I’ve been stuck on Flores island for almost two weeks! Due to bad weather the car ferries did not leave to Kupang on Timor island.
There are three towns on Flores from where the ferries are going to Timor: Aimere, Ende and Larantuka.
The shortest is from Larantuka and will take about 15h. It’s supposed to run three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But it seems during the rainy season there’s normally no ferry on Wednesday. Or in my case none at all for two weeks…
There’s only one company with car ferries: ASDP. I got the most reliable information from their email address (it may take one or two days to get an answer, but they will): asdp191@indonesiaferry.co.id
Pelni has passenger ferries which run less frequently. They are bigger and therefore also running in bad weather conditions. But there’s no way they take a scooter or motorbike with them (I tried).
the ASDP ferry port is here, about 5km west of Larantuka! They are not going from the main harbour! Although the office building there looks pretty destroyed and abandoned (roof fallen down, etc), the ticket office is in there! It’s the only dry room in the building, approach from south to find it. But there’s rarely anybody there and if they are, they don’t know the schedule nor do they speak English.
Be there at 6am! I arrived at 7am and the ferry was already full! I just crammed my bike in there, didn’t even had a ticket yet.
the ticket office will open about 7-8am. But you can also go onboard and pay on the ferry as soon as you see an ASDP official. The ferry should leave around noon. In my case it left at 11:50, although the official departure on this day would have been 13:00. I arrived at 3:30 in the night.
In Larantuka I stayed in hotel Lestari. It was ok, but at 250’000 IDR a bit overpriced.
There’s a good and cheap car/motorcycle wash here for 20’000 IDR.
Hairdresser is here, 20’000 IDR
A nice and lively Street food court is here, opens at 6pm.
If you like to stay in a fancy hotel with beach and pool, try this one, starting at 450’000 IDR per night.
Hey, great info! I am in the process of riding my Vespa from Jakarta to Timur – it’s been a great trip! I’m currently in Bajawa and started to finally think seriously about the next ferry. I will give Larantuka a shot!
Been writing about this trip and others for a couple of magazines in Jakarta. They are all on my blog at: where2.site
PS: I think we are using the same WP theme – TwentyFourteen? 😀
Thanks for the info, I’m in Ende and the next ferry to kupang leaves in six days, so I plan to ride my motorcycle to Larankuta,
I hope Timor is worth the effort, either way it’s still a trip of new discoveries.