MALA Tours
MALA Tours
4.5
Cultural Tours • Scuba & Snorkelling • Eco Tours • Hiking & Camping Tours • Nature & Wildlife Tours
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9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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About
Mala Tours offers authentic experiences in Alor island & other islands in Eastern parts of Indonesia. As a social enterprise we involve the local communities and provide services like eco-friendly excursions like Dugong watching & Mangrove tours, Culture, Textile tours, Photography & Culinary tours, Snorkelling trips, Spearfishing, Freediving & Scuba Diving trips and Educational & Family tours. We offer tours in: Alor, Komodo, Flores, Timor, Savu/Sabu, Rote, Sumba, Mollucas, Morotai, Tanimbar, Nabire & Biak (Papua), Togean islands, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Borneo (Kalimantan), Bali and Lombok
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
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4.5
31 reviews
Excellent
25
Very good
3
Average
0
Poor
3
Terrible
0
Atourin
Jakarta, Indonesia2 contributions
Mar 2023
We contacted Mala Tours to arrange our business trip for 4D3N in Alor, we were accompanied by Mika and overall we are very satisfied with the recommendations of our shooting locations. Mika is a reliable and well-connected tour guide in Alor.
Written 4 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dwi L
46 contributions
Oct 2022
Mala tour has helped to organize my impromptu 2 Days tour after my diving trip efficiently and nicely. I would recommend Mala Tour for anyone who want to explore and understand the story (and history) of Alor directly from the source.
These girls from Mala tour are not doing the work solely for business but they actually do more community empowerment in their job. From the driver, the guide, the boat man and the chief of village all are carefully chosen so they can represent Alor at its best, not only accompanying the guest and tell stories but also to share their love and pride for Alor.
These girls from Mala tour are not doing the work solely for business but they actually do more community empowerment in their job. From the driver, the guide, the boat man and the chief of village all are carefully chosen so they can represent Alor at its best, not only accompanying the guest and tell stories but also to share their love and pride for Alor.
Written 6 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christa R
Beringin Raya, Indonesia7 contributions
Aug 2022
We (two European women in their 60s) booked a lovely 4D/5N tour with Ms Mila Salim, a teacher from Kalabahi/Alor. Her WA contact is +62 822 3619 2859. Her offer (incl accommodation, food, car, entry fees, donations, water, fruit, snorkeling gear, snorkeling guide) was not low cost, but definitely less expensive than alternatives (as far as we could find). She requested a 50% transfer in advance.
She took good care of us (sometimes too much) and adjusted to our programme wishes. She and her driver picked us up around midnight from the port where the Pelni ship (Awu) from Kupang docked and took us to Tamala Homestay which was very new, well equipped - even hot water, quiet, had breakfast as per our choice. For the following days we had a full sightseeing programme largely in the "bird's head" part of Alor and a bit in the "bird's body", also nice snorkeling and beautiful sunsets. She adjusted to our diverse wishes. Unfortunately we could not see the dugong due to unfavourable weather conditions - and the costs were reduced accordingly. Highlights of the tour were the Kalabahi Museum, the fruit market, Takpala and Monbang villages, Mama Sariat's ikat dying and weaving and playing Gambus and flute in Hula, an elderly woman producing pottery with simple means, the ancient Holy Koran from Ternate, several beautiful sunsets. All restaurants where we ate were clean; we did not get sick. On the last day we were dropped at Mali Airport for our return flight to Kupang. We thoroughly enjoyed Ms Mila's tour and highly recommend it.
She took good care of us (sometimes too much) and adjusted to our programme wishes. She and her driver picked us up around midnight from the port where the Pelni ship (Awu) from Kupang docked and took us to Tamala Homestay which was very new, well equipped - even hot water, quiet, had breakfast as per our choice. For the following days we had a full sightseeing programme largely in the "bird's head" part of Alor and a bit in the "bird's body", also nice snorkeling and beautiful sunsets. She adjusted to our diverse wishes. Unfortunately we could not see the dugong due to unfavourable weather conditions - and the costs were reduced accordingly. Highlights of the tour were the Kalabahi Museum, the fruit market, Takpala and Monbang villages, Mama Sariat's ikat dying and weaving and playing Gambus and flute in Hula, an elderly woman producing pottery with simple means, the ancient Holy Koran from Ternate, several beautiful sunsets. All restaurants where we ate were clean; we did not get sick. On the last day we were dropped at Mali Airport for our return flight to Kupang. We thoroughly enjoyed Ms Mila's tour and highly recommend it.
Written 11 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ammar fadhil
Jakarta, Indonesia5 contributions
Dec 2021 • Friends
Took a halfday trip with mala tours, we choose lingal beach, kepa island, and pura island as our destination, mika as our guide is a very kind and informative woman, she tell us about the place we visited
Overall its an amazing trip, Lingal with a great seashore view, pura island with their iconic snorkeling spot, and caught a sunset in kepa island before we ended up the trip and going back to alor kecil. Also, we got a free handcrafted bag from pura island and free snorkeling lesson from Mika
Overall its an amazing trip, Lingal with a great seashore view, pura island with their iconic snorkeling spot, and caught a sunset in kepa island before we ended up the trip and going back to alor kecil. Also, we got a free handcrafted bag from pura island and free snorkeling lesson from Mika
Written 2 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stevescubasia
Nijmegen, The Netherlands34 contributions
Nov 2019
I've been doing some diving in Alor and wanted to also get a feel of the Alor culture before returning home. So I decided to have a one day cultural tour with Mala Tours. Visited the lovely museum which for a small place like Kalabahi is quite well organized and containing very good displays of the Nusa Tengara Timur history and culture. Next stop was the Kabola village while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Nicely setup of traditional houses and enjoyed the local coffee and other spices. Enjoyed a very nice lunch at Maimol beach and then it was time for the encounter with the Dugong. For a diver this is like the icing on a cake. What a fantastic animal! On the way to Takpala village I got another treat by spotting a whale in the bay. A perfect day just became more perfect. Takpala village was quite interesting and very enjoyable by chatting with the locals.
This one day cultural trip was perfectly organized and my tour guide Mika was very knowledgable on the local culture and sharing a lot of nice stories.
Mala tours is not just another tour agency, but they are really involved in developing local communities and eco friendly way of traveling. I do hope I can come back one day and would to like to see more of this lovely island and the other small islands around Alor... surely again with Mala tours ofcourse!
This one day cultural trip was perfectly organized and my tour guide Mika was very knowledgable on the local culture and sharing a lot of nice stories.
Mala tours is not just another tour agency, but they are really involved in developing local communities and eco friendly way of traveling. I do hope I can come back one day and would to like to see more of this lovely island and the other small islands around Alor... surely again with Mala tours ofcourse!
Written 12 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Malacrews
Dear Steve,
We are delighted to hear that you have so many amazing experiences during your tour with MALA Tours. We're happy the Dugong tours & a whale sighting compliment your diving trip in Alor, hope your interactions with these rare endangered species bring you a lifetime memorable experience that you won't forget and hopefully, will bring you back to our lovely island, Alor, in the future.
We appreciate your genuine appreciation to our company efforts to develop local communities, especially in ecotourism sector. We are looking forward to welcome you back in Alor once the international borders are open again. Stay healthy and wish you all the best in your travels and life.
Warm regards,
Mika and MALA Ecotours crew
Written 24 July 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
choongtheone
Bangkok, Thailand6 contributions
Oct 2018 • Friends
I had an amazing tour with Melissa watching the beautiful mammal. She did a great job in explaining and feeding us with substantial information of sustainable tourism and the background of Alor Island. I would highly recommend the tour for those who happened to venture this beautiful untouched island and support the local communities.
Written 9 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Choong,
Thank you for your review for our service, we will give your appreciation to Melissa. We hope the next time you visit Alor or other parts of East Nusa Tenggara, please join our other tours and support the local communities.
We really glad to have the 2nd group of Malaysians here in Alor :)
Have a nice day!
Warm regards,
Mika
Written 10 October 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
copernici
Warsaw, Poland147 contributions
Sep 2018
First of all this is difficult for me to write this overview. I would like to underline that our tour (4d3n) had very good points – especially staying at Lingal Beach with Richard. But overall I feel that this tour was by far overpriced (!) compared to what you get. The expenditure of the Mala tours was very small taking into consideration REAL prices in Alor and the price for us was very high. Higher than visiting Kalimatan (4d3n all inc live aboard in kotolok) and higher than visiting Komodo (4d3n all incl. large ship private tour – 6 people of the crew). I cannot recommend it. If you want to visit Alor stay in the city and organize the tours by yourself. Do not use Mala Tours as the price is tremendous.
Written 2 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Gregorz & Kate,
Thank you for your reviews on our service.
However, we need to clarify to you what you called is 'overpriced' so you understand there are huge differences in prices in Eastern Indonesia like Alor and Western Indonesia like Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan hat you mentioned & Komodo (Indonesia's recent international destination which happen to be in the same province as Alor).
FYI, in Tanjung Puting National park in Kalimantan, they have 25 registered tour operators & we assumed there are 50 boats per day that went for sailing through Sekonyer river, we know because we work together with Orang Utan Applause (no 1 tour operator in Tanjung Puting for 2 years already. While in Alor, there are only 3 registered tour operators that work here.
Also, in Tanjung Puting, last year, there were 24.693 visitors last year. While Alor only has approximately 1,577 tourists per year.
Not to mention there are more than 7 flights per day that connect Jakarta - Pangkalan bun which only cost IDR 800,000/pax & 14 flights per day that connect Jakarta to Labuanbajo (Komodo) with tickets as low as IDR 1,500,000? Do you really want me to compare it with flights from Jakarta/Bali or Surabaya to Alor that cost IDR 2 millions one way and only 2 flights per day? Is it a fair comparation in terms of access & remoteness?
The tour prices in Labuanbajo also is cheaper than Alor since there are more than 30 registered tour operators that operated in Labuanbajo. Besides, the hotel prices are also vary & have wide range of choices. If you compared Alor to Komdo or Bali, it's not a fair price since the prices in Bali is 2 to 3 times more cheaper than Alor.
Yes, in Komodo you can get sailing trip 4D/3N as low as IDR 2,6 millions. But in Alor, where there is no LOB boat, to charter the boat per day we spent IDR 2,500,000 exluding the food, drinks and additional fees for the crew.
Last year, there were 38.147 people visited Komodo while in Alor it's only 1,577 people, we only have 4% of the whole tourists that visit Komodo. Do you see the underlying cause why the price in Komodo so ridiculously cheap? Because they have more tourists, they have more boats and facilities, and they have more tour agencies.
In Alor, you inquired some specific itineraries like camping in Ling'al beach, visit traditional village and staying in Sebanjar beach bungalow, and to see Dugongs. We just followed your itinerary & calculated it based on your requests. Do you think we hire the boat to Ling'al and to stay overnight with the crew for free? We need to pay two full days for it, not matter how long you use the boat on the 2nd day. Not to mention the Dugong tours and other items like cultural shows is also expensive because we pay back to the communities and we involved the communities in the whole village. We don't bring tourists without involving the communities where we are working, because we are an ecotours company that practices fair & responsible tourism. We don't make people and their villages as attractions where tourists can come there and donate nothing to them but treat them like animals in a zoo where you can watch them without affecting their lives. Please keep it mind when you book the trip through us on January 2018. We had mentioned that we are an ecotours company, maybe we're not the cheapest because we pay our guide according to the Indonesia Tourist Guide association unlike other tour agencies here and we involved the community in tourists destinations.
Yes sure, you can go around Alor by yourselves, in Alor many backpackers do that here; but I guarantee you won't get the insights and beautiful experiences that our tours offer. You also can visit the traditional villages here or anywhere in Indonesia by yourselves without knowing the history, the way of life and the principles of life that the people there have that made them unique and one-of-a-kind villages that you might not see again anywhere in Indonesia.
But when you come to their villages, please treat them with respect & give donations or buy their products. Don't go there and act like snob tourists who think their villages and the villagers as mere objects who you free to take pictures with and put them in your social media as 'another posting of tribal encounters in Indonesia' without learning something from them that may enrich your life.
Just make sure finding a driver with good English-skills or an ojek that can speak English in Alor. You might have better luck in Bali or in Komodo to find them, not in Alor. As we only have 10 tour guides with excellent English-skills here, much lesser than 700 tour guides you can find in Komodo and Flores.
FYI, I can sent you the original prices that we paid to the communities, bungalow, boatmen, guide, etc. So you can understand why we give you the price. I will email it to you.
Have a great day!
Warm regards from all of us.
Melissa, Mika and Richard
Written 3 October 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
nfok23
Sanur, Indonesia3 contributions
Sep 2018 • Solo
As a solo travellar that rarely uses guides, what a pleasure it was to spend 1.5 days with Rony, my Mala guide in Alor.
This company walks the talk and I have nothing but the highest praise for them.
It is meeting the locals at their best, which includes a DUGONG that did everything but get in the boat and shake hands !!!!
Just extraordinary.
The money and benifits DOES get back to the locals and they are some of the most genuine people you could meet.
Go to Alor and use Mala , and experience the real deal.
This company walks the talk and I have nothing but the highest praise for them.
It is meeting the locals at their best, which includes a DUGONG that did everything but get in the boat and shake hands !!!!
Just extraordinary.
The money and benifits DOES get back to the locals and they are some of the most genuine people you could meet.
Go to Alor and use Mala , and experience the real deal.
Written 28 September 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Noel,
Thank you so much for your reviews for our services. We glad you enjoyed exploring Alor's beauty with our guide, Rony.
We can't thank you enough for also giving us insights, advise and inputs for our agency development.
We really enjoyed lively chats & friendly interactions with you and we hope you can visit us again in Alor and other parts of Indonesia where we work.
Warm regards from all of us,
Melissa, Mika, Mirka (3M) and Rony
Written 1 October 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Duri G
6 contributions
May 2018 • Friends
We did a last minute trip to Alor and were looking for someone to show us around. The girls from Mala were amazing! They explained the island and it's sights to us and were able to organize gear and guides on short notice. We had a great trek to the waterfall and a great stay in a traditional village, one night they even cooked food for us. I can totally recommend them if you are planning to visit Alor.
Written 4 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Duri,
Glad to hear your amazing experiences with MALA Tours in Alor. We are hoping you can travel with us again in other parts of Indonesia like Flores, Timor, Lembata and Papua.
Thank you for the compliments.
Best regards,
MALA Tours crew
Written 8 August 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Stefano C
3 contributions
Mar 2018 • Solo
I would like to suggest anyone going to alor island to contact mala tour! They are very helpful and super nice. I had the pleasure to meet Mika, she gave me plenty of useful info about the island, places where to go and how to get there.. thanks mala tour for the great times there!!
Written 3 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Stefano,
Thank you for your nice reviews about us. We are glad we can helped you and gave you useful information. Hopefully you can visit Alor again someday.
Wish you all the best.
Regards,
Mika
Written 7 April 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jason P
Geraldton, Australia54 contributions
Hello I am staying on Alor from the 22 to the 26th at Alor beach front front bungalows and wanted a day trip with private guide to see as much as possible of the island on motor bike is this possible ?
Thank you
Jason
nfok23
Sanur, Indonesia3 contributions
Yes it is
Ive recently done 1.5 days on the back of a bike 😁😁
Saw lots and great service from Mala tours