
I
only had two things in mind coming to Dili: meet Jesus; and go to Atauro.
Coming from an archipelago of more than 7000 islands, I am pretty hard to
impress. The thing is, there is nothing much to see in Dili and since you are
already there, might as well see what the island has to offer. Atauro is still
part of Dili, and you do not have a lot of transportation options for that
trip.
The Berlin Nakroma ferry is the cheapest way to get to and from the island. According to rumors, you can get a round-trip USD11 fare for that, but I would not know for sure because I opted for a tour package. That ferry is the common form of transportation to get to the island. Since there is just one round-trip per day, it gets filled up pretty fast. Book your tickets in advance if you choose this option. I am not even sure if it does have daily trips. I think I've read somewhere that it only sails on Saturdays.

I
sent a message to two tour companies on Facebook. One was offering two dives
for USD180, while the other one was USD120 for a snorkeling day tour. I chose
the day tour because I do not have a diving license, nor do I want one. I find
the deep blue sea terrifying, you see. I reserved a slot with Compass Charters
and paid them on the day of the trip before we ventured into the deep.

Most
of the Caucasians you will see in Dili are a mix of Australians and Portuguese.
Darwin is just an hour away by plane and East Timor was once a Portuguese
colony. That pretty much explains everything. In fact, Portuguese nationals
enjoy special immigration privileges along with Indonesians. On the day of our
trip, there were four Portuguese, five Aussies, a Kiwi, and a Swiss. I was the
only Pinoy, but since everyone assumes that I am one of them whenever I’m in
the Malay sprachbund, it did not really matter.

I
admit I was a bit surprised by the size of the water taxi, which is basically a
speed boat with makeshift seats in the form of water coolers. The trip took an
hour and a half amidst strong waves enough to make you fear for your life.
Newsflash: the ocean makes you feel that way. As with most boat trips, you
might think that the trip would be shorter once you see the island from afar.
This is not always the case, especially with Atauro because the dock is on the
other side.

The
island is beautiful alright and I'd say that it is worth the trip. Remember
that it is actually inhabited, and is the more popular of the two island
destinations in Timor-Leste. The other is Jaco on the eastern tip of the
island. Atauro gets more tourists not only because of its proximity to Dili,
but also because of its coral reefs. Considered as part of a coral triangle
stretching down to Australia, expect a coral overload once you put your snorkel
on.

Accommodation
comes in the form of Eco-villages, which provide you with the bare necessities.
There is enough electricity to charge your gadgets, but Wi-Fi is unheard of.
For those who opt for a day tour, you would arrive at around 9:30 and go back
to Dili at 3 PM. The first activity on the island would be breakfast, around an
hour after which you go back to the boat to don your snorkel and fins. Game!

For
Compass Charters, those who dive and those who snorkel share the same boat. In
our case, only the Swiss was diving so we just dropped him and his dive master
along the way before we went to the snorkeling area. The first dive took place
right after breakfast. The weather was schizophrenic at best. And so, how was
the dive? You know me and my weaknesses when it comes to strenuous physical
activities.

If
I were to give you an honest evaluation, it would be all about me and not the
dive. But okay, fine. I have been to Coron, okay. I do not really enjoy
snorkeling because I find wearing fins too stressful, not to mention I hate
having to breathe through snorkels. In any case, Atauro is nice, but marine
life looks the same to me. There will always be a school of Nemo's friends,
Dory's friends, and those corals that look like pink and purple human brains.

If
you are in Dili, then by all means go to Atauro. If you are not in Dili but
would like to come just for Atauro, the sad truth is that you can find a
similar place somewhere in the region that is not as inaccessible and not as
expensive. What does Atauro have to offer then, to convince you to go there? As
mentioned, it is part of a coral triangle, which means the diversity of the
marine life you see there is just awesome, while the area it covers under the
sea is just vast.

The
water depth also varies, with sudden drops known to be common and rather
terrifying, at least for me. Not that you would fall all the way down though.
Salty sea water makes you float, remember? Even so, staring down the abyss
would more or less give you the creeps. The Aussies could not get over the abundance
of fish they saw but because I was not as agile, I did not get to appreciate it
that much.

This
will always be my curse, given how unconscious I am of my health and fitness.
What happened at Atauro was five minutes of snorkeling and 20 minutes of being
dragged by the life buoy attached to the boat. In the end, I actually just let
the life buoy do the swimming while I looked down and took videos with my
Pentax while the Aussies were enjoying the view closer to the reef. Hooray, me!
What followed was lunch for about an hour and a half.

The
afternoon snorkeling session was rather eventless for me because I just lacked
the energy to swim. The area in question was also way deeper and full of
jellyfish which looked like little sinister plastic bags eager to sabotage you.
The water was deep blue in color, and seeing the profound crevices down below
made my imagination run wild, leading to some cramps and an alternate reality
where a giant whirlpool suddenly formed and sucked me down to the bottom of the
ocean. Fuck you, wild imagination.

I
decided to just let the life buoy drag me around, which means not many photos
and videos were taken as a consequence. Before I knew it, the trip was over. We
had 15 minutes to refresh on the island and then we headed back to Dili on a
rough boat trip. It felt as though the ocean was going to flip us upside down
any moment. The Swiss, the Kiwi, two Australians, and three Portuguese were
left behind for an overnight stay of the island, which meant less people on the
boat for the return trip.
[DILI] Jesus on the Cliff
[DILI] The Atauro Day Trip
[DILI] Around the City
[DILI] East Timor Backpackers Hostel
[DILI] Budget and Itinerary
[DILI] The Atauro Day Trip
[DILI] Around the City
[DILI] East Timor Backpackers Hostel
[DILI] Budget and Itinerary
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