June 28, 2025 • 8 mins
Exploring the beautiful tropical island of Atauro, one of the most idyllic places in Timor-Leste. Jonty shares tips on what to do and see, including Beloi, Vila, Makili, Akrema, Adara and Atecru
More information on Atauro Island - https://exploringtimor.com/atauroisland/
Website - www.exploringtimor.com
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@exploringtimor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonty (00:06):
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
Today's episode is about EruIsland, also called Aro Island,
depending on your English orTetin pronunciation.
And this is where people aremost likely to visit if they
come to Timor-Leste as it is thehub for snorkeling and diving,
it is one of the easiest placesto visit from Dili, and it has
the most tourist infrastructure,although that is quite a low
(00:53):
bar, just to manageexpectations.
There are three resorts, butthey're all quite basic, but
that's part of the charm.
It's a quiet, tropical paradisewith little development outside
of Belo where the ferriesarrive.
As Uru lies about 30 kilometersnorth of Dili and it's home to
about 12,000 people.
It's reached by Ferry, which asof recording in mid 20 25, 5
(01:16):
days a week, there are ferryservices between Dili and Aru,
and there are also flights fromDili to Aru.
Interestingly, unlike the restof the Timor-Leste, the local
population is predominantlyProtestant, not Catholic.
After Calvinist missionariesarrived in the early 20th
century.
I covered snorkeling and divingin episode two of this podcast.
I won't repeat that here.
(01:37):
And I'm gonna do a separateepisode on hiking on at Island.
This episode is gonna focus onthe other attractions on the
island.
Starting with Beloit, this iswhere almost all visitors will
spend the majority of their timeas it is, home to the ferry
wolf, it's close to the airstripand the majority of the
accommodation on the island isin Beloit.
(01:57):
It's also a beautiful place witha nice beach and there is a
fantastic reef just off shore,which can be reached either by
walking in or better still bygetting one of the local fishing
boats for about five minutejourney out to the inner reef
and going snorkeling there or alittle bit further out to go
diving.
There are three main places tostay in Beloit.
There is Barry's Place, which Ialways stay at, that's my
(02:19):
favorite.
There's also at Dive Resort andCompass Diving, which have more
of diving focus, but also offeraccommodation and food.
And there's also a number ofhome stays within the village.
The village is well worth awander around to get a flavor
for what a Timor's village islike.
And if you have the energy, youcan head up towards Beloit Beach
Hotel, which may or may not beopen.
And next to that, there's a hugenew Protestant church being
(02:42):
built on the hillside.
This is about 20 minutes walkaway from the beach, and it
offers good views of thecoastline.
The boy is home to someexcellent local markets.
The best day to visit those ison a Saturday, as that is when
they have the most stalls.
So expect to see large bags ofseaweed, some very colorful fish
and lots and lots of dried fish,which the island is known for.
(03:04):
Although Belo is where most ofthe visitors spend their time.
The largest settlement on theisland is Villa.
This is about a 15, 20 minutetook, took ride from Beloit
along the coast.
Villa isn't my favorite place onthe island.
It's very spread out.
There's a few places ofinterest.
There's quite a good church.
If you head up the hillside,there's a Lady Mary Cave, which
(03:26):
is a statue of the Virgin Mary,which was built during the
Indonesian occupation and offersgreat views over the town.
Lamp.
Pita Beach is very pleasant andcan be reached low tide by
walking south along Villas beachtowards, achie, and also at low
tide on the Villa Beach.
Look out for the rusting remainsof a ship.
If you head further south fromVilla, there's the beautiful
(03:47):
fish and village of Achie.
You can either get there byheading up and over the hills,
which is past Lady Mary Cave,and there's a new giant statue
of Virgin Mary being built andthen down to McKee.
Or you can go along the coast atlow tide only, it's a bit rocky.
You need to be comfortable witha little bit of clamoring, or we
can turn it into an excellenthalf day hike by doing it as a
(04:09):
loop, depending on the tide.
So either go up over the hilland back around the coast or the
other way, depending on when lowtide is.
McKee it's known for its, craft.
There's a local collectivethere, and there's also a statue
of St.
Peter, the patron saint offishermen, close to the water.
The other main settlements onthe east coast heading north
from Beloit are Bili, and aCreER.
(04:31):
Bili is by far the largest, butthere isn't particularly
anything to see from a tourist'sperspective there.
You can walk from bikini up thecoastline to a CreER.
Along the way, there are hotsprings marked on the map, but
these are not necessarily whatyou might expect to see when you
think of a hot spring.
They're coastals, so they're inthe sea.
They are tidals.
You can't see them at high tide,and when they are exposed at low
(04:54):
tide, they're hot enough to burnyour skin.
So they're more for something tolook at rather than to sit in.
But heading up to a crema,that's one of the most beautiful
spots on the island.
It's the only real white sandbeach.
It has a cave of the dead, whichis a bit further north from the
beach, which has the remains ofhuman bones, and it probably has
the best campsite on the island.
There is a reef there, but it'sa long way out to swim to even
(05:17):
people with paddleboards wouldstruggle to get there.
But it is a beautiful place toswim and relax.
But note, there are basically nofacilities.
There may be a small local shop,but otherwise you'll need to
bring everything with you.
Now I particularly like the Westcoast of at Island.
Very few people visit the WestCoast.
It has quite a different lookand feel to the East Coast.
(05:38):
So particularly in the dryseason, the east coast can get
really quite dry and dusty, butthe west coast is often still
very green and lush.
I took a boat ride once all theway around the island and it was
very noticeable differencebetween the east and the west
coast.
The most popular spot to visiton the west coast is a Dara.
This is a three hour hike fromBeloit over mainly roads.
So it is quite exposed and sunnyand hot.
(06:00):
But it's worth getting down intoa Dara, there you can stay at
Mario's Place, which is acollection of idyllic beachside
huts.
A Dara has an impressive reef tosnorkel over, but certainly when
I went, the currents were quitestrong, and it's a rocky beach.
There's only really one entranceand exit.
So Mar's Place in Dara isdefinitely worth a visit, and
they have superb sunsets.
(06:21):
But my favorite on the island isat Crew.
So this is about an hour southof Adara.
It's one of the most beautifulplaces on the island.
It has a long sandy beach andthe snorkeling in the reef is
probably one of the best and twomore less day, particularly the
drop off.
So similar to a di and actuallyeven in, in Belo, if you head
further out, there's where the,the reef kind of drops off into
the abyss.
(06:41):
It's kind of a bit spooky, butit is an incredible experience.
The snorkel over and there's acouple of historical sites in at
Crew, which are also worthvisiting.
They will need to pay a littlebit of money to the local
community to do so.
There's a cave that's been usedas a shelter for at least 18,000
years, and it has 8,000 year oldrock art.
And then further around thecoastline is the singing rock,
(07:02):
which is an unusual hollow rockthat can be played almost like a
musical instrument.
If you want an authentic timor'skind of homestay experience, I'd
recommend staying at Jockey'splace.
He has a couple of huts andthere's also camping as possible
and the food is excellent.
I stay there I think three timesduring my time in Timor, you can
either hike out to after crew,which you're gonna spend at
least half a day walking therefrom Beloit, or you can get a
(07:25):
boat ride from Beloit ran to atCruise.
Another way of reaching it.
Finally, there are somevillages.
Inland
anna, two, two.
is probably the largest, which is about halfway between
Villa and at Crew.
There is a very rough road toget there.
It is easier to walk, althoughit's still quite a decent walk.
There's not a lot to see upthere, but it is.
Quite an interesting contrastfrom the coastal villages and
(07:46):
then also Arlo you'll probablycome across if you walk between
Belo and a Dara.
Arlo is an inland village justbefore you reach the West coast,
and that's quite a attractiveplace to take a quick look
around.
They getting around EtterIsland.
They are building roads, butthey're quite rough and you
definitely need a four wheeldrive vehicle or have good
motorbike skills.
(08:06):
Generally the best way ofgetting around is on foot.
If you're heading kind of inlandor if you're going around the
coast, there are tuk-tuksavailable between Beloit and
Villa.
Hope this has given you a goodoverview of what you can do in
the island, and I hope if you goand stay, you have a wonderful
time.
Thank you so much for listeningto exploring Timor Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
(08:27):
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
Today's episode is about EruIsland, also called Aro Island,
depending on your English orTetin pronunciation.
And this is where people aremost likely to visit if they
come to Timor-Leste as it is thehub for snorkeling and diving,
it is one of the easiest placesto visit from Dili, and it has
the most tourist infrastructure,although that is quite a low
(00:53):
bar, just to manageexpectations.
There are three resorts, butthey're all quite basic, but
that's part of the charm.
It's a quiet, tropical paradisewith little development outside
of Belo where the ferriesarrive.
As Uru lies about 30 kilometersnorth of Dili and it's home to
about 12,000 people.
It's reached by Ferry, which asof recording in mid 20 25, 5
(01:16):
days a week, there are ferryservices between Dili and Aru,
and there are also flights fromDili to Aru.
Interestingly, unlike the restof the Timor-Leste, the local
population is predominantlyProtestant, not Catholic.
After Calvinist missionariesarrived in the early 20th
century.
I covered snorkeling and divingin episode two of this podcast.
I won't repeat that here.
(01:37):
And I'm gonna do a separateepisode on hiking on at Island.
This episode is gonna focus onthe other attractions on the
island.
Starting with Beloit, this iswhere almost all visitors will
spend the majority of their timeas it is, home to the ferry
wolf, it's close to the airstripand the majority of the
accommodation on the island isin Beloit.
(01:57):
It's also a beautiful place witha nice beach and there is a
fantastic reef just off shore,which can be reached either by
walking in or better still bygetting one of the local fishing
boats for about five minutejourney out to the inner reef
and going snorkeling there or alittle bit further out to go
diving.
There are three main places tostay in Beloit.
There is Barry's Place, which Ialways stay at, that's my
(02:19):
favorite.
There's also at Dive Resort andCompass Diving, which have more
of diving focus, but also offeraccommodation and food.
And there's also a number ofhome stays within the village.
The village is well worth awander around to get a flavor
for what a Timor's village islike.
And if you have the energy, youcan head up towards Beloit Beach
Hotel, which may or may not beopen.
And next to that, there's a hugenew Protestant church being
(02:42):
built on the hillside.
This is about 20 minutes walkaway from the beach, and it
offers good views of thecoastline.
The boy is home to someexcellent local markets.
The best day to visit those ison a Saturday, as that is when
they have the most stalls.
So expect to see large bags ofseaweed, some very colorful fish
and lots and lots of dried fish,which the island is known for.
(03:04):
Although Belo is where most ofthe visitors spend their time.
The largest settlement on theisland is Villa.
This is about a 15, 20 minutetook, took ride from Beloit
along the coast.
Villa isn't my favorite place onthe island.
It's very spread out.
There's a few places ofinterest.
There's quite a good church.
If you head up the hillside,there's a Lady Mary Cave, which
(03:26):
is a statue of the Virgin Mary,which was built during the
Indonesian occupation and offersgreat views over the town.
Lamp.
Pita Beach is very pleasant andcan be reached low tide by
walking south along Villas beachtowards, achie, and also at low
tide on the Villa Beach.
Look out for the rusting remainsof a ship.
If you head further south fromVilla, there's the beautiful
(03:47):
fish and village of Achie.
You can either get there byheading up and over the hills,
which is past Lady Mary Cave,and there's a new giant statue
of Virgin Mary being built andthen down to McKee.
Or you can go along the coast atlow tide only, it's a bit rocky.
You need to be comfortable witha little bit of clamoring, or we
can turn it into an excellenthalf day hike by doing it as a
(04:09):
loop, depending on the tide.
So either go up over the hilland back around the coast or the
other way, depending on when lowtide is.
McKee it's known for its, craft.
There's a local collectivethere, and there's also a statue
of St.
Peter, the patron saint offishermen, close to the water.
The other main settlements onthe east coast heading north
from Beloit are Bili, and aCreER.
(04:31):
Bili is by far the largest, butthere isn't particularly
anything to see from a tourist'sperspective there.
You can walk from bikini up thecoastline to a CreER.
Along the way, there are hotsprings marked on the map, but
these are not necessarily whatyou might expect to see when you
think of a hot spring.
They're coastals, so they're inthe sea.
They are tidals.
You can't see them at high tide,and when they are exposed at low
(04:54):
tide, they're hot enough to burnyour skin.
So they're more for something tolook at rather than to sit in.
But heading up to a crema,that's one of the most beautiful
spots on the island.
It's the only real white sandbeach.
It has a cave of the dead, whichis a bit further north from the
beach, which has the remains ofhuman bones, and it probably has
the best campsite on the island.
There is a reef there, but it'sa long way out to swim to even
(05:17):
people with paddleboards wouldstruggle to get there.
But it is a beautiful place toswim and relax.
But note, there are basically nofacilities.
There may be a small local shop,but otherwise you'll need to
bring everything with you.
Now I particularly like the Westcoast of at Island.
Very few people visit the WestCoast.
It has quite a different lookand feel to the East Coast.
(05:38):
So particularly in the dryseason, the east coast can get
really quite dry and dusty, butthe west coast is often still
very green and lush.
I took a boat ride once all theway around the island and it was
very noticeable differencebetween the east and the west
coast.
The most popular spot to visiton the west coast is a Dara.
This is a three hour hike fromBeloit over mainly roads.
So it is quite exposed and sunnyand hot.
(06:00):
But it's worth getting down intoa Dara, there you can stay at
Mario's Place, which is acollection of idyllic beachside
huts.
A Dara has an impressive reef tosnorkel over, but certainly when
I went, the currents were quitestrong, and it's a rocky beach.
There's only really one entranceand exit.
So Mar's Place in Dara isdefinitely worth a visit, and
they have superb sunsets.
(06:21):
But my favorite on the island isat Crew.
So this is about an hour southof Adara.
It's one of the most beautifulplaces on the island.
It has a long sandy beach andthe snorkeling in the reef is
probably one of the best and twomore less day, particularly the
drop off.
So similar to a di and actuallyeven in, in Belo, if you head
further out, there's where the,the reef kind of drops off into
the abyss.
(06:41):
It's kind of a bit spooky, butit is an incredible experience.
The snorkel over and there's acouple of historical sites in at
Crew, which are also worthvisiting.
They will need to pay a littlebit of money to the local
community to do so.
There's a cave that's been usedas a shelter for at least 18,000
years, and it has 8,000 year oldrock art.
And then further around thecoastline is the singing rock,
(07:02):
which is an unusual hollow rockthat can be played almost like a
musical instrument.
If you want an authentic timor'skind of homestay experience, I'd
recommend staying at Jockey'splace.
He has a couple of huts andthere's also camping as possible
and the food is excellent.
I stay there I think three timesduring my time in Timor, you can
either hike out to after crew,which you're gonna spend at
least half a day walking therefrom Beloit, or you can get a
(07:25):
boat ride from Beloit ran to atCruise.
Another way of reaching it.
Finally, there are somevillages.
Inland
anna, two, two.
is probably the largest, which is about halfway between
Villa and at Crew.
There is a very rough road toget there.
It is easier to walk, althoughit's still quite a decent walk.
There's not a lot to see upthere, but it is.
Quite an interesting contrastfrom the coastal villages and
(07:46):
then also Arlo you'll probablycome across if you walk between
Belo and a Dara.
Arlo is an inland village justbefore you reach the West coast,
and that's quite a attractiveplace to take a quick look
around.
They getting around EtterIsland.
They are building roads, butthey're quite rough and you
definitely need a four wheeldrive vehicle or have good
motorbike skills.
(08:06):
Generally the best way ofgetting around is on foot.
If you're heading kind of inlandor if you're going around the
coast, there are tuk-tuksavailable between Beloit and
Villa.
Hope this has given you a goodoverview of what you can do in
the island, and I hope if you goand stay, you have a wonderful
time.
Thank you so much for listeningto exploring Timor Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
(08:27):
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
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