SIKKA
Capital (ibu kota) is Maumere, the biggest town on Flores. Here, the distance on Flores from north to south is only 15 kilometers. Maumere has a good beach scene east and west of the city, which is popular during the weekends. The seaport (Pelni and cargo) is northwest of town. The ASDP seaport is in Kewapante east of Maumere.
Check also http://wikitravel.org/en/Maumere
SLEEP
Maumere has many hotels also on the beach which stretches east and west of the city. From basic penginapan to luxurious resorts. Best in the city centre is Go
Hotel near the tsunami monument and Roxy supermarket. Between 9 and 13 kms east of town are a few
nice resorts including Coconut Garden Beach, Amrita Maumere, and Budi Sun.
West of town Anjo Hotel is a good choice in Greek style however not at the beach.
EAT&DRINK
There are many Padang restaurants and Jawa eateries. A good selfservice resto is Amira on jalan Ahmad Yani. After 6 pm you can have a cheap en good diner at
te warung on Pasar Senja. There are a lot of ikan bakar (grilled fish, supposed to eat with your hands) resto's including Ikan Bakar Jakarta and Golden Fish Restaurant.
Roxy supermarket sells soft drinks and beer and bakery products.
WINESHOP
For spirits check out Wine Shop on jalan J. Sudirman nr 1 (the road to Larantuka). No fixed range but you sometimes can buy imported liquors like Johnny Walker, Bacardi, Chivas Regal, Absolu Wodka etc. Wines are mostly from Australia and Italy and imported via Bali and prices start at around Rp 300.000, which means if available. Unfortunately they are also out of stock from time to time, but if you are in the neighbourhood you could give it a try.
TRANSPORT, AIR, ROAD & SEA (see also)
FLIGHTS
The airport Frans Seda or Waioti is 5 km east of town, the first airport ever on Flores built in 1930 and renovated and extende a couple of times. There are direct connections with Labuan Bajo, Kupang and Denpasar (Bali). For Denpasar NAM Air is the best bet, a bigger plane and less sensitive to delays or cancellations. NAM Air flies 4 times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday with stops at Kupang and Tambolaka. All other flights are with Wings Air to Labuan Bajo and Kupang. Flights have become extremely expensive since the pandemic. Bear in mind that for all Wings flights you need to pay for checked in luggage unless you have a combined flight with Batik Air or Lion Air.
There are talks to reintroduce a direct flight again from Denpasar like there are used to be before covid but until now (January 2025) not yet concrete.
BUS LONG DISTANCE
It takes 4 hours to/from Larantuka. No fixed schedules. Bustickets are Rp 80.000. Sometimes the bus stops in Boru for 20 minutes (toiletbreak, eat).
There are also buses to Ende (5 to 6 hours) and Bajawa (9 to 10 hours). Usually they depart in the morning between 7 and 9 am or early afternoon. For Moni you can take the bus to Ende (around 3 hours).
BUS WITHIN TOWN
Bemo or angkot. Rp 5.000
CAR WITH DRIVER
There are cars with drivers available at the airport or you can arrange a driver via your hotel. To take you to your hotel count on Rp 60.000 and Rp 80.000 within town or up to Rp 150.000 for the resorts outside town. You also can hire a car per day. Within Maumere town the price shouldn't be no more than Rp 600.000 per day. If you go out on a daytrip for example as far as Kota Baru, Waigete or Doreng beach the price should be around Rp 700.000. For overlandtrips prices are usually higher (as the driver needs to overnight as well), the average price is Rp 900.000 per day for a normal car but sometimes they ask much more.
OJEK (motorcycle taxi) WITHIN TOWN
A ride should be between Rp 5.000 and Rp 10.000 depending on distance and your negotiation skills.
TAXI
Sorry, no real taxi’s in Maumere but cars are available at the airport into town and to the airport from bigger hotels (like
Sylvia or Go Hotel) and resorts. A ride into town should be no more than Rp 80.000, but for the resorts 9 to 12 kms east of town it will be more
of course up to Rp 150.000 depending on distance.
See also car with driver.
TRAVEL
This is a shared “taxi”, a big car or minibus which runs from door to door. To nde, which is also useful for Moni costs are Rp 150.000. Gunung Mas is
recommended but there a lot of private travels who use a Suzuki MPV or Toyota Avanza.
BOATS
Pelni ferries sail to Makassar and Labuan Bajo.
https://www.pelni.co.id/?lang=en
Ferries ASDP (KMP Uma Kalada) to Larantuka, Adonara and Kupang (but not very convenient as the harbour in Kewapante is on the north coast, 15 kilometers east of Maumere). Sometimes you can get more decent info via one of the Facebook pages but since these also often changes best is to try to find a group with the search button.
WHAT TO SEE?
Pasar Alok, the traditional market is in the citycentre of Maumere.
As is the tsunami monument built as a memory of that horrible day 12 December 1992. On that date a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit
the coast on the northern part of Flores. A tsunami followed and destroyed 90% of the buildings in Maumere. It is one of the deadliest earthquakes of Indonesia which caused damage in het eastern
half of the island. Also the underwater world was damaged which was until then Flores was famed for, in particular Babi island and the surrounding islands.
There are also a few good fish restaurants in Maumere
There are many villages in Sikka which are famous for tenun ikat, the traditional weaving cloth like Watublapi, Doka and Lepo Lorun. There you can see the process of traditional weaving cloth.
Kampung Wuring is a muslim village (kampung) with houses on stilts in the Flores Sea, a few kilometers west of town. You can see village life here along the shore of the north coast and even a mosque which is built on water. Take care if you wander around as the small and rickety wooden sidewalks are often broken or not so steady. To get there take the road in the direction of Magepanda and follow the sign. Children will follow you asking for candy and ballpoints and ...money.
Road to Magepanda (and on to Kota Baru)
This road with sea- and mountainviews is an attraction itself especially the views around Wair Nokerua which is also a nice spot for sunset. Further west there is a lake near the coast Tiwu
Bowu and a nice beach just beyond.
Bukit Liaga is a Padarlike not often visited hill with awesome views. To visit just continue the path east of Tiwu Bowu and arrange a charted boat to the beach (20 minutes). From there you can climb the hill. A few hundred meters further west there is a small road to Kota Baru which leads more close Bukit Liaga however since you need to cross a swampy saltflat this is not suitable for cars (too much riske you get stuck). You also need to cross a river with crocodiles so also for motorbikes not a really recommended.
Travel 30 minutes further west and you will find yourself in a beautiful river landscape.
The huge statue of Mother Mary on Nilo Hill south of Maumere is overlooking the valley. It is a 30 minute drive from Maumere and good to combine with a day out to Sikka, Wuring and Magepanda. From Maumere go south following the road to Ende, the junction is on your right. The small road crawls into the mountains. There is a parking for cars and motorbikes. At the time I visited Nilo there was nobody around to pay a fee or something like that. Probably you also need to buy and burn a candle. If the weather is good there are some fine views overlooking the area and Maumere town.
Mountain- and hikelovers can hike up the Egon volcano (1703 MASL). The startingpoint (elevation 800 mtrs) is about 50 minutes east of Maumere and is more close to the
resorts along the coast. The hike takes around 2 hours. There is no need to climb for sunrise since the view is interruped by other surrounding mountains. Best to go early morning around 5:30.
You can hire a local guide between 250k and 400k.
Daytrip southeast of Maumere
In the area southeast of Maumere are many small and senic roads. Traveling clockwise from Maumere nice stops are Watublapi or Doka
village famous for their tenun ikat. The small roads are
dotted with mats drying cloves and cocoa in the sun. Doreng Beach is only 40 kilometers southeast of
Maumere but it will take easily two hours to get there. Seldom visited by foreigners and far from the beaten track.
Driving west you will meet Tanjung Ogor Paret, along a beautiful coastline
The town of Sikka Nara has an old wooden church (1899) and is 30 kms from Maumere. Follow the road to Ende to get there. There is a large sign on the road (turn left). If the church is closed they will open the door for you. You can leave a small donation. Sikka is also known for its tenun ikat (weaving cloth)
Following the Trans Flores Road further west you will first meet Paga Beach but 20 minutes onward the double bay of Koka Beach (2 km off the Trans Flores highway) is much more attractive with the big black rocks. This is one of the prettiest beaches of Flores and outside weekends you will have the beach, which are in fact two bays, for yourself. You also can overnight on the beach in basic bamboo accomodation. See the hotel section.
Pulau Besar, Kojadoi, Pulau Pengabatan, Pulau Babi
From Nangahale (30 kms, 50 minutes
from Maumere) you can take a boat to Pulau Besar. The
tiny island of Kojadoi is connected with Pulau Besar via a stone "bridge". Pengabatan island is a good place for swimming and snorkling.
The charterboat from Nangahale is Rp 800.000 (April 2024). You best can start in the
morning between 8am and 9 am.
Diving
Although Komodo National Park gets the credits these days it is actually the area north and north east of Maumere which was already famous for diving in the 80's,
especially around pulau Babi, pulau Dambila, pulau Pemana, and pulau
Pengabatan. However the tsunami of 1992 destroyed a big part of the north coast including the coral and tourism ended abruptly. Maumere was rebuilt, the coral grew back again
and is in good condition now. However unfortunately the tourists didn't came back, due to the competition of Komodo NP there are hardly any tourists here. East of Maumere in the area of Waigete (30 kms east of Maumere) are guesthouses to base
yourself.
Santai Divers and Happy Divers (formerly Ankermi) are probably the most professional dive centres around Maumere. Sea World Club Beach Resort has it's own divingbusiness however they currently don't own their own boat so they use the regular boats in Nangahale, 30 kms east
of Maumere. You also can contact MDC, Maumere Divers Community in Maumere,
a non commercial community who share the love of the underwater world and very dedicated.
Anne Mieke -AM PHOTONESIA©-