywhere you go people are unjaded by mass tourism, happy to see you and offering a genuine welcome. But the flip side of that is that in some accommodations you can expect bathing conditions to be little more than a bucket, so you really do need to be prepared for some hardships.

Getting around is usually done by 4x4 vehicle. Apart from the Trans Flores Highway that runs east to west, most roads are unpaved dirt or gravel tracks so you really need transport with a bit of oomph. You also need to be aware that if you travel during rainy season, many roads are going to be impassable.

Flores vacations are a mix of small group and tailor-made tours: the former led by professional trip leaders, the latter giving you greater freedom in terms of trip length and itinerary. Flores is frequently combined with other Indonesian islands such as Sulawesi, Java and Bali, and practically every itinerary will include time in Komodo National Park (Komodo Island is scheduled to close through 2020 for conservation work, but the rest of the park will remain accessible).

Things to do in Flores…

Consider seeing more of Indonesia than just Flores. Multi-island tours might incorporate Bali, Java, Komodo or Sulawesi – each with their own distinct character, most very different to Flores. Given the time and cost of getting to Flores it makes perfect sense to take a multi-island vacation and see as much of Indonesia as possible while you’re there. In Bali you’ve got temples and paradise beaches, in Sulawesi ancient funereal rites and floating villages, in Java the world’s biggest Buddhist temple, and aromatic coffee culture. When diving or snorkelling you should always respect the reefs, especially as so many around the world are in trouble. That’s no exception off Flores, where if you’re wanting to head out and see whale sharks, clown and parrot fish, or sea turtles around Labuan Bajo, it’s essential to wear sun screen without harmful chemicals, and if you’re wearing flippers, be careful where you flip’em. Be prepared to rough it. As Megan Grant from Audley Travel explains in the section below, outside of Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park Flores is very undeveloped, so it’s definitely a destination best suited to adventurous travelers that are happy without luxuries. If you need a bath, or plenty of places to stop and eat during long journeys, then you’re going to struggle here. On long drives, groups pop into the homes of local people to use the bathroom (with their permission of course!). But of course the flip side of this is that the locals are not at all jaded by tourism. They’re genuinely happy to see you, whether you’re there to spend money or not.

Things not to do in Flores…

If you’re planning a vacation on Flores, then the chances are you’re hoping to see the dinosaur-like dragons of Komodo National Park. But don’t ignore the rest of Flores besides the dragons – the cultural insights afforded by exploring villages such as Luba and Bena around Bajawa, or Wae Rebo, are enthralling, and you’ll bump into far fewer other visitors while you’re there. Don’t miss the bats. One of the most impressive natural spectacles on Flores takes place every evening around dusk, as a column of thousands of flying foxes (large bats) departs from Kalong Island, south of Labuan Bajo, headed to the forests and fruit plantations of Flores to eat. Amazingly, the bat column stretches for miles as it heads east across the island. It’s worth heading out on a boat tour if you can, as the captain can try and position you right underneath for maximum effect. Komodo dragons aren’t actually related to dinosaurs, but with their armoured body plating, fearsome hunting skills and sheer walloping size, you would be forgiven for assuming they were. Don’t wait to see komodo dragons in the wild if it’s something you’ve always wanted to do – there are indications than Komodo Island, the main place that they are found, will be closed to visitors for a year at some point in 2020 and it’s possible that the Indonesian government will drastically reduce tourism there going forwards. Perhaps it’s in the dragons’ best interests, but certainly it means that now is definitely the time to go.

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Responsible tourism

Flores vacations typically involve moving frequently from place to place, with plenty of opportunities for snorkeling and swimming off beautiful beaches. You will often see handicrafts in markets made from colourful seashells and stones – these are collected daily from beaches such as Penggajawa and the seabed by entrepreneurial locals but beware buying them, as by doing so you’re contributing to the depletion of natural resources. Better to leave the stones and shells where they are for everyone to enjoy.

If some Indonesian politicians have their way, Komodo Island may soon be off-limits for all but the wealthiest of tourists, and the people who live on the island forcibly moved away to leave it entirely as a pristine nature reserve. Naturally this plan will be highly controversial if it actually happens, especially as to-date local residents appear to co-exist well with their scaly neighbours. But there were 176,000 visitors to the island in 2018, a massive increase from a decade ago. And the first cruise ships are now starting to arrive, an early warning sign that tourism needs to be regulated closely before the environment and culture of Komodo Island begin to suffer. If you want to see the dragons, join a responsible operator with their best interests at heart.

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Written by Rob Perkins

Flores travel guide