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Cruise · Liveaboard
Coffee on the aft deck while the crew rig the tenders for a morning snorkel, a trek on Padar or Rinca, then a barbecue at anchor. We match you to the phinisi, the route and the trip length, then handle the legs between Lombok, Bali and Labuan Bajo.
Route patterns
Which one suits you depends almost entirely on where you fly in and out. All three are built around daily snorkelling and island landings.
3–6 days
The classic loop inside the park. Boarding in Labuan Bajo is typically between 11:00 and 13:00. A four-day version runs Kelor and Kalong, then Padar sunrise and Pink Beach, then the dragons and Manta Point, then back into harbour by late morning.
Rule of thumb
Best if you fly straight to Flores
4D3N
The standard for travellers starting in Bali. Check-in at Bangsal or Senggigi, a day island-hopping along Sumbawa, an overnight crossing, then Manta Point, Padar and the dragons before disembarking in Labuan Bajo.
Rule of thumb
Efficient one-way, west to east
5D4N
The reverse routing usually needs an extra night. Return tides favour a five-day schedule so the daylight hours stay on snorkelling and landings instead of night passages.
Rule of thumb
Longer for a reason, not a markup
Included
Sleeping on board, moving every day, and using the boat as the base. Typical inclusions on our three to six day cruises.
Budget separately for
Komodo National Park entrance and ranger fees, payable locally in rupiah — we quote a current estimate. Also alcohol and soft drinks on some boats, dive packages and equipment rental, insurance and flights, and crew gratuities.
Where it goes further
If you want a yacht for a day rather than an overnight cruise, this is the wrong page — the day and sunset charters are a different product with a different cost structure.
On board
Whichever route you pick, the shape of the day repeats. Knowing it is usually more useful than memorising an itinerary that the sea will edit anyway.
Early
The boat repositions while you eat, so the first anchorage is reached without losing an hour of daylight.
Morning
A reef or a manta cleaning station, guided, in small groups off the tender.
Late morning
The Padar hike, Pink Beach, or a dragon walk with rangers — timed, where we can, to miss the busiest window.
Midday
Back on board as the boat shifts to the next bay or island.
Afternoon
Another reef, a sandbar, or kayaks and paddleboards around the anchorage.
Evening
Drinks on deck, dinner under the stars, then stargazing or a night snorkel depending on the boat and conditions.
The sequence of stops does move with wind and tide. If you need timing fixed to the minute every day, a liveaboard is the wrong holiday and we would rather say so now.
The boat
On this route the working boat is almost always a wooden phinisi, from simple shared-cabin craft up to boutique yachts. We do not list every hull here; once we know your comfort level we shortlist specific boats.
Travellers happy to be on the water for several days with a loose, nature-first schedule; snorkel-led guests who care more about reefs and calm bays than a port town; photographers who want repeated golden hours at Padar and the sandbars; and anyone moving one-way between Bali or Lombok and Flores.
Anyone who is only comfortable with large-ship cruising and hotel-level facilities, dislikes short dinghy transfers or hot-weather hikes, or needs the day pinned to a fixed clock.
A shared cabin is the cheaper entry. A full-boat charter is the answer when you want to set the direction, the departure day and the pace — many shared boats run fixed sailing days such as Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday.
Three days covers the headline stops; four to five gives the park proper time; six on the higher-end yachts is for people who want the boat itself to be the holiday.
On selected liveaboards, yes — there is a small dive deck, a compressor and rental equipment. Dive packages are priced separately and are not part of the standard fare.
Logistics
Fast boat to Bangsal Harbour or Senggigi from Padang Bai or Serangan, then a short car transfer. Or fly into Lombok International Airport at Praya and drive one and a half to two and a half hours to Senggigi or Bangsal depending on traffic.
A local boat to Bangsal, where we arrange harbour-side check-in on the morning of departure.
Senggigi, Mataram, Kuta Lombok or the Gili area, so the morning transfer to Bangsal or Senggigi is straightforward rather than a pre-dawn drive.
Direct flights run from Denpasar and other Indonesian cities into Labuan Bajo. We handle harbour check-in and the transfer from your hotel or the airport.
Most guests take one or two nights in Labuan Bajo before flying on. We reconfirm the recommended flight and fast-boat windows before you commit, because timetables move seasonally.
Ask us to quote the whole chain — Bali hotel nights, the Lombok transfer, the liveaboard and the return flight — and we will build it around the sailing dates rather than the other way round.
Pricing
We quote every sailing individually, but these are the bands for a three to six day cruise including full board and the daily activity programme.
Per person
A shared or private cabin on a standard to premium phinisi. What moves it is route length, season, and whether the bathroom is en-suite or shared.
$400–900 per person
Indicative
Where most shared-cabin enquiries settle once the boat class and the dates are fixed.
$720 per person
Whole boat
Private use of the entire phinisi. Driven by standard against luxury class, group size, and whether you start or finish in Labuan Bajo, Lombok or Bali.
$6,000–18,000 per charter
All three exclude Komodo National Park entrance fees, alcoholic drinks and optional dive packages.
The cruise desk
Dates with two or three days of flexibility, where you are starting from, group size and ages, whether you want a shared cabin or the whole boat, and a rough budget. We reply with one to three concrete boats and a working price.
Desk open 9AM–6PM WITA
