Vhale Phinisi
Updated 4 November 2026
A Komodo family boat trip on Vhale puts three generations at one table: 12 cabins, a balcony cabin for the oldest, bunks for the cousins, and a crew of 9. For 24 relatives the 3D2N whole boat divides to IDR 6,170,000 (≈ USD 379) each, and children up to age 2 travel free.
At two o'clock, after Pink Beach, the outdoor dining table holds a great-aunt in the shade, a father peeling an orange for a four-year-old, and two cousins arguing about who had the paddle board last. Nobody has reached for a wallet since the hotel pickup, because the transfers, the meals, the snacks and the free-flow water, tea, coffee, milk and juice were in the fare before anyone sat down. The day bed in the outdoor chill area has been claimed twice and ceded once.
A family does not need an activity programme so much as an arrangement in which the oldest and the youngest can stop whenever they like. Vhale offers an indoor dining room, an outdoor one, a sundeck and the day bed, which means the slow members of the party are never stranded with nowhere to sit.
Only the two Atlantic cabins have a private balcony. Each holds a queen bed, an extra bed on request and a bathroom of its own, for up to 4 guests. That makes them the natural choice for grandparents who like a door that opens onto air. Azure, also on the upper deck, takes 2 or 3. Oceanic and Pacific sit on the main deck. Oceanic pairs a queen bed with an extra one, handy for a parent and a small child; Pacific is a queen cabin for exactly two.
The four Coral cabins are on the lower deck, and each is a bunk room with one double and one single bed, enough for three. They are a gift to cousins and an unkind arrangement for a couple wanting privacy. Ask us which bathroom arrangement your cabin has before you choose one for the children, and ask early for any extra bed: it is by request in Atlantic, Azure and Oceanic, and confirmed in writing.
The balcony is the point: queen bed, en-suite bathroom, an extra bed if asked, and coffee taken outdoors on the upper deck. Seat fare IDR 8,950,000 (≈ USD 549).
A couple, or two parents with a child, who want the balcony
Check availability · Atlantic
A queen bed on the upper deck with room for an extra bed; ask us which bathroom arrangement it has. Seat fare IDR 5,200,000 (≈ USD 319).
Two or three who want the top deck for less
Check availability · Azure
A queen bed on the main deck, an en-suite bathroom and space for an extra bed, a short walk from both dining rooms. Seat fare IDR 7,450,000 (≈ USD 457).
A couple or a small family who want their own bathroom
Check availability · Oceanic
A queen bed and an en-suite bathroom on the main deck, sold for two and no more: the plain, comfortable middle of the boat. Seat fare IDR 6,200,000 (≈ USD 380).
Two people who need nothing extra
Check availability · Pacific
A lower-deck bunk room, one double below and one single above, taken by your own party alone; ask us which bathroom arrangement it has. Seat fare IDR 5,700,000 (≈ USD 350).
Friends or a parent with two children
Check availability · Coral Private RoomOne berth in a lower-deck Coral bunk room, the lowest seat aboard; your cabin-mate is confirmed in writing first. Seat fare IDR 4,450,000 (≈ USD 273).
One traveller who would rather spend on the trip than the bed
Check availability · Coral Sharing RoomThe three days are kinder to children than they look on paper. Day one starts at 11:00 with the pickup and lunch, then Kelor, the short first climb of the trip. Rinca follows, with rangers leading the walk; the dragons are wild, so what we promise is the walk and not a sighting. The sun goes down at Kalong, with the boat at anchor for the night. Day two begins at Padar before sunrise, a steep ridge that a weary child can skip while an adult stays aboard.
Pink Beach is a stop where small legs do the least: a landing by tender, a shore to paddle on, then lunch. Taka Makassar is a sandbar over shallow reef and Manta Point is a snorkel that depends on the current, so at both a child wears a life jacket with an adult within reach. The captain sets the order and can swap stops with the weather. On the last morning the boat snorkels at Siaba or Sebayur and is back at the quay by 12:00.
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| Labuan Bajo — Pickup from your hotel or the airport before an 11:00 start | passport or ID | |
| Lunch on board | ||
| Sail to Kelor Island | shoes with grip, water | |
| Walk at Rinca Island | closed shoes, hat and water | |
| Sunset at Kalong Island | a light layer | |
| Dinner on board | ||
| 🌙 | Night aboard. Where the boat anchors for the night depends on the weather and the captain's decision on the day. | |
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| Padar Island walk at sunrise | shoes with grip, hat and water | |
| Breakfast on board | ||
| Beach time at Pink Beach | reef-safe sunscreen | |
| Lunch on board | ||
| Snorkelling at Taka Makassar | mask and snorkel | |
| Snorkelling at Manta Point | mask and snorkel | |
| Dinner on board | ||
| 🌙 | Night aboard. Where the boat anchors for the night depends on the weather and the captain's decision on the day. | |
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast on board | ||
| Snorkelling at Siaba or Sebayur Island | mask and snorkel | |
| Sail back to Labuan Bajo around midday, then to your hotel or the airport |
These stops swap order with tide and wind: Manta Point ⇄ Taka Makassar.
Times are operating patterns, not a timetable. Pickup is the only promise we make by the clock.
Eighteen relatives is the awkward number. The whole-boat fare for 3D2N is IDR 148,000,000 (≈ USD 9,080), one sum whether the party is 18 or 28, and at eighteen you carry all of it. Bring six more cousins and the party reaches 24, and the same sum divides to IDR 6,170,000 (≈ USD 379) each.
For a family under twenty, a cabin seat on the Monday & Friday open trip can cost less per head. Seats run from IDR 4,450,000 (≈ USD 273) a person up to IDR 7,450,000 (≈ USD 457) in an Oceanic cabin, though you then sail among other guests and not at your own table. Every fare leaves out the park package, flights, hotels either side, tips and any alcohol. Charter the whole boat and the guide and the photographs are separate requests with separate quotes; a card payment carries 3 percent.
Children are free until their third birthday, and the full fare starts at 3. On an open-trip seat that is a real saving or a real cost, depending on the child. The whole-boat fare is one sum for the party, so the ages tell us how to plan the beds and leave the sum alone.
Life jackets are on board, and we confirm in writing, ahead of the deposit, the sizes of jackets and snorkel gear for children. A child sleeps in a parent's cabin, or in a Coral bunk with cousins. Nobody sleeps four in a Pacific cabin, which holds two.
Before the cousins start asking, send us the shortest useful message, one that names the adults, the children with their ages, anyone who walks slowly, and the dates you are weighing. From that we can say which cabins fit, whether the whole boat or a few seats makes more sense, and what an extra bed would involve in writing.
Add the one question the cousins will certainly raise, which is who gets the balcony. We cannot settle it for you, though we can point out that there are two balcony cabins, not one, and that the family of four fits in either.
Under three they travel free; from the age of 3 they pay the full fare. On an open-trip seat a child from that age pays a seat. On a private charter the fare is the whole-boat fare for the party, so we ask for the ages to plan beds, not to change the sum.
Both life jackets and snorkel gear are carried on board. Ask us, and we confirm in writing, ahead of payment, the sizes of life jackets and snorkel gear for children. On the reef stops a child stays with an adult.
In the Atlantic cabin, yes: it sleeps 2 to 4 on its queen bed and an extra bed, made up on request and confirmed in writing. Azure and Oceanic hold 2 to 3, Coral holds 3 on one double and one single bed, and Pacific holds 2. Otherwise a family of four takes two cabins.
The rooms are air-conditioned. For the other comforts guests ask about in a cabin, we answer in writing before you pay. Raise it with us first, and the reply arrives in writing.
Bookings for Vhale are made with the Komodo Explorer team in Labuan Bajo; the boat sails with its own crew of nine.
Vhale