Photos of Ataúro, Timor-Leste

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Ataúro

Atauro is a small island situated 25 kilometres north of Dili, about 25 kilometres long and 9 kilometres wide. The island has between 9,000 and 10,000 inhabitants, living in small villages, of which Vila (Vila Maumeta) in the south-east is the largest. The village of Beloi, halfway along the east coast, is where the ferry from Dili docks.

View to Makili
 
View to Vila
 
View to Vila coast
 
Arrival in Beloi
 
Atauro Dive Resort
 
Ferry in Beloi
 
Market in Beloi
 
Dried squid for sale
 
Dried fish for sale
 
Balancing on the mooring cable
 
Canoes on the beach
 
Fishing canoes
 
Bamboo raft on the beach
 
Fisherman's house
 
View to Beloi village
 
View near Ilicnamo
 
Estrada de Ilicnamo
 
Sunrise, Atauro Dive Resort
 
View from bungalow, Atauro Dive Resort
 
Bungalow, Atauro Dive Resort
 
Houses in Vila
 
Fretilin monument
 
Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario
 
Clinic, Vila de Maumeta
 
School, Vila de Maumeta
 
Underground prison, Vila de Maumeta
 
Beach near Vila
 
Houses on the beach
 
Growing seaweed
 
Berach, growing seaweed
 
Fishing canoes and boats
 
Beach at Barry's Place
 
Fishing canoes and ferry
 
Fishing canoes, Beloi
 
Dried fish for sale
 
Atauro Dive Resort
 

Atauro was used as a prison island by the Portuguese. It was dry and remote; there are still the remains of an underground prison in the village of Vila de Maumeta. Here inmates virtually starved, sometimes just given maize as not much could be grown on the island. During the Indonesian occupation, between 1980 and 1987, as many as 3,000 Fretilin fighters were kept prisoners on the island.

Atauro is becoming popular as a destination for eco-tourism, and it has several low-key diving resorts around Beloi, offering diving expeditions to its pristine coral reefs. Mount Manucoco, at 999 metres above sea level, is the highest point on the island. There are various hiking trails in addition to the only road, a 12-kilometre gravel road along the east coast between Vila and Pala.