If you’re planning to see a lot in a short time, it can be a good idea to find out how long each journey will take. Knowing the approximate price for each leg of your trip can help with budgeting. Here are the journey durations and prices for each leg of my Flores trip.
These journey times are accurate for my trip, however, the trans-Flores highway is a two-lane narrow road that twists and turns through the mountains. Journey times can be affected by many factors, including broken-down vehicles in the road, landslides, rain, damaged road surface and cows wandering into the middle of the road.
I travelled by minibus and public taxi, which meant I was collected from my hotel and taken directly to my next hotel at the destination, thus cutting out the hassle of bus terminals and local transport to and from them. Public buses, where you can travel alongside chickens and pigs, will be cheaper. Hiring a private car with a driver will set you back at least Rp. 500,000 per day.
| Journey | Duration | Price (Rupiahs) |
| Maumere airport to town (by airport taxi) | 15 minutes | Rp. 50,000 |
| Maumere to Moni | 3.5 hours | Rp. 50,000 |
| Moni to Ende | 3 to 4 hours | Rp. 35,000 |
| Ende to Bajawa | 3.5 hours | Rp. 50,000 |
| Bajawa to Ruteng | 4 to 5 hours | Rp. 70,000 |
| Ruteng to Labuan Bajo | 4 hours | Rp. 60,000 |
| Labuan Bajo town to airport (by motorcycle) | 15 minutes | Rp. 10,000 |
All prices are in Indonesian Rupiahs. I use http://www.xe.com for currency conversions, though there are many websites providing this service. At the time of my trip in April 2012, US$ 1 was approximately Rp. 9,000 and £1 was around Rp. 14,000.
Hei Rachel,
This is great info for those traveling Flores. Thanks for this.
Glad you like it! I think this kind of information is important for people planning their travels, especially on a budget. Your site looks great as well!
Hi Rachel!
Thanks for sharing your information with us! Your website is very useful for our travel planning. I am planning to go to Flores in August. Since I know nobody who has been there so far, maybe I could ask you a few questions please?
We are planning to spent 10 days in Flores. 4 in Luban Bajo, 2 in Ende and 4 in Maumere. From these destintionations we would set out to explore Komodo, Kelimutu etc and do some snorkling and surfing if possible. Do you think we miss any import spots? Do you happen to know any good surf spots on Flores? I have read that there are some, but I never got an exact location
. They should be somewhere on the southcoast.
Thanks for your help and keep up the good work!
Florian
Hi Florian,
That’s great my website is useful for your travel planning! I hope I can help with your questions.
Ten days is a good amount of time to spend in Flores. You can visit Komodo during your stay in Labuan Bajo – it’s easy to organise a tour while you’re there, anything from 1 day upwards. There’s good snorkeling in that area too, and you can snorkel during your boat tour to Komodo and Rinca.
I stayed in Bajawa rather than Ende, and really enjoyed my time there, visiting the Wawo Muda crater lakes and some traditional villages.
If you want to see Kelimutu at dawn you should stay the night before in Moni village, which is much nearer to Kelimutu than Ende or Maumere.
I think four days in Maumere is too long unless you want to travel (or take day trips) further east. I’m sorry I can’t help you with surf spots; I didn’t actually see anyone surfing where I went, but perhaps there are good spots east of Maumere in the Larantuka area.
I hope that is useful for your trip planning. Please let me know if you have any more questions, I’m happy to help!
Rachel
Hi Florian — We have the same idea. Flores sounds like a great place to snorkel, and we’d love to surf too.
Looking at the map, it seems like sw and s swells would make it to Flores. Did you go & find some spots to share? mpease
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Thank you!
Thanks for your help! Your help is indeed very useful to us!! I will probably leave out Ende then and spent some more time in Bajawa. Nobody has seemed to really like Ende anyway so far
Could you recommend good housing in Maumere, Bajawa and Luban Bajo? Its really hard to come across solid infos..
I read that there is really good snorkeling and beautiful beaches around Maumere. Did you happen to see some spots there? They are supposed to be East of Maumere..
Thanks again for your help!
kind regards,
Florian
Hi Florian,
Here are links to my reviews of the accommodation I used in Maumere and Bajawa. In Labuan Bajo (review to come) I stayed at Gardena.
Maumere: http://www.anysomewhere.com/gardena-hotel-maumere-flores-spacious-but-noisy/
Bajawa: http://www.anysomewhere.com/hotel-villa-silverin-bajawa-flores-good-value-and-restful-sleep/
I didn’t travel east of Maumere, but you could contact Sea World – it’s a resort in that area – and ask them.
Hope that helps!