Alor · Indonesia · Muck & macro · Night · Sand slope
Mucky Mosque
Black sand to 27 metres, at its best after dark
Area photo: Sims8899 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mucky Mosque is a steep black sand and rubble slope off a village on Kalabahi Bay, running to 27 metres and scattered with man-made debris. Currents in the bay are minimal, so the dive is worked slowly rather than swum, and the site is named among Alor's better after-dark critter hunts.
Where it is and how deep
8.2500° S, 124.5200° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The slope falls steeply from the shallows through black sand and rubble to 27 metres, with man-made debris off the village above scattered across it. There is next to no current, so nothing about the dive is hurried: you pick a depth, move along the slope at a crawl, and cover ground in metres rather than tens of metres. The debris is worth as much attention as the sand around it.
The site is known for rhinopias, frogfish, bobtail and pygmy squid, stargazers and Spanish dancers. Night dives here are particularly rewarding, and the minimal current in Kalabahi Bay makes it a comfortable place for less experienced divers to make one and for photographers to work a single subject for as long as they want it.
Marine life and season
- Frogfish
- Squid
- Nudibranchs
- Macro critters
| 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
How deep is Mucky Mosque?+
The black sand and rubble slope runs to a maximum of 27 metres, though most of the critter hunting happens shallower on the way back up the slope.
Is Mucky Mosque a good night dive?+
It is one of the sites specifically flagged for it in Kalabahi Bay. Currents are minimal and the slope is easy to hold position on, which suits slow after-dark searching.
Sources
- Alor Dive Sites — Dive The World
More dive sites in Alor
Reef
Sea apples scattered across the reef between 15 and 25 metres
Wall
A sheer Pantar Strait face dropping to 90 metres
Muck & macro
Volcanic black sand under a hot springs beach on Pantar
Muck & macro
Black sand to 20 metres with regular rhinopias sightings
Reef
Hard coral gardens from 5 to 30 metres, out of the strait's flow
Wall
A 15 to 40 metre wall with the strait's most consistent pelagics
Wall
Steep wall to 30 metres, the strait's moderate-current option
Reported as the world's largest aggregation of anemones
Similar dives elsewhere
Seahorses, spider crabs and coconut octopus on a sandy slope close to Dili.
Zebra crabs sheltering in the spines of purple heart urchins
Mimic and blue-ringed octopus over Anilao's best-known muck slope
Where the holotype of the psychedelic frogfish was collected in 2008