NEWS - travel2flores.info

NEWS

https://jurnallabuanbajo.com/
https://www.floresnews.id/
Floresa.co - Kritis, Independen
Labuan Bajo info on Instagram
All in Bahasa Indonesia; please use translator if needed.

20 December 2022

Rp 3.750.000 entrancefee Komodo NP canceled

Discussions for 4 years.

In 2018 the governor of NTT planned to introduce a tarif of US$ 500 and later even US$ 1000 for Komodo National Park. The travel world was outraged. A national park with such rates? I couldn't even mention one in the entire world.

Later the entrancefee was reconsidered and finally Indonesia's president Jokowi decided the entrancefee should be 3,75 million Rupiah (240 US$/225 euro) which would take effect on August 1st 2022. However for the islands of Komodo and Padar only.

After announcing the effective date of August 1 (Rinca wasn't even ready yet to receive guests) there were demo's and riots and the plan was postponed to January 2023. Late October 2022 the government sent a letter to the governor and Flobamora to recondiser the plan which had been cancelled by Sandiago Uno, minister of Tourim. Definitively hey said, but once again discussed and once again rejected.

This is good news for tourists.

For the wellness of the komododragon I am not sure. Not only for the komododragon but for the entire Komodo National Park including the underwater world which needs to be protected as well.
Indonesia scraps new entrancefee for Komodo

So the (basic) entrancefee will be the current one which is Rp 150.000 on weekdays and Rp 225.000 on Sundays and holidays. However, there is a long list of additional fees and the real fee will be between Rp 400.000 and Rp 500.000.

5 October 2022
Rinca island reopened again

Following a decree of the government on 30 September Rinca island is reopened again on 1 October 2022.
The decree contains a long list of do's and don't plus maximum numbers for both visitors to the various islands and boats, divingspots etc.
See the image below.
Source: https://www.instagram.com/labuanbajo_info/

PROTOCOL KOMODO NATIONAL PARK

Revisi I Protokol Kunjungan TNK 2022 30

Adobe Acrobat Document 434.0 KB

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3 August 2022
Tourism Labuan Bajo back to normal

The strike of the tourism branche in Labuan Bajo which started on 1 August and was announced for the whole month of August has been canceled and tourism is back to normal again.
The joint associations of tourism have agreed with the plans of the implementation of the new entrancefee of 3.75 million for the islands Komodo and Padar.
The Ministry of Tourism has announced that the old rate of Rp 150.000/Rp 225.000 weekdays/Sundays and Holidays will be maintained until January 2023 for the whole national park including the islands Komodo and Padar.

It is not clear if Rinca island is still closed or not.

See also earlier news about the strike

Strike Labuan Bajo Komodo National Park

24 March 2022
No quarantine anymore from 23 March 2022

Starting 23 March quarantine has been lifted for all travelers from abroad when fully vaccinated. In brief:

Negative PCR test max 48 hours before departure
Travelers wit B211 visa or VOA (still Bali only; see below) must be fully vaccinated
PCR test on arrival at the airport
Transportation to booked accomodation (1 night)
Wait for the result in accomodation
When the result is negative you are free to go anywhere

For entrypoints see below.

Taskforce Covid-19 Indonesia (bahasa Indonesia only)

30 December 2020

Indonesia closed 1 to 14 January 2021

Although Indonesia was already closed since early April 2020 many people still managed to get in the country. Due to the new variants of Covid-19 Indonesia has decided to close its borders more strict from 1 to 14 January 2021 except for Indonesians, holders of KITAS/KITAP and government officials.
https://www.imigrasi.go.id/

20 August 2020

Indonesia will stay closed untill the end of 2020

Since June there were a lot of articles, rumors, speculations, wishes and thoughts to reopen Bali (and therefore Indonesia) for international tourists on 11th September but unfortunately this is not going to happen. In fact nothing has changed since the announcement on 2nd April.

Read here the article on the Bali Plus website

21 July 2020

Kelimutu and the new normal

prebookings only

Since July 2020 visits to Kelimutu National Park need to be registered as the maximum amount of visitors is 200 per day.

The amount of visitors can be checked through Facebook, Twitter or the Kelimutu website (see picture below).

To make a reservation you can book through WhatsApp tel. +62 82110103335

19 June 2020

Corona Figures for Indonesia

42.762 (2339 fatalities)

Figures for NTT (=Nusa Tenggara Timur which includes its biggests islands of Adonara, Alor, Flores, Lembata, Pantar, Rote, Sawu, Solor, Sumba, and Timor) 108

The ratio for NTT is 20 per million inhabitants which is one of the lowest in the world.

Despite all kinds of rumors in the media about the reopening of Indonesia which vary from July up and untill the end of the year I strongly advise to check reliable and official websites only or at the embassy of your home country.

https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/indonesia/

But, please keep in mind that there still can be local regulations. At this moment overland traveling on Flores is only possible with a letter of permit from the government for each district separately.

3 May 2020

Update Flores

NTT (=Nusa Tenggara Timor) has now 10 official cases of Corona. It is not clear how many of them on Flores, some talk of 2 and some of 3. Exact figures are difficult to find and whether they are correct as Indonesia has a quite complicated and vague system. But, if the figures are correct then this is still a low one.

Restrictions on Flores become more and more serious. In the meantime all districts have locked down and it is difficult to get from one district to another. Some authorities only let people through with an official letter from the government, trucks with fresh fish on board are sent away back to where they came from...

25 April 2020

Update Flores

In the meantime Indonesia has decided to stop all air- (and sea) travel.

Flores is still Covidfree, but with a lot of checkpoints and complicated travel.

30 March 2020

Update Flores

At the moment I am in Labuan Bajo on Flores and will try to give you an idea of the situation here.

First of all: until now there are no positiv tested persons on Flores. That's the good news. Facilities on Flores are very limited which is a serious concern. However like anywhere else in the world people are asked to pay attention on things like washing hands, keeping distance etc. Schools are closed untill 21st April. Events, church services are forbidden.

Tourist objects closed untill 25th May

Like in other parts of Indonesia all national parks are closed so is Komodo National park, Kelimutu National Park and Riung Marine Park 17 islands. Besides that also the traditional villages, waterfalls etc. can’t be visited. For how long is not clear as this varies from a couple of weeks up and untill the end of May.

Ferry ASDP Labuan Bajo to Sape (Sumbawa) closed

The route was closed between 26th March and 3rd April

Restrictions

Many kabupaten (districts, on Flores there are 8) have their own restrictions. Borders between the districts are checked by police, soldiers and/or health authorities. There are bodytemperature checks and at some borders cars and passengers are sprayed with desinfectant.

Hotels in/near Bajawa, Riung, Mbay and Larantuka are closed for guests.

Guests who want to overnight in Moni, Ende and Maumere are send to a hospital or health centre for an obliged health check.

The result

Another thing is that some local people are very suspicious about foreigners, everyone who is not a part of their own community. This can lead to uncomfortable situations.

As the closure of schools have been extended until the 21st April I suppose other restrictions (health checks, hotels etc) may last until this date as well.

At the moment I am in Labuan Bajo (since 24th March, mainly to avoid undesired situations elsewhere on the island) and there are very very few tourists. There is low activity, Jalan Soekarno Hatta is more or less empty, some hotels and guesthouses have closed, also many eateries have shut down.

Information is difficult to gather. I am searching local newspapers and official sources everyday. And I am in contact with local people (also who are working in the tourism industry). Not so easy as there is a lot of hoax around.

For the few travelers who are already in the country like on Bali or Jawa I would advise tio think twice to come as for the moment it is not getting better. And if you come the best option is Labuan Bajo.

Although still no COVID19 cases on Flores the situation is not really comfortable plus you can't visit touristobjects.

I will try to update as much as possible.

Be safe everyone!

21 March 2020

Update Indonesia

The situation with the Corona virus has disrupted daily life as also the travel world.

Since Friday 20th March it will be almost impossible for foreign travelers to travel to Indonesia as visafree stamps and VOA are not available anymore at the airport for a period of 30 days (which can be extended). Foreign travelers only can travel with a visa which has to be applied via the embassy with a clear purpose of your journey and together with a health declaration from the authorities in your country.

I don’t need to explain this is a disaster for tourism worlwide including Indonesia and in particulair Flores as this is one of the poorest islands of the country.

I still hope you will visit Flores in better times, maybe within the near future or later this year.

Below a few collected links with usefull information.

The link below is from the Indonesian Government of Health

Ministry of Health Republic of Indonesia

and another one below is from Bali.com which seems reliable to me

Bali.com and the corona virus

plus

IATA travel restrictions by country including Indonesia

Information via telephonecalls: The COVID-19 hotline

Tel +62215210411 (landline) +6281212123119 (mobile, WhatsApp)

Please stay safe and healthy.

regards Anne

2 March 2020

Covid-19 has reached Indonesia...

first cases of Corona in Indonesia

29 February 2020

Covid-19 is everywhere in the world; what about Indonesia?

In the meantime I suppose the whole world knows what's going on.

It is hard to find correct information about the situation in Indonesia.

There are dozens of articles on the internet but not sure if all of them can be qualified as correct.

Therefore best to check the WHO (World Health Organization)

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

They also have a subtopic with traveladvices

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/travel-advice

Maybe some additional info via unoffical Wikipedia

Wikipedia corona virus outbreak

The one below also seems reliable.

ASEAN briefing updates

Voor Nederlandse lezers van het Ministerie: Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid
en Milieu

https://www.rivm.nl/coronavirus/covid-19

I will travel to Indonesia (Bali and Flores) in the second half of March and wil try to report my own experiences.

17 August 2019

Lonely Planet Bali, Lombok & Nusa Tenggara
(July 2019, including 25 pages Flores)

Lonely Planet has released a new book: "Bali, Lombok & Nusa Tenggara"

Flores belongs to Nusa Tenggara. However from the 480 pages of the whole book only 25 are reserved for Flores...

A lot of information is still missing and the eastern part of Flores, eg east of Maumere to Larantuka does not exist. To be correct, Nusa Tenggara is the name of the islands the islands east of Bali starting with Lombok and up and untill the island of Alor.

Lombok belongs to Tenggara Barat (the western part of Nusa Tenggara) and Flores to Nusa Tenggara Timor (the eastern part of Nusa Tenggara)

You can buy the pdf Nusa Tenggara chapter (63 pages including Flores) for € 3,50

29 March 2019

Aldo from Flores, the winner of The Voice of Indonesia

On Thursday March 28th Aldo has won The Voice of Indonesia.

Aldo, the Flores winner of The Voice of Indonesia

The first time I´ve heard him singing was about a year ago in Dito´s Café in Bajawa and I was touched by his beautiful voice. The Voice of Indonesia 2018/2019 was a great opportunity for him. Aldo is from Naga, a traditional village south of Bajawa.

Congrats Aldo. I am proud of you. Good luck with your career and may this also put Flores more on the touristic map, especially the interior of th island"

27 January 2019

Pasar Kuliner in Labuan Bajo: back at the original place

Since the end of December the Pasar Kuliner in Labuan Bajo has moved back again to the original place on Jalan Soekarno Hatta in Ujung (the northern part of Labuan Bajo). Unfortunately they have a prepaid ticket system with vouchers of several amounts starting at Rp 10.000 up and untill Rp 100.000.

7 October 2018

Citlink (daughter Garuda) opens route to Labuan Bajo

Starting 29th October Citlink opens the route Jakarta Soekarno Hatta to Labuan Bajo. Departure 12:00 noon, arrival 15:20 pm. Prices of flights start with Rp 890..000 so very competive with Garuda and Batik Air which are far more expensive.

14 August 2018

Gurusina, traditional village in Ngada burned down

On Monday 13th Augustus most of the traditional village of Gurusina (near Bajawa) burned down. According to the latest news only 6 houses have been saved. As far as I know no personal accidents. A double disaster for the villagers as (low key) tourism was a part of the income of the community.

Gurusina is one of the three populair traditional villages close toe ach other. The other ones are Bena (the most famous one, once UNESCO nominated) and Tololela.

I hope travelers will take some time to pay a visit to Gurusina for a small donation so that they can rebuild there homes again.

16 June 2018

No more blacklist for Indonesian carriers

"All Indonesian carriers have been removed from the European Commission's airline blacklist, more than a decade after a blanket ban on the Asian state."

Read further in Dutch

So travelers can use carriers like Sriwijaya, NAM Air, Transnusa and Wings with confidence, And of course Garuda and Batik Air also.

For flights to/from Denpasar - Labuan Bajo and Denpasar - Maumere NAM Air is a good alternative as planes are bigger and faster.

11 March 2018

Plastic not so fantastic

Indonesia is after China the number 2 in the world when it comes to plastic pollution of the surrounding seas. It has the attention of the government but sometimes you have to show the world the real impact. This video went around the world.

British diver films the worrying situation of the rubbish in the seas near Bali

Longer and more informing version

Although this video is made on Bali, the whole country and many tourist destinations like Bunaken near Manado (also Manado itself) suffers from plastic pollution. Also on Flores the seas are polluted, however not as heavy as in some other parts, except for the seas and beaches around Labuan Bajo which are the worst of the island. The following article is zooming in on islands east from Bali including Lombok, Moyo and islands of Komodo National Park.

Oceanic Society alarms