Oct 17, 20235 min read

Flores by Motorcycle <>

Indonesia | May 2023 |

Riding Flores was a long-time goal of mine. And I recommend it should be for you too. The place is simply off-the-charts in multiple ways: incredible scenery, lovely people, great roads, non-stop adventure, and fairly easy to access. From Komodo to Hobbit Cave to Blue Stone Beach to Kelimutu to Bajawa to Riung, you won't be disappointed.

Here's some essential tips and infotainment gleaned from my 10-day solo ride from Labuan Bajo to Maumere and back on a rental Yamaha Aerox 155. Disclaimer: I did not travel vast areas of the island, for example, east of Maumere, and the north coast west of Riung - but I will be back to finish the journey (I hope!)

Planning & Route

Planning: I didn't spend much time pre-planning this trip. The main route most riders take is the Trans Flores Highway. Prior to departure I tried to glean as much info online about what to do, and asked around while I was in Komodo for one month before heading out (doing PADI Divemaster Training). There are a couple of good blog resources, the best I found to be Motorcycle Paradise.
Rental: It appears to be easy to rent a bike in Labuan Bajo (LBJ). Many riders fly there or Maumere, rent a bike and ride 1-way across the island. I looked at this option, contacted a number of rental companies. The quotes I got for a 2-week rental with 1-way return fee was about USD 500. Regardless, I ended up riding from Bali (and back) on a Yamaha Aerox 155 rented from my friend Pande at Bali Bliss, 5,000,000 rupiah for a 60-day rental.
License: I carried just the usual: passport, motorcycle DL & IDP (both Singapore), bike registration. I didn't have a single interaction with authorities of any type
Route: see the dynamic map and Trip Reports, both further down the page.

Bike & Gear

Bike: I was on a Yamaha Aerox 155, similar to the Yamaha NMax 155 (the former apparently targeted more at younger riders - supposedly it's more "cool"). Honestly, I would take the NMax over the Aerox any day of the week, the latter being much less comfortable for my 183cm frame. But overall the Aerox is a powerful, reliable bike and I had no issues at all with it, nor did it require any type of service on the 1000 km ride.
Riding gear: AGV helmet, Revit Tornado 2 jacket, Ascics trail runners, Cardo PacTalk Bold, Klim Dakkar gloves (all carried from Singapore), jeans.
Luggage: I bought a Karrimor 70L duffel at Sports Direct; it was ok, a good size for the trip, water-resistant, pretty poor quality. My other bag was my trusted Pacsafe Dry-Lite 30L water-resistant backpack, which also served as a lockable portable safe (BUT: the one you really need is the Pacsafe Anti-Theft Waterproof Safe - it does it all). I used Apple Airtags in both bags, and on the Aerox.
Straps: I used my trusty Rok Straps to secure my bags on the back of the bike.

Duration & Distances

8 days riding / 8 stops / 30 hrs on road / 1000 km
Details of all rides and stops are below in Trip Reports
Ferries may be an integral part of your trip, read more about my experiences with LBJ to Sape and back.

Cost

As with Indo in general, the costs were pretty low, around USD 50/day. I didn't do precise tracking, but can guestimate the following in USD:
- Accom: $18/d
- Gas: $3-5/d
- F&B: $15/d

Insurance

Motorcycle: I didn't take out motorcycle insurance (can't remember why, but I am pretty sure it was because the bike had insurance, and/or is was not available to me for the rental(?).
Travel/Medical: I used World Nomads travel insurance which covers motorcycle riding and other action-oriented activities, US$675 for 6 months.

Roads & Driving

The roads were mostly excellent, as is the case everywhere I have traveled in Indo (I have done 5,000+ km in 2023).
The only mostly poor road I was on was the north coast of Flores.
Drivers in Flores were very civilized, I didn't experience any type of incident that could be classified as ignorant or unsafe. In general, the traffic moves fairly slowly, and there are not a lot of vehicles on the road.

Weather

Honestly, this was not much of a consideration when I planned and departed. But I experienced almost no rain at all in May.

Communication & Safety

No issues at all, English is spoken in varying degrees in most places. And it's totally safe! Seriously, the people in Flores are the friendliest I have met in my extensive travels worldwide and across much of Indo!

Mobile & Wifi

I used Telekomsel pre-paid. I recommend you get a SIM service plan that is pan-Indonesia, as some plans work only in certain areas, example: a West Nusa Tengarra SIM does not work in Flores, so you then need to buy a new SIM - irritating. I only used data (no voice) and service was pretty good everywhere I traveled.

Accommodation

Great basic rooms everywhere, less than USD 20/day. Mostly no hot water in Flores. Shown below are 1) my hut at Scuba Junkie Komodo; 2) my room at Moni (Kelimutu); 3) a bunk on the overnight ferry from Labuan Bajo to Sape.

F&B

Indo food was great everywhere, as always. Outside LBJ western food can be found, but it is very much the Indonesian local version of it, can be hit and miss. I highly recommend La Cucina in LBJ - thery have an amazing Napoli pizza.
Flores is majority Catholic and beer and Arak are available everywhere.

Sights

Incredible! This part of Indo is packed with amazing must-see sights, including stunning views of volcanos on all islands, world-class beaches, Kelimutu volcanic lakes, Hobbit Cave, historic cultural sights, rice terraces, and the list goes on.

Activities

Place I visited and recommend and things I did there (and some I didn't do but are worth considering):

Do (I did): Komodo (diving), Kelimutu, Hobbit cave, Blue stone beach, Labuan Bajo, traditional villages
Consider (I didn't do): Riung island hopping, Bajawa hiking and hot springs, travel east of Maumere, Komodo dragon trip, mountain climbs