A bed in town, the night before

The start on Vhale is 11:00, with the pickup before it, and a boat that starts at eleven invites a plan to fly in that morning. We advise against it. A flight into Labuan Bajo is delayed for reasons that have nothing to do with you, and the party is only as punctual as its latest member. A plane that lands late takes the afternoon with it, and the afternoon is where Kelor, the walk at Rinca and the sunset at Kalong live. We cannot promise that a boat of twenty-four waits for one seat.

So land the evening before, even if it costs a night, and spend it in a bed within reach of the quay. The party gathers in a lobby instead of on a runway, someone finds the shoes that were in the wrong bag, and the pickup meets people who have slept. A night in town buys the voyage its first afternoon.

Three questions sort the choice. Do you want to walk? The hotels around the marina and the town centre are a couple of minutes from the quay, with restaurants at the door, which suits a party that arrives late and wants supper without a taxi. Do you want a pool and a beach? Pede and Waecicu have them, a short drive away, and the resorts there are built for a family that wants to start the holiday properly. Do you want the view? The hotels on the hills above town are set back from the water, and the airport area is the practical one for an early or late flight.

The difference in price between these is real and we do not show it here. The difference in the morning is small, because the vehicle comes to the door of each. Choose the one you would like to wake up in. Then ask us.

For your flight home: the three-day route returns to the quay at 12:00, and the drop-off at the hotel or the airport is included. The two-day route returns around 17:30. Book a flight that leaves with a margin after those hours, because a captain's order of stops and the weather can move the hour, and a plane does not wait for a boat.

If the flight leaves late, a night in town after the voyage is kinder than a day spent in an airport. A party can keep the same hotel for the night before and the night after, and ask it to hold the suitcases while the boat is at sea, which spares the driver a puzzle. The arrangement is the hotel's, not ours.

The car comes to the lobby at an hour confirmed in writing, and you receive the driver's number the day before. That is the whole procedure, and its virtue is that nobody needs to find a car in a car park. The vehicle is a car or a minibus shared by the party, and it is part of the fare, both ways.

A party of twenty or more does not fit in one car. For a big one we quote a larger vehicle instead, and a Toyota HiAce holds up to twelve, so a party of twenty-four needs two of them. This is a service in Labuan Bajo only, quoted before it is added. Tell us how many hotels, how many flights and at what hours, and we arrange the lobbies in a sequence that reaches the quay together.