Diving in one of the worlds newest countries

As one of the worlds newest countries, Timor Leste makes for an ideal diving location. I was lucky enough to dive there in 2017, and I can’t wait to return.

The island itself is reminiscent of Bali before tourism exploded, with no street hawkers, and an incredibly relaxed attitude. The taxi’s are hilarious, and the food was fantastic!

The dive sites themselves are untouched, and when we went in 2017, we never saw another diver during our 7 days of diving. Macro life, reef sharks, dolphins, manatees, whales, and the elusive hammerheads are all possible, and everything else you could want can be found underwater while diving in Timor Leste. And the Arturo islands are the most bio-diverse region in the world!

Hopefully, this time we will be able to push the boundaries of diving in Timor Leste, and for the divers with the right qualifications, we will be diving deeper for longer, exploring what the depths have to offer, and finding depth is not hard at dive sites in Timor.

That being said, one of the best dive sites there was shallow, Anemone garden. A random patch of reef, right next to a road which is covered in little Nemo homes, and nothing else. Truly a unique dive site, and from memory, no deeper than 10-12m.

Another unique dive was ‘One Tree’ a dive site with a lonely tree sitting about 50 odd metres offshore from memory. This tree is one hardy tree, and it was a rather unusual site to see prior to a dive!

The island itself is home to some serious natural beauty, and evidence of the troubles Timor leste has had to overcome is still obvious. Another one of the dive sites we dived is right in front of José Ramos-Horta’s house, the Nobel peace prize winner and former president of Timor Leste. Despite what you are imagining, it is a small house, made up of sea containers, right on the beach front.

Timor really has everything you could want in a dive destination. It has perfect dive conditions (warm water! Great vis!), friendly people, history written large across the landscape, and on a Perth scuba trip, guaranteed fun!

Can’t wait to see you there in October next year! Click here for more details of our upcoming holiday.

TDI Instructor Travis Simmons