Kupang
The provincial capital of Nusa Tenggara in western Timor with approximately 522.944 inhabitants makes it the largest urban center of the province. It is the centre of government, business, trade, and education. The only sandalwood oil factory in Indonesia is located in this town. Here one can see the distillation of sandalwood oil which is famous in East Nusa Tenggara. The museum in Kupang has on display items of historical and cultural value.

Semau Island
Thirty minutes by boat from Kupang and is certainly worth it to stay there one whole day. No noise and uncrowded is what this island place stands for. Ity is a holiday village for everyone and a good place to relax as it offers a haven for those from the city. The surrounding waters is a paradise for snorkeling swimming, and other water sports. Barbeque on the beach is desirable, Bamboo cottages are available right on the white sandy beach.

Kelimutu
East Nusa Tenggara's natural wonder and one of Indonesia" a most mysterious and dramatic sights that can be found on top of this mountain, some 66 km from Ende, or 83 km from Maumere. It has unique and spectacular view on its three crater lakes with their respective colours. The colours, however, have changed continually since the eruption of Mount Iya in Ende in 1969.

Soe
A town (110 km from Kupang) noted for its cool weather, beautiful flowers, and good fruits. Soe is, after all, a dull sprawl of wooden and corrugated-tin-roofed houses.

Maumere
A port town on the northeastern coast of Flores and a stopover on the way to Ende or to Larantuka. It is well connected by air with Kupang, Denpasar, and Ujung Pandang, and noted for its good beaches. The bay of Maumere is considered the best diving spot (Flores-Marine Resort) as it promises extemely rich marine life. The resort is a paradise for all divers, underwater photographers, and for everyone interested in marine biology.

Labuanbajo
A little town inhabited by fisherman, lies at the extreme western part of Flores. The town serves as a jumping-off point for the trip to Komodo Island. It is a beautiful area for water skiing, wind surfing, fishing, and many other marine activities. Pede Beach is an ideal place to do all this and from where sunsets are beautifully visible.

Ende
This town contains the home in-exile of former and first Indonesia president, Soekarno, while in banishment during the early period of nationalist movements in 1936. The house has been repaired and is today a museum.

Larantuka
A little port nestled on the base of a tall hill at the eastern end of Flores, from where Solor , Adonara, and Lembata island (the small islands near by) are visible across the naroow strait. An old Portugese cultural heritage like the Easter Procession is held in this town, and worth seeing.

Lamalera Whale Hunting
Lamalera on Lembata Island is a whaling village. The months of May to September make up the whale hunting season for the people of Lamalera. Using simple traditional tools as small row boats and the handthrown harpoons, The hunters sail out to hunt these giant creatures of the sea. The catch is either consumed or sold.

Pasola
The most exciting ritual western of Sumba is to be witnessed right here. Where else in the world can you see colourful horsemen trying to kill each other. The ceremony is in February in Lamboya and Kodi, and in March in Gaura and Wanukaka. The main activities start several days after the fullmoon and coincide with the yearly arrival to shore of strange, multihued seaworms.

East Sumba
Although perhaps 40% of the population of East Sumba follows the "merapu" religion as their brothers in the western part the out ward manifestations are not nearly as spectacular of frequent. This region is better known for its "Ikat" weaving.

Sebayor Kecil
Thee north-western corner of Sebayor Kecil is one of the better dive sites closer distance to Labuan Bajo. A small reef is extending towards the north west and around the edges where it drops of to greater depths, at a few hundred meters from the shore, there are some large boulders around which we can usually see groups of giants trevally, whitetip reefshark, coral trout, snappers and emperors. Descend off the North beach, swim in western direction and follow the wall when it curves north. The edges of the drop along the north coast of the island have very nice hard corals although some damages have been done by dynamite fishermen.

Eastern Reef of Tatawa
The eastern reef of Tatawa Island can be good snorkeling site due to the presence of manta rays and other fish near the reef edge. This is a long reef with a current running to it. Snorkelers can enter upstream and float by the reef (from north to south), at the end of which they will be picked-up (on the south side) by the boat. Groups should stay together and the boat will follow closely so the divers and snorkelers do not drift away from the southern reef. Always a nice drift-dive with some giant barrel sponges, little damage to the coral. We can often find some manta rays deeper down at the north east corner and all kinds of fish and invertebrates all along the slope.

Tengah Kecil
Tengah Kecil is a rock with high coral cover extending to the west into a in relatively deep and flat coral reef. On this reef we find mostly hard corals in a very good diversity. Diving depths ranging from 1 to 30 meters, there is not much damage by bombing or cyanide. Many fish but relatively few large ones. Some plagic such as mackerel and trevallies can be seen at the west side when the current is strong. There is a beautiful rocky slope with many holes inhabited by all kinds of fish and invertebrates at the south east- corner. Here we may also find some barramundi cod or mouse grouper.

Pulau Bugis
Pulau Bugis, off the north-east coast of Komodo is one of the places in the park where hard coral cover is still very high and the impact of the destructive fishing practices has been low. The latter fact probably can be explained by the low density of fish around this island. Dense acropora fields in different colors cover the slopes, with different species of hard corals on the reef-flats and at the deeper parts of the slopes. Coral diversity is not very high though, and in some places coral bleaching has occurred. It is not clear at this moment, what is causing the coral bleaching.

Northern Gililawa Laut
The northern tip of Gililawa Laut is always a great site to dive if your are into fish but it does not have much in terms of hard corals. Other small invertebrates are there of course but the usually steel the show. On the corner of the reef sits a very large rock, behind which we find a drop off covered with boulders with many holes in between. Excellent grouper country at 30 meters, and if you are at the right time, especially in November and October, you can see many groupers aggregate to spawn. There are usually also many golden trevallies, snappers and sometimes huge napoleon wrasses. Decompression on top the big rock at 3 meters depth (lots of scorpion fish !).

Batu Bolong
Batu Bolong is a tiny rocky island in the strait between Tatawa and Komodo. This rock is one of the top diving locations in the park but it can only be dived around slack tide, when there is not too much current. This area is undamaged because the current and topography (steep walls) make it impossible for local fishermen to use their dynamite and cyanide fishing techniques. The dive starts right at the surface with colorful corals and other invertebrate life and thousand of small colorful fish. In deeper water, along the steep walls many large fish, including sharks, napoleon wrasse, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, and large schools of rainbow runners can be observed on almost every occasion.

Tatawa Kecil
Tatawa Kecil is a small rock South of Tatawa island with fantastic snorkeling when the current is not too fast. With a large and inexperienced group this is only possible around dead tide. Good hard coral growth on the east side, rocks, caves and a drop off in the current at the western point. Many coral fishes, including large groupers, snappers, sweetlips, jacks and sharks. Tatawa kecil is probably the anthias (small colorful serranid fish) capital of the world! Pelagic can usually be seen in the current on the west side. TNC staff have spotted dugongs here, a mother with a calf. On several occasions a group of manta rays was circling this rock and we could swim in between them at touching distance. Dolphins and whales are sometimes sighted in the deep water west of this rock.

Pantai Merah
Pantai Merah is the most popular snorkeling site in the National Park. TNC and PHPA have placed mooring buoys to prevent anchor damage to the reefs. One particular spot with a small drop off can be really fantastic, with many coral trout, rabbit fishes, scorpion fishes and beautifully striped sweetlips und some real pretty coral and other diverse invertebrate life. Take a deep breath and go down to about 5 m to see how you are ignored by the fishes, which are totally used to divers.

Nusa Kode
The south-western tip of Kode Island (Nusa Kode) is characterized by large encrusted with little corals and huge groupers. Very large fish are never really plentiful, but among the boulders you have a chance of seeing some of the largest fish on the reef such as the giant grouper, the potato cod and the malabar grouper. Schools of bohar snappers may keep you company while searching for the groupers.

Loh Dasami small seamont
A small seamont in Loh Dasami bay, between Rinca and Kode Island, is famous for it's invertebrate life and it is a very easy dive indeed, with very little current. You may find different species of invertebrates here for every inch you move and the only thing to worry about here is that it can get very cold. The fish life can be quite good at times, with schools of bohar snappers, surgeon fishes and quite a few Scorpion fishes floating along the rock or pretending to be one.

Southern Rinca
Southern tip of Rinca Island, just inside the south-eastern corner of Loh Dasami bay, is probably the best place on earth to see invertebrate diversity, especially during a night dive. The numbers species and colors simply boggles and you cannot put your finger on the wall without touching yet some other creature. Creavices in the wall hold sleeping fish, spiny and slippers lobster and a variety of other crustaceans such as cleaner shrimp, reef crabs and decorator crabs. There are colorful poisonous sea urchins, bright red sea apples, beautiful soft corals and a great variety of tunicates. Apart from sleeping coral trout and turtles you can see cat sharks, all kinds of cardinal fishes, and parrotfishes dreaming away in their cocoons. The dive of a lifetime.

Lankoi
The tiny rocky islands in Lankoi bay at south Komodo are great for snorkeling and diving, with sometimes lots of manta rays (September to January), very large giants trevally, sharks in 5 to 20 meter water. The water can be cool in this area but never too cold to dive. Only little damage has been done this area and the damaged corals here seem to be reviving naturally and rapidly.