Alor · Indonesia · Wall · Coral garden · Drift
Babylon
Steep wall to 30 metres, the strait's moderate-current option
Area photo: Sims8899 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Babylon is a steep wall running to 30 metres and the more moderate current option within the Pantar Strait. Coral gardens and wall sit together on the site, with dogtooth tuna, Napoleon wrasse and trevally hunting in the flow while fusiliers and anthias feed along the current-swept face.
Where it is and how deep
8.2800° S, 124.3300° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
Babylon is the steep-wall dive to pick when the strait is running and the group does not want the harder end of it. The face drops to 30 metres in moderate rather than strong current, which leaves enough control to stop and look at things instead of being carried past them. Coral gardens sit alongside the wall, so the dive has both a face to follow and garden ground to work.
The fish are the same cast as the strait's harder sites, in easier water. Schools of fusiliers and anthias feed along the current-swept face, and dogtooth tuna, Napoleon wrasse and trevally hunt through them in the flow, so the action tends to be wherever the schools are stacked up. The coral gardens give you somewhere to work once you have followed the wall as far as you want it.
Marine life and season
- Tuna
- Napoleon wrasse
- Trevally & jacks
- Reef fish swarms
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Alor: April–November dry season gives the most reliable liveaboard access and calmer crossings.
Questions divers ask
Is Babylon easier than Alor's other wall dives?+
It is described as the more moderate current option within the Pantar Strait. The wall runs to 30 metres rather than past recreational depth, and the flow is moderate rather than strong.
Sources
- Alor Dive Sites — Dive The World
More dive sites in Alor
Muck & macro
Black sand to 20 metres with regular rhinopias sightings
Muck & macro
Two jetties over a steep sand slope to 30 metres
Wall
A sheer Pantar Strait face dropping to 90 metres
Reported as the world's largest aggregation of anemones
Reef
Hard coral gardens from 5 to 30 metres, out of the strait's flow
Muck & macro
Black sand to 27 metres, at its best after dark
Reef
Sea apples scattered across the reef between 15 and 25 metres
Wall
A 15 to 40 metre wall with the strait's most consistent pelagics
Similar dives elsewhere
Hundreds of batfish and jacks holding in the current
A coral wall in the middle of the passage, dived in strong, clear water
Whip corals along a drifted wall, with bumpheads passing
Gorgonians and soft coral on a limestone wall, averaging 20 m