How many days do I need?

Three days and two nights covers Padar, Pink Beach, the dragons and Manta Point without rushing. Four days adds the northern sites and a second chance at a clear sunrise, which matters more than people expect.

No. Most guests snorkel the whole trip and the main sites work fine at the surface, mantas included. Boats that carry tanks can add dives for certified divers, arranged when you book.

What are the cabins like?

Twin or double, air conditioned, most with a private bathroom. Space is tight by hotel standards because it is a boat. Bring a soft bag rather than a hard suitcase.

Inside the park the water is mostly sheltered and the boat is at anchor overnight. The open crossings are short. If you know you are prone to it, bring tablets and take them before you board, not after.

Is there phone signal and power?

Power yes, at cabin and deck sockets. Signal comes and goes and is absent for most of the middle of the trip. Tell people at home before you leave rather than after.

When can liveaboards not sail?

January and February bring the roughest seas and some boats stop running. The rest of the year is workable, with April to September the most reliable.

A phinisi under sail on open water in Komodo National Park

SLEEP ON THE WATER

Komodo liveaboard

Three or four days on a phinisi, anchored under Padar at night and diving sites a day trip never reaches.

Plan my trip See the itinerary

Shortest route: 3D2N
Stops on a 3 day trip: 8+
Sunrises at Padar on 4D3N: 2
Crossings done twice: 0

What a liveaboard actually is

A liveaboard is a boat you sleep on. You board in Labuan Bajo, and for the next three or four days the boat moves between sites while you are on it, which removes the two hour crossing that eats both ends of a day trip.

Cabins are twin or double, most with private bathrooms and air conditioning.
All meals, drinking water, snorkel gear and the guide are on board.
You wake up already anchored at the next stop, usually before the day boats arrive.
Dive sites like Batu Bolong and Castle Rock are only reachable this way.
Phone signal comes and goes. Most of the trip you will not have it.

The Milky Way over Padar Island at night

A night anchored under Padar

The part people remember is not a dive site. It is the evening: the engine off, the boat swinging on its anchor below the Padar ridge, and no other lights on the water.

Forty kilometres from the nearest town means the sky above the deck is genuinely dark. On a moonless night in the dry season the Milky Way is visible from the sun deck with no equipment at all.

On board

What the boat gives you

The difference between three days on a boat and three day trips.

A phinisi anchored in Komodo National Park

Sites before the crowd

You are anchored on site overnight, so you swim at seven while the day boats are still two hours away.

The reef wall at Batu Bolong in Komodo National Park

Dive sites, not just snorkel stops

Batu Bolong and the northern sites need a boat that stays out. Certified divers can add tanks to the route.

The open deck of a phinisi in Komodo National Park

A deck to do nothing on

Between stops there is nowhere to be. Most people find that is the part they came back for.

Rain moving across the bays of Padar Island

Two shots at the weather

One day trip gets one sunrise. Four days on board means if Monday is grey, Tuesday is not.

A three day route, day by day

The standard 3D2N. Boats swap the order around for tide and weather, but this is the shape.

01
Board and sail south
Aboard by midday in Labuan Bajo. Kelor or Menjerite in the afternoon, then anchor for the night.
02
Padar, Pink Beach, the dragons
Up in the dark for the Padar ridge. Pink Beach after breakfast, then a ranger walk on Komodo or Rinca.
03
Mantas, then home
Manta Point at slack tide, a last snorkel at Kanawa or Sebayur, alongside in Labuan Bajo by early afternoon.

A 4D3N adds the northern sites and a second Padar sunrise. If you dive, that is the version worth the extra day.

Open trip or private charter?

Same boats, same route. What changes is who else is on board.

Priced by

Open trip: Per person, per cabin
Private charter: Per boat, whatever the headcount

Who is aboard

Open trip: Ten to twenty other travellers
Private charter: Only your group

Dates

Open trip: Fixed departures, you join one
Private charter: You choose the day

Route

Open trip: Set in advance
Private charter: Adjusted around what you want

Best for

Open trip: Solo travellers, couples, anyone watching cost
Private charter: Families, groups of six or more, anyone who wants the deck quiet

	Open trip	Private charter
Priced by	Per person, per cabin	Per boat, whatever the headcount
Who is aboard	Ten to twenty other travellers	Only your group
Dates	Fixed departures, you join one	You choose the day
Route	Set in advance	Adjusted around what you want
Best for	Solo travellers, couples, anyone watching cost	Families, groups of six or more, anyone who wants the deck quiet

Around six people a private charter usually costs the same per head as buying six open trip cabins, and you get the route to yourself.

Liveaboard questions

What people want to know before committing to three nights on a boat.

Ask us anything

Find a boat and a date

Tell us when you land and how many nights you want on the water. We come back with boats that are actually free.

Plan my trip