Komodo boat charter questions, answered for the person who has to book it

Each cabin is sold with a double bed plus a single, so three people sleep in fixed beds. In our footage the single is a pull-out lower bed, seen pulled out in Bali, while Jawa has one wide platform with two armchairs beside it and Sumbawa a two-seat sofa. All seven cabins sit above the waterline, each with its own bathroom and a window on the sea. A fourth guest takes an extra bed in every cabin except Flores, which stops at three.

Jawa, on the main deck at the stern. The wooden tub stands outdoors on its private balcony and has a gold floor tap. For Sumbawa the rate card lists an outdoor bathtub too, and we confirm it in writing before you book Sumbawa for the bath.

Three. Sumbawa on the upper deck and Jawa on the main deck have a private balcony at the stern, one above the other, and Flores has a recessed side balcony. The other four cabins, Sulawesi and Bali upstairs and Papua and Maluku on the main deck, have a sea window along the bed and no balcony.

Jawa, Papua and Maluku, the three on the main deck. Their route to the restaurant stays on one level. The upper deck and the sun deck are reached by stairs, and there is no lift, so put grandparents and small children on the main deck.

An upper-deck cabin, if the sleeper accepts more motion. Our rule of thumb, not a measurement: the upper deck hears less of the engine and moves more at sea, and the main deck moves less. Jawa sits at the stern beside the galley and hears the most.

A fourth guest in a cabin takes an extra bed, and guests 22 to 25 on the whole boat sleep this way. Flores stops at three. On the open trip a third or fourth person sharing pays the extra-bed rate, and the 2027 fare table prints it for each cabin class. Which cabins carry the extra beds is part of the cabin plan in your quote.

The day before sailing, so that a cancelled or delayed flight does not cost the group day one. On the last day, book a flight after 14:00.

10:30 to 11:55 on day 1, and the exact time is sent the day before. A private charter picks up at the hour agreed in the confirmation. Pickup from a hotel or the airport, and the ride back, are free on every trip.

Yes. The Toyota HiAce carries up to 12 passengers, and for more than that a bigger coach can be requested. Either one is quoted as its own line, outside the fare.

Yes. The hotels page lists the hotels we book for groups, and the hotel confirms the rate for your dates. Rates move with peak season, so the site prints no contract rate.

Flights reach Komodo International Airport, code LBJ, through Bali, Jakarta or Surabaya, with Lombok and Kupang as smaller feeders. Published block times are about 1 h 10 min to 1 h 20 min from Bali and 2 h 30 min to 3 h from Jakarta. We advise on routes and do not sell tickets. The airport is 2 to 3 km from the harbour.

At the ATMs near the harbour on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta and in airport arrivals. There are none in the national park or on the islands, so take cash for tips and small purchases before you board.

25 guests is the licence. 21 of them sleep in fixed berths across 7 cabins, and guests 22 to 25 sleep on extra beds. The rate card prints the 8 crew and the 25 guests as separate figures.

There is no minimum. The first printed band covers 1 to 5 guests and prices the whole boat, so a couple on 3D2N pays IDR 30,500,000 (≈ USD 1,871) each. For two people the open trip is the cheaper plan, and the compare page shows where the two lines cross.

Yes. Seven cabins hold 21 people in fixed beds, the 22nd takes an extra bed in a cabin that has room for one, and the licence stops at 25. Each guest above 20 adds IDR 2,500,000 (≈ USD 153) on 3D2N. Flores takes three at most, so the extra beds go to the other six cabins.

Before the deposit, because the quote prices that number. Names and passport details follow with the balance, and the booking steps give the last day we accept them.

The licence stops at 25 guests, so a larger party needs a second boat. Ask us about a second boat before you fix the head count. The 25 places on this boat keep the printed bands.

8 crew: a captain, a cruise director, a chef, an engineer and deckhands. The rate card prints no split by role and no names, so we give neither.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner as the programme runs, served as a buffet from the island in the restaurant. The open trip adds a snack and a soft drink.

Yes, free-flow mineral water, tea and coffee are included on the open trip and on a charter.

The rate card does not state halal, vegetarian, vegan or allergy handling, so we print no guarantee for any of them. Send the diet needs together with the head count. A guest with a severe allergy should raise it before paying anything.

The restaurant seats about 20. It has no dining tables, only wooden counters along the window sides and the inner wall, so a full boat eats in two sittings or takes a meal up to the sun deck. The roof has turf, around a dozen bean bags and wooden benches.

Buffet, set out on the square island in the middle of the restaurant. A trip filmed in late May 2025 served whole grilled fish on banana leaf, chicken satay, grilled squid, clams with chilli sambal, vegetables with peanut sauce, papaya and pancakes at breakfast. That is the record of one trip, not a fixed menu.

No alcohol rule is printed, so we state none. Ask us before you buy anything for the group.

Calm seas and high visibility fall in April, May, June, October and November. March, September and December are moderate. July and August bring windier seas and the busiest anchorages. December to March is the wet season, and January and February have the roughest water.

Both months are dry with windier seas, and both are peak crowd months. For older guests the main-deck cabins move less and need no stairs to the restaurant.

No. The turf deck is open to the sky in every month. Covered seats are in the restaurant and under the awning on the open deck at the front of the upper deck.

That order is one of the two cases the substitution guarantee covers, so you choose between an equal or higher-class phinisi on your dates and a full refund within 14 days.

Sightings peak in January, February, July, August, September and December, are good in March, and are fair in the other months. They are never guaranteed. On the day, the captain decides whether Manta Point or Taka Makassar comes first.

It moves through the year: 06:18 in July and 05:31 in November. The best-months page carries the full table. Shoes with grip matter more than the exact minute.

Every Monday & Friday. The calendar lists only sailings that can still be booked, so a missing date has sailed, filled, or is held for a charter or docking. 122 dates are listed across 2026 and 2027. Each listed date reads Few cabins left or Ask about this date, as of the checked date shown on the departures page.

Yes. Two-day guests sail the first two days of the 3D2N open trip, which includes Taka Makassar on day 2, and are back at the pier between 19:00 and 20:30 that evening. The 2D1N fare starts at IDR 4,400,000 (≈ USD 270) per person. Three-day guests are back between 10:00 and 11:00 on day 3.

No solo supplement is printed. A cabin is sold for a minimum of two, so a solo guest who wants the cabin alone pays two shares. The rate card prints no pairing rule. One share on 3D2N starts at IDR 5,150,000 (≈ USD 316).

Yes. The 2027 dates follow the same Monday and Friday pattern, and the live calendar already holds bookings. The 2027 fares are printed and sit in the 2027 fare table on the cabins page. A fare change before your balance date reaches you first, and you may cancel without charge.

The boat, transfers both ways, all meals, water, tea and coffee, a snack and a soft drink, mask and snorkel without fins, linen and a bath towel, a local guide, a photo and video set, paddle board, kayak, Starlink Wi-Fi and an ikat cloth to take home. Park tickets and ranger, flights, tipping, personal spending and insurance are extra.

Price and outdoor space. The masters, Sumbawa and Jawa, cost IDR 5,950,000 (≈ USD 365) per person on 3D2N, two sharing, and each has a private stern balcony. Flores is IDR 5,600,000 (≈ USD 344) with a side balcony. The four sea-view cabins cost IDR 5,150,000 (≈ USD 316) and have a window along the bed but no balcony.

No. Neither the open-trip fare nor a charter fare covers park entrance or ranger fees. A foreign visitor buys a IDR 250,000 ticket for every day spent inside the park.

Online, through the park system SiOra, in each visitor's name and passport or ID number. Payment is non-cash, so there is nothing to pay at the gate. The name on each park ticket must match the passport.

On weekdays an Indonesian citizen pays IDR 50,000 per person per day. On weekends and public holidays the figure is IDR 75,000. The foreign ticket is the same on every day of the week.

The visitors, as a separate fee, and the park sets what it costs. We quote the ranger fee as its own line, and the park-fees page sets out how it works.

Yes, a park permit. The open trip's documentation set includes drone footage. On a charter a photographer or drone is an extra line, quoted together with the permit.

Yes. Sailings to Komodo and Padar were closed for waves and wind from 6 to 8 August 2026 while Rinca stayed open. The daily visitor allowance has also been cut for the rest of 2026, and the journal post on park tickets gives the figure with its source and date.

The deposit is 50% of the booking. The balance is paid 30 days before departure, and a booking made inside that window is paid in full at once.

Cancel 60 days out or earlier and 50% of the payment is returned. Cancel 59 to 30 days out and 25% is returned. Inside 30 days nothing is returned. A travel policy that covers trip cancellation is strongly advised, because it is the only cover for the part we do not return.

A date change 30 days or more before departure costs nothing, subject to availability. From 29 to 14 days out the fee is IDR 500,000, and a change inside 14 days is handled as a cancellation.

The substitution guarantee applies. It gives you a phinisi in the same class or in a higher one, on your dates and at no extra cost, or a full refund within 14 days. It covers a breakdown and an order from the harbour or park authority that stops the boat.

A rupiah bank transfer, a card payment link, PayPal, Wise or Revolut all work, and so do QRIS, Alipay and WeChat Pay, the last through a payment partner. PayPal carries a 7.2% fee. Say which method you want when you ask for the invoice.

Yes. We issue one invoice to the organiser, and the organiser collects the shares. The invoice carries the company name, the boat, the dates and the inclusions, with 11% VAT inside the price.

Pickup falls between 10:30 and 11:55, and the exact time arrives the day before. After boarding the boat goes to Kelor, then Manjarite, then Strawberry Rock if conditions allow, and ends at Kalong for the flying foxes at dusk. Day one is an afternoon on the water, not a full day, and dinner is on board.

On the open trip Padar or Gili Lawa, one of the two, is the first stop of day 2, and the park quota decides which. On a private charter the stops are agreed in the quote.

On day 2 of the open trip it is Komodo village or Rinca, one of the two, and the quota decides. Each walk goes with a park ranger, whose fee is extra, as the park-fees page explains. Sightings of wild dragons are never guaranteed.

Open-trip guests on the two-day option are back at the pier between 19:00 and 20:30 on the evening of day 2. Three-day guests are back between 10:00 and 11:00 on day 3, so book a flight after 14:00. A private charter's return time is fixed in the confirmation.

The captain decides on the day, from the sea conditions and the weather. The rate card states that the route changes with sea conditions, weather and collective agreement. Where the boat spends the night is settled the same way. The park quota settles the either-or stops on the open trip.

Yes. Starlink Wi-Fi is fitted. Do large uploads in Labuan Bajo before you board.

Children under 3 travel free, which means ages 0 to 2, when accompanied by a parent or guardian. From age 3 the full price applies.

Put families in the main-deck cabins, which need no stairs to reach the restaurant. The sun deck has a low rail, so a child on the roof needs an adult beside them. Life jackets are on the boat's printed list, and child sizes are not stated, so give us the children's ages together with the head count.

Not for the beach stops. Pink Beach suits every level. Manta Point is different: the current can be strong and it suits confident swimmers. On the open trip the local guide goes with you, and on a charter you ask for the guide line.

The printed equipment list names life jackets, life rings, a life raft, AIS and a first-aid kit. In the footage at least six life rings hang on the rails and a fire extinguisher is mounted in the restaurant. Smoke detectors are on the ceilings of the cabins that were filmed.

No. Snorkel sets are a mask and a snorkel, without fins, on the open trip and on a charter, and the 2027 brochure prints No Fins in red. Bring your own pair.

Insurance is in no fare, and we strongly advise a policy with medical cover and emergency evacuation. Siloam Hospitals Labuan Bajo is the private hospital in town and RSUD Komodo is the public one. In Indonesia 112 is the general emergency number.

For 16 guests the boat comes to IDR 83,500,000 (≈ USD 5,123), which is IDR 5,220,000 (≈ USD 320) each. For 25 guests it is IDR 3,840,000 (≈ USD 236) each. Prices are per boat, in four bands up to 20 guests, and include 11% VAT. At 15 and 16 the head-count line sits close to the cheapest open-trip bed, and from 17 guests it drops below it.

One printed amount per guest above 20: IDR 2,500,000 (≈ USD 153) on 3D2N and IDR 1,500,000 (≈ USD 92) on the full day. Those guests sleep on extra beds in cabins that have room for them.

Four lines: park tickets and ranger fees, a local guide, a photo and video documentation set, and personal spending with tipping. A guide and a documentation set can join a charter as quoted lines. Flights, hotel nights and travel insurance sit outside the fare too.

A couple alone on 3D2N pays IDR 30,500,000 (≈ USD 1,871) each, because the smallest band prices the whole boat for 1 to 5 guests. That is more than five times an open-trip bed each. Two people should look at the open-trip cabins first.

For 16 guests the full day comes to IDR 55,500,000 (≈ USD 3,405) for the boat, or IDR 3,470,000 (≈ USD 213) each. The rate card prints a price and no stop list. Our planning sample is the near-islands loop of Kelor, Manjarite and Kanawa with a return before sunset, and the quote fixes the stop list.

No. The 2027 card is higher on every length from 2D1N to 5D4N and on three of the four full-day bands. The full-day band for 11 to 15 guests is the same on both cards. Both tables sit on the charter page. The 2027 booklet covers January to July 2027, and for later dates the rate is confirmed before any deposit.