Komodo private charter on Vinca Deluxe Phinisi: the whole boat, or one cabin on a fixed date

Vinca has 6 cabins in three styles, and each style has a deck of its own. The Japanese rooms are up top, with big sea windows and a low tatami table. The Western rooms are on the main deck, and they're the ones with a proper bathtub and a window to gaze out of while you soak. Down on the lower deck, the Balinese rooms are done up like a little Bali villa, with portholes rather than windows.

Your deck decides how much you feel the sea, how much you hear the engine and what you pay. The upper deck rolls most but is the quietest; the lower deck barely moves but sits right by the engine. There are no stabilisers on board, so choose with your stomach rather than the photos. On the open trip a Western or Japanese room costs IDR 8,500,000 (≈ USD 521) per person, and a Balinese room IDR 6,950,000 (≈ USD 426).

Most guests settle it with what we call the bathtub test. If a bath with the window open is the point, book Western. If it's the view from the pillow, go Japanese, and if it's the price per head, Balinese. Light sleepers should keep off the lower deck, because that's where the engine is closest.

It helps to think of Vinca as a small floating house. The roof is the sundeck, scattered with bean bags, cushions and umbrellas. Under cover on the dining deck stands the long table, where every meal is served, and that's how a boatload of strangers turns into a group. The kitchen is an open galley, so you can watch the chef cooking your dinner.

Inside there's an air-conditioned lounge with a sofa, a TV, a bar and a karaoke set, and out on the main deck you'll find lounge cushions and seats at the bow. For the water we carry snorkelling gear, two stand-up paddleboards and a fibreglass tender with a Yamaha 40 hp outboard, which runs you in to beaches the big boat can't reach.

We're a snorkelling boat. There's no compressor and there are no tanks, so if you're coming to dive, you'll need a different boat.

The open trip is a 3D2N sailing that sets off on Monday & Friday. The next one leaves Monday, 12 October 2026, and there are 122 start dates on the calendar in all. Not every Monday or Friday runs, so check your date before you book flights.

The whole boat is priced by guest band and trip length, never by how many cabins you actually fill. A 3D2N runs from IDR 100,000,000 (≈ USD 6,135) for the smallest band to IDR 110,000,000 (≈ USD 6,748) for the largest, and each guest beyond that adds IDR 5,000,000 (≈ USD 307). Split ten ways, the charter comes to IDR 10,500,000 (≈ USD 644) a head; with eighteen aboard it's IDR 7,220,000 (≈ USD 443).

For two people a whole-boat charter works out at IDR 50,000,000 (≈ USD 3,067) each, which is why most couples take the open trip instead. Neither price includes park fees, drone permits or diving. Rates were last updated 4 April 2026.

Day one begins with a 09:30 pickup from your hotel or the airport and a long run out to Sebayur for the first snorkel. After that come Manta Point and Taka Makassar, in whichever order the tide allows. Day two starts before dawn on Padar. Breakfast is followed by Long Beach for snorkelling or paddleboarding, then the Komodo trek with a park ranger, a walk on Pimpe and, at sunset, the bats at Kalong. Day three is a free morning at Kelor before you're back at the harbour between 11:00 and 12:00.

Treat those times as a pattern rather than a timetable. The captain shuffles stops for tide, current and park decisions, and the itinerary page shows which ones can swap. On the last day, book a flight that leaves after 14:00.

The dry season runs from April to November, and the sea is at its calmest from April to June and again in October and November. July and August bring wind, along with the biggest crowds at Padar and Pink Beach. December to February is wet and rough, with the poorest visibility of the year, but it's also prime time for manta rays.

Nobody can guarantee mantas at Manta Point, but your odds are better from December to February and from July to September. If you get seasick and you're sailing in the rough months, remember there are no stabilisers on board: book the lower deck, or choose a calmer month. The month matrix puts sea, visibility, mantas and crowds side by side so you can weigh one against another. Calm water points you to May or October; mantas point you to a bumpier crossing. You'll have to decide which of the two you'd rather put up with.

Pickup is free. We collect you at 09:30 from the lobby of your Labuan Bajo hotel or from the airport. A family that wants a vehicle to itself can ask for a Toyota HiAce with up to 12 seats, and a larger coach is available on request.

The long table that seats a boatload of strangers works just as well for a board meeting, a company holiday, a family get-together or a birthday. We arrange seafood dinners, island dinners and private island dinners, a dinner around a dietary need or a proposal, decorations for the deck and cabins, and a photographer or a drone where the park permit allows.

Because prices depend on headcount, island and season, we quote each one within hours and in writing, and nothing goes on the fare without that written quote. One thing to settle up front: the Wi-Fi on board is a local hotspot off the crew's mobile signal, with no satellite link, so a meeting that needs a video call belongs ashore.

Vinca is a good fit for couples who want a bath at sea, families who fit into a Balinese room and groups who like the idea of one long table. She's the wrong choice for divers, for anyone who needs a stabilised steel hull and for anyone who has to stay online. There's local Wi-Fi on board, a hotspot off the crew's mobile signal: it works near Labuan Bajo and in patches between islands, and there's no satellite link, so plan on being mostly offline at sea.

Three limits, said before the deposit: only patchy local Wi-Fi (no satellite internet), no stabilisers, and park fees that sit outside our fare. We won't fold the fees into a bundle just to look cheaper. The operator box below gives our registration number, 1805260128363, and the Labuan Bajo address of the company that runs her. Read the fit check first and the prices second; it saves everyone a lot of messages.