The official and national language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia, which is spoken throughout the nation. Javanese and Sundanese are the most often spoken ethnic languages and dialects among the majority of Indonesians.
In Flores, there are 6 distinctive languages spoken throughout the island starting from east to west; Lemaholot, Sikka, Ende-Lio, Nage-Keo, Ngada, and Manggarai
Lamaholot language: generally spoken by the people of East Flores which consists of the mainland Flores, Adonara Island, Solor Island, and the west-central Lembata Island.
Sikka language: Generally used by the Flores people in the Sikka Regency.
Ende-Lio language: Used by the Flores people from the Ende and Lio tribes in Ende Regency.
Nage-Keo language: The use of this language includes the people of Nagekeo Regency.
Ngada language: The use of this language includes the people of Ngada Regency.
Manggarai language: The speakers are generally people who live in Manggarai regency, East Manggarai, and West Manggarai.
With those different languages spoken in Flores, Bahasa Indonesia is a lingua franca to connect these people from one to another regency.
In major cities across the island of Flores, banks offer foreign exchange services. The majority of tourist destinations like Labuan Bajo offer currency exchange services, money changer services rarely found anywhere else in Flores. However it is best to convert your money in advance if you are going to a more isolated location. It is better to order the money the day before if you require a lot of foreign currency and don’t have a foreign currency account at your bank. Smaller branches of local banks only hold a tiny quantity of foreign cash.
In addition to the 10% tax, the majority of hotels tack on a 10% service charge. Depending on the service and type of place, a tip of 5 to 10% on the bill is appropriate at restaurants where there is no service charge.
Giving tips is part of the culture in Indonesia as well as in Flores. In every ceremony which involves numbers of participants, tipping is always shared to those who contribute more during the works especially for cooking and serving guests.
Sharing tips to guide and driver will add a value on your holiday.
All visitors including government officials, travel agents, travel bureaus, dive operators, accommodation service providers, culinary service providers, business enterprises legally operating in Komodo National Park, souvenir sellers, tour guides, interpreters, tourists, and other associated stakeholders, are prohibited to:
Source: SIORA (Sistem Informasi Komodo)
What to bring:
Flores is situated in between the sea from all directions. It is formed from volcanic eruption million years ago. There are major cities or tourist destination situated near the sea like Larantuka, Maumere, Ende, Riung, Borong, and Labuan Bajo and there are also cities or tourist destination situated on the high elevation or near the mountain ranges like; Moni, Bajawa, and Ruteng. The temperatures are varied from one to another city. the lowest one during the night is between 15-19 degrees Celsius lasts for almost the whole year and 25-30 degree Celsius during the day. However, the temperature on the high elevation cities in the summer can go low to 7-9 degrees Celsius during the night till morning. So, we recommend you to bring the below things during your holiday in Flores;
There will be other tourists at the tourist attraction, but our car and guide will be reserved just for you. This private tour means that the tour will only be your group and that we do not mix other strangers into your tour.
We do not offer public tours, but if you need our recommendations for a shared boat trip in Komodo, we will help you to guide where to book based on tourists’ reviews.
Children between 5-15 years old are counted 50% from the initial tour price which is applied with a price per pax. This children policy price is generally applied for the day trip in Flores. As for the Komodo boat trip, children policy price is not applied in the boat companies as they quote the price not per pax but tiered per group size. This policy is also applied for the national park fees based on the current price policy which is paid through a new application released in the early January through Siora
We do have children price for certain package and we recommend to contact us to get the package details for the price details.
Here is the step by step process when you have confirmed to buy our tour products
1. Create an Invoice
We will send the invoice based on the agreed price. Our tour price is made based much on the class of the accommodations that you can choose during correspondence.
2. Receipt
We will issue a receipt as soon as the payment has been credited to our bank account.
Every tour product you have dealt requires a 30% prepayment or deposits.
3. Room Reservation
After the guest pays the prepayment, the team will immediately book the hotels per request. The guest will be given updates on this till it’s all booked and confirmed. After rooms are all booked, other tour components like means of transports used during the trip is also booked and tour guide as well. Your tour guide is a member of Indonesian tourist guide association.
P.s We cannot block or hold the booking during the high season (April-December) because most of our vendors (hotel or boat companies) apply a deposit for every booking. The booking will remain “hold” status within 1-2 days. If there is no prepayment, the reservation will be released and open for others to book.
4. Fill the Form
Every guest is required to fill the form provided which involves; name, f/m, age, nationality, fin/shoe size, food allergies/restrictions. If you book a Komodo trip, you must send the copy of your passport to show to the local authority during the checkup at the harbor.
P.s Since January 2025, all passengers, tour guide, or tour operators register through SIORA application. If you book the tour with us, we will proceed it ourselves.
5. Paging Board/Billboard
Every guest who starts the trip at the airport, hotel, and harbor will be shown this paging board to help you recognize the tour guide or driver. We also will provide the contact of the tour guide or driver during the correspondence through email or WhatsApp.
If you are traveling in a group, we only will write the PIC on the paging board.
(this article was written on Wednesday 19 February 2025)
Since all tour products are designed for a private tour, we are very open to discussions. You can add ideas or interest that may meet your individual needs to the tour based on your preferences. Our team will help you to describe whether it is feasible according to the length of tour, timing, and distance.
For payment, Wise is highly rated amongst the other money transaction platforms. According to the policy released by the Wise company in May 2024 about the Indonesian Wise account holders, we are no longer able to hold the balance in the wise account. This happens if you only fill our email address in the transaction form. The good news is, you are still able to transfer through Wise by simply filling our bank account details into the transaction form provided by Wise. The detailed info will be sent through invoice. We have been using it for almost a year now, up till now, Wise is very effective, fast, and easy way to make an international money transfer.
Besides Wise, you can also do a wire transfer through bank, PayPal, or sending through Western union.
(this article was written on Wednesday 19 February 2025)
