Komodo Phinisi Boat Guide: The Seven Boats We Sail from Labuan Bajo

A Komodo phinisi boat is a wooden ship you sleep on while it sails the national park from Labuan Bajo. We work with seven of them, from the 25-metre Akassa with three suites to the 34-metre Lady Grace with ten cabins. Four sell cabins on a shared three-day trip from IDR 6,000,000 (about $336) per person, one sells berths on the four-day crossing to Lombok, and two go out only as a whole boat.

The one-day Komodo trip does not use a phinisi. It runs on a speedboat, which reaches Padar in about 75 minutes. A phinisi takes around three hours, so it stays out in the park overnight.

The phinisi boats, side by side

Sizes and guest numbers are the ones shown in October 2026 on our tour pages and on our Komodo boats page, where each boat has its cabin photos and deck plan.

What a Komodo boat tour on a phinisi is like

The day on board follows the light. On the shared three-day trip the wake call on day two is 04:30, coffee is on the sundeck and the tender runs to Padar in the dark. Breakfast is served while the boat moves to the next stop, lunch is cooked under way, and dinner is at anchor in a sheltered bay.

What you find on deck depends on the boat. The Ballona and the Elbark carry a paddleboard, a canoe, a cruise director and an onboard photographer. The Akassa has a tender, canoes, a karaoke set and a PlayStation, and the Semesta has Starlink. On the others, Wi-Fi works only where a phone signal reaches, which is not far past Labuan Bajo.

A cabin on a shared trip, or the whole boat

Most people book one cabin. On the three-day shared phinisi trip you choose the Ballona or the Elbark, then a cabin tier. The cheapest berths are on the lower deck at IDR 6,000,000 on the Ballona and IDR 6,500,000 on the Elbark, and the upper-deck suites run to IDR 9,000,000 and IDR 11,500,000.

A whole boat costs one price however many of you sail. Our private phinisi charter starts at IDR 45,000,000 for up to five guests over three days. The Akassa is IDR 56,500,000 for two days with up to four guests, or IDR 64,000,000 for five to ten.

What a phinisi cabin is like

Every cabin on the Ballona and the Elbark has its own bathroom. Lower-deck cabins have the lowest price, and on the Elbark they have a round marine window. The Elbark's main-deck cabins have wide ocean windows and sit a few steps from the dining table. Upper-deck suites cost the most, and on the Ballona one has a balcony and a bathtub.

Deck matters more than people expect. Lower cabins are darker and cheaper, upper ones catch the view from bed. Our guide to the best Komodo liveaboard sorts the boats by budget and by who is travelling.

Prices climb with the deck. On the Elbark a berth is IDR 6,500,000 or IDR 7,000,000 on the lower deck, IDR 8,350,000 on the main deck and IDR 9,350,000 to IDR 11,500,000 on the upper deck. On the Akassa the three suites cost IDR 9,500,000, IDR 11,500,000 and IDR 12,500,000 per person, and each goes up by IDR 1,000,000 from June to August.

Phinisi or speedboat

The speedboats on the day trip are the Red Whale I, II and III, carrying up to 13, 20 and 7 guests. They cover six stops between 06:30 and 17:00 and bring you back to town for dinner.

A phinisi is slower, steadier and sleeps in the park. That puts its guests on Padar at 05:00, before the day boats arrive, and at Kalong Island at dusk when the bats fly.

Is a phinisi in Komodo safe?

Every trip starts with a safety briefing and life jackets before the boat clears the port. Whether it sails at all is not the captain's decision. The harbour master in Labuan Bajo stops boats when high waves are forecast, and after a tourist boat sank off Padar on 26 December 2025, sailings to Komodo and Padar stayed suspended until early February 2026.

A closure in the dry season usually lasts a few days. On those days boats have often still been cleared to sail to Rinca, so ask any boat what it does on a closure day before you pay. On our Ballona and Elbark trip a refused sailing permit means new dates or a refund of the boat part of the price.

The phinisi that crosses to Lombok

The Lady Grace is the largest boat here, and it is built for a different job. Its four-day route leaves the park on day two, crosses the Sape Strait in about five hours and reaches Lombok across the Alas Strait on day four. A longer hull rides open water more steadily, and there is a jacuzzi on the sundeck for the afternoons between islands.

Berths on the crossing start at IDR 6,850,000 and run to IDR 12,250,000 for the top cabins on the main deck. Our article on the Komodo tour from Lombok explains the two directions and what the open-water days are like.

Where these boats come from

Phinisi are built by hand on the beaches of South Sulawesi, at Tana Beru, Bira and Batu Licin. The Ballona was shaped there from ironwood and launched in 2026. The craft is on a UNESCO heritage list, and our article on what a phinisi is explains the name and the building method.

Who should not book a phinisi

Anyone with one free day. A phinisi needs around three hours to reach Padar, so the shortest trip on one is two days, and that one is a whole-boat booking. Light sleepers should know about the 04:30 call on day two, and lower-deck cabins are darker than the photos of the upper suites suggest.

It also takes more planning than a day trip. Boarding starts at 08:30 and check-out is at 12:00 on the last day, so arrive in Labuan Bajo at least one day before departure.

How booking a cabin works

The Ballona and the Elbark sail any day of the week and must be booked at least two days ahead. A 50% deposit confirms the cabin, and full payment is due 14 days before departure. You can move your dates up to one month before sailing if there is space. Inside 30 days a change counts as a cancellation.

Choosing and booking

Start with the group size. Two people fit a shared cabin. A larger group should price a whole boat first, because the boat costs the same however many beds you fill. Then tell us your dates, and we will say which phinisi are free.