54 answers about sailing Komodo on Princess Lala

Yes. Every Monday and Friday sailing from the start of January to the end of July 2027 is open to book today, and the fares in our tables are valid for sailings from 1 January to 31 July 2027. Open trips that start on or before 31 December 2026 cost IDR 100,000 (≈ USD 6) less per person in every cabin. For sailings after 31 July 2027, ask us for the price.

A deposit of 50 percent holds your cabin or the whole boat, and the balance is due 30 days before departure. Fares include 11 percent VAT. You are paying PT Komodo Explorer Indonesia, business licence number (NIB) 1805260128363, so you can check who stands behind the booking before you send anything.

Cancel 60 days or more before departure and 50 percent of your payment comes back; cancel 30 to 59 days before and 25 percent comes back; inside 30 days there is no refund. Refunds are paid within 14 days. Travel insurance is not in the fare, and we recommend it for exactly this reason.

A date change is free 30 days or more before departure. From 14 to 29 days before departure it costs IDR 500,000. Inside 14 days it counts as a cancellation, and the refund scale applies instead. Tell us the new date first and we check the cabins against the calendar before you decide anything.

We take a credit-card payment link, Wise, Revolut, PayPal, QRIS, Alipay, WeChat Pay and a bank transfer in rupiah. PayPal adds a fee of 7.2 percent, and any card fee is shown on your invoice. WeChat Pay is not direct; it runs through a third-party payment partner. Tell us which one you prefer when you book.

You get a phinisi of equal or higher class on the same dates at no extra cost. If the harbour master closes the port, or you would rather not take the other boat, the trip is refunded in full, within 14 days. You choose; we do not.

Cabin 3. Its bathroom sits outside the cabin and is shared, while the other five cabins have their own. That is why Cabin 3 carries the lowest fare on board, IDR 3,250,000 (≈ USD 199) per person for three days and IDR 2,750,000 (≈ USD 169) for two. It still sits on the upper deck, with air conditioning and a sea-view window.

Yes. Cabins 1 to 5 each have a single bed beside the double, so parents and a child share one door. The third guest pays the extra-bed fare shown in the fare table. Children under 3 travel free. Cabin 6 is sold for two on open trips, which is the next question.

Not on the open trip. Cabin 6 has one double bed and is sold for two. On a private charter a single berth is added, so a third guest fits once the whole boat is yours. For three on an open trip, look at Cabin 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, each a double with a single alongside.

Cabins 1, 2 and 3 are on the upper deck, up a staircase; Cabin 1 has windows on three sides and a bean-bag balcony, and Cabin 3 has a shared bathroom and the lowest fare. Cabins 4, 5 and 6 are on the main deck with no stairs; Cabin 6 has a bench balcony. All six have air conditioning and a sea-view window. If stairs are a problem for anyone in your group, ask for the main deck.

Cabin 1, on the upper deck, has windows on three sides and a private balcony with a bean bag. Cabin 6, on the main deck, has a private balcony with a bench. Both are master cabins with a private bathroom. The other cabins have a sea-view window but no balcony.

Every cabin has power sockets. The Wi-Fi is the crew's mobile hotspot: it works where your phone has signal and drops between islands, and the boat has no satellite link. Tell your family at home you will be out of reach for stretches, and download maps and tickets before you sail.

Children under 3 travel free, accompanied by a parent or guardian. From age 3 the full fare applies, and a child on the third bed pays the extra-bed fare shown in the fare table. A third guest takes the single bed beside the double, so parents and a child can share one door.

Life jackets, life buoys, a life raft, an AIS transponder and a first-aid kit. Five crew sail with you: a captain, a cruise director, a chef and two deck crew, and a local guide joins the open trip. A tender boat takes you to the beaches.

It is not in the fare, and we recommend it, with medical cover. The kit on board is basic first aid, and the nearest hospital is in Labuan Bajo, so a serious case means getting ashore first. Insurance, flights, hotel nights, tips and personal expenses all sit outside the fare.

Pink Beach and Taka Makassar are shallow and easy. Manta Point is a guided drift snorkel in a current that can be strong, and anyone less sure in open water is advised to wear a life jacket there; life jackets are on board. Every guest gets a mask and snorkel. Fins are not supplied, so bring your own or rent in Labuan Bajo.

Choose what you join. Padar is a climb of 25 to 45 minutes on a loose, steep path, Kelor is short and steep, and the Komodo walk is easy underfoot with a ranger. Whoever stays down has the canvas deck chairs on the shaded side deck and the bean bags on the bow sundeck. Meals are at the long table either way.

The dragons are wild, and sightings are common but never guaranteed. You walk with a park ranger on Komodo or, when the quota says so, on Rinca, and never alone. Wear closed shoes, carry water, stay with the group and do what the ranger says. The ranger fee is paid separately.

Visitors from 97 listed countries can get a 30-day Visa on Arrival, or apply online first as an e-VoA at evisa.imigrasi.go.id, approved before you fly and used within 90 days. ASEAN citizens enter visa-free. Your passport needs six months' validity and two blank pages. A fee rise has been announced with no start date, so check the current amount.

The All Indonesia digital arrival card covers immigration, customs and the health declaration. It is free: fill it in within 72 hours before you arrive at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id and carry the QR code. Third-party sites charge for it. Coming through Bali adds a separate Bali tourist levy for foreign visitors.

There are ATMs in town along the harbour road and at the airport arrivals, but none inside the national park or on the islands, so take cash before you board. Hotels, charters and larger restaurants take cards; warungs, markets and taxis want cash or QRIS. You will need cash for park fees of IDR 250,000 per day.

Tipping is appreciated and not compulsory. Tips for the guide and crew are not in the fare, and we set no amount, so give what you judge fair, in cash, at the end of the trip. The crew are five: a captain, a cruise director, a chef and two deck crew, with a local guide on the open trip.

Telkomsel has the best coverage in Labuan Bajo and offshore. SIM cards must be registered with your passport, and an eSIM can be installed before you fly and activated on landing. Even so, signal drops between islands, and the Wi-Fi on board is the crew's hotspot, which works only where a phone does.

Mains is 230 V at 50 Hz, with two-round-pin plugs of type C and F, and every cabin has power sockets. Tap water is not safe to drink in Indonesia. On board, drinking water, tea and coffee are provided all day, and in Labuan Bajo you buy sealed bottled water.

A chef cooks on board. On the three-day sailing you eat lunch and dinner on the first day, breakfast, lunch and dinner on the second, and breakfast on the third; on the two-day sailing, lunch and dinner on day one, and breakfast and lunch on day two. The tables are the long one in the indoor dining room, with the tea and coffee station at its end, and an open-air table at the stern under a timber roof. Drinking water, tea and coffee are on hand all day.

There is no fixed menu, and the chef decides what goes on the table. Our photographs show grilled whole fish, prawns and calamari with corn, crumbed prawns, sambal, fried banana with cheese and dragon-fruit juice. They are examples, not a promise of one dish on one day.

Tell us when you book, and we confirm with the galley in writing before you pay, so the answer is in your hands before the 50 percent deposit. Give us the allergy, the names of the guests it affects, and the dates you sail.

Ask us before you book. Send us the dates, how many of you eat this way, and what you cannot eat.

Ask us before you book, with the ages and anything they will not eat. Children under 3 travel free. Everyone sits at the same long table, so the little ones eat beside you and not in a separate room.

Drinking water, tea and coffee come with the fare all day, and on the open trip so do snacks and soft drinks. For alcohol, ask us before you book.

Komodo International Airport, code LBJ, in Labuan Bajo. It is about 2 to 3 km from town and 10 minutes by car from the harbour. Most travellers connect through Bali (DPS), Jakarta (CGK) or Surabaya (SUB), because direct international flights are limited.

About 1 hour 10 to 1 hour 20 minutes from Bali (DPS). Surabaya is about 1 hour 30, Jakarta 2 hours 30 to 3 hours, and Lombok about 1 hour. Plan to reach Labuan Bajo the day before the boat leaves, because the pickup window opens at 10:30.

From Bali and Jakarta we see Garuda Indonesia, Batik Air, Citilink and Indonesia AirAsia. Super Air Jet flies from Surabaya, and Wings Air links smaller airports such as Lombok, Kupang and Maumere. Schedules change, so check current flights before you book.

Hotels in the Marina and town centre are a few minutes from the harbour. Pede Beach is about 10 minutes away, Waecicu Beach 10 to 20 minutes, and the airport area about 10. Pickup is free from your hotel, so tell us its name when you book and we write it into the arrangements.

Yes. Pickup from your hotel or the airport and the return transfer in Labuan Bajo are in the fare. On the open trip the window is 10:30 to 11:55. The car or minibus is shared with your group, and a Toyota HiAce, which seats up to 12, or a coach is quoted separately.

The day before. That way a delayed flight cannot cost you the boat. The pickup window on the open trip is 10:30 to 11:55 and your guide confirms the time the evening before, and a flight from Bali takes about 1 hour 10 minutes. A night in a hotel near the harbour keeps the morning calm.

No. Park fees are in no fare, open trip or charter. They are paid separately under PP 36/2024: IDR 250,000 per international visitor per day, IDR 50,000 per Indonesian visitor on weekdays and IDR 75,000 on weekends. Bring cash for them, along with tips for the guide and crew.

The ranger. A ranger is mandatory for the walks on Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and the fee is per group of up to five, not per person, so IDR 250,000 a day is not the whole bill. A small harbour or regional fee can apply as well. Snorkelling is covered by the entry ticket, with no separate charge. Our written quote lists what is in the fare and what is not.

On the open trip a local guide and a photographer are in the fare. On a private charter neither is: both are on request, quoted separately. The ranger is different. The dragon walk on Komodo is led by a park ranger, and the ranger fee is paid separately on every trip.

On the open trip the park sets a daily quota. When Padar is full, Gili Lawa takes its place that morning, and Rinca can replace Komodo in the same way. We cannot promise Padar on a given date. If you must have it whatever happens, tell us before you book and we say whether the open trip suits you.

Only with a park permit, which you arrange and pay for yourself, so ask us before you pack one. The open-trip fare already includes a photographer with a drone, and on a private charter one is quoted separately on request.

Your name as it appears on your passport, seven days before you sail. The harbour's boarding pass has to match the manifest, so spell it exactly. Carry the passport itself on the day, and keep cash ready for the park fees of IDR 250,000 per visitor per day.

It leaves every Monday & Friday. On the morning you sail we collect you from your hotel or the airport between 10:30 and 11:55, and your guide confirms the time the evening before. On a private charter the pickup hour is the one we agree with you.

Three-day guests are back in Labuan Bajo between 10:00 and 11:00 on day three, then transferred to the hotel or the airport, so book a flight after 13:00. Two-day guests land between 19:00 and 20:30 on day two and go to a hotel, so stay the night in Labuan Bajo and fly the next day.

Both fares sail together and call at the same stops for two days. The three-day guests stay aboard for dinner on day two, the second night, one more breakfast and a morning at Kanawa, and are back between 10:00 and 11:00 on day three. The fare for Cabin 2 is IDR 3,800,000 (≈ USD 233) for three days and IDR 3,400,000 (≈ USD 209) for two.

A ridge walk on Padar comes first, then breakfast on board. After it comes the dragon walk with a park ranger on Komodo, a swim and snorkel at Pink Beach, lunch, a drift snorkel at Manta Point, and Taka Makassar for the sandbar. The three-day sailing ends the day with dinner at the long table.

The open trip is sold per person by the cabin, leaves every Monday & Friday, and includes a local guide and a photographer. A private charter is the whole boat for your group, starting at IDR 31,750,000 (≈ USD 1,948) for two days with up to four guests, on any date subject to availability, at the pickup hour agreed with you. The guide and photographer are extra on a charter.

You board, get your cabin key, hear a short safety briefing and sit down to the first lunch at the long table. Then comes a short, steep climb to the Kelor viewpoint and a swim, snorkelling off the Manjarite jetty, Strawberry Rock when the sea allows, and sunset off Kalong as the fruit bats leave the mangroves.

April to November is the dry season. The calmest and clearest months are April to June and October and November. July and August bring stronger wind and the busiest anchorages, and September is the best of the shoulder months as the wind eases. December to March is the wet season, with heavy showers and the roughest seas in January and February.

Manta Point is the drift snorkel on day two. Mantas are common from July to September and from December to February, and they are never guaranteed: the tide and the current, which can be strong, decide the day. Snorkelling there is guided, and a life jacket is advised because of the current.

These are the windiest months of the dry season, so the sea is choppier on the crossings and the anchorages are busy. The plan moves with the sea, and the captain settles it on the day. If you want the quietest water, October and November are calmer.

Yes, we list sailings through December to March. Expect short heavy downpours, February being the heaviest, and rougher seas with lower visibility in January and February, though mantas are at their best. Harbour closures are most common in this season. If Princess Lala cannot sail, you get a phinisi of equal or higher class on the same dates at no extra cost; if the harbour master closes the port, or you would rather not take the other boat, the trip is refunded in full.

Strawberry Rock is dropped when the sea does not allow the stop, and Manta Point and Taka Makassar swap places when the tide asks for it. The harbour authority, not us, decides whether boats sail, and it can close the port with a day's notice. The substitute-boat or full-refund terms cover you then.

Day two starts at Padar. Sunrise there falls at 06:18 in July and 05:31 in November, and guests leave the boat about 65 minutes earlier. The climb to the main viewpoint takes 25 to 45 minutes on a loose, steep path, so bring a torch and shoes with grip.