Maumere, is the largest town of Flores and it is the capital of the Sikka District. The town lies on the north coast of the island. In 1992 the earthquake had torn down the town, roads and other infrastructure were becoming ruins.
Not only affecting the land, the earthquake also washed out the reefs in the areas surrounding Maumere that were once hold the reputation as the finest diving in the world. The healing process of the Maumere’s underwater world is now in progress. A view of the beginning of a life can be seen in Maumere’s waters; soft corals are started growing on the rubbles, schools of butterfly fish can be seen roaming around the seascape, tiny creatures such as shrimp and nudibranch are in sight, and reef sharks, such as black tip and white tip, can be seen relaxing under the niche. Several dive sites on the coast offer excellent muck-diving where you find frogfishes, mimic octopus and nudibranchs.
Being surrounded by volcanoes and other mountains, Maumere Bay offers exquisite scenery. The islands on the outer part of the bay boast steep wall diving, in which the wall is covered with hard corals and large sea fans.
Pulau Besar-the largest of the islands, together with Dambilah and Pangabatang, forms a barrier to the water flowing in and out of the bay. The calm bay attracts dolphins, sperm whales and whale sharks. However. Sperm whales are usually seen around November to December. Meanwhile Dolphins and pilot whales are common and can be seen during the whole year, mostly if the sea is calm.
