Dates and length
Any date the vessel is free, any number of nights. This is the single biggest reason to charter — if your window is narrow, a scheduled departure may simply not exist inside it.
What bends, and what does not
Customise Your Trip
On a charter almost everything is yours to set. On a scheduled sailing almost nothing is. Here is exactly where the line falls, and the two things neither format can move.
In short
Customising a Komodo trip means chartering the vessel — dates, route, timings, menu and pace are all adjustable on a private charter from USD 1,550 a night, and essentially fixed on a scheduled sailing.
- Charter: your dates, your route within the weather, meals when you want them.
- Scheduled sailing: fixed departure days and a fixed circuit — that is what keeps it cheap.
- Two things bend for nobody: the tide, and the national park's own rules.
- Everything you want changed is cheaper to arrange at booking than at the jetty.
On a charter
What you can actually change
Six things people ask for most, and what each one really involves.
How it works
Getting a custom trip built
Four steps, and none of them costs anything until you decide.
Say what the trip is for
Not just dates and headcount — a birthday, a dive certification, a grandparent with limited mobility, a photographer who wants the light. The purpose shapes the route more than the preferences do.
We match the vessel
Not every boat does everything. Diving needs a compressor, a beach set-up needs a crew used to running one, a family needs a cabin layout that keeps them together. We rule out the boats that do not suit before quoting.
The captain drafts a route
Built around your dates, the tide table and the forecast. You adjust it. Nothing is locked until you are happy, and no money moves in the meantime.
Confirm in writing
A 50% deposit secures the vessel, and you get written confirmation naming the boat, the route and the inclusions. Balance 30 days before departure.
Requests that arrive after the deposit are usually still possible. Requests that arrive on boarding day usually are not, because the provisioning happened in town.
The two things that bend for nobody
The tide. Komodo sits between two oceans and the water moves hard through the channels. Manta Point, Batu Bolong and the northern sites are dived and snorkelled on slack windows set by the moon, so the good hours are not negotiable — a captain who agrees to your preferred time over the tide is giving you a worse trip politely.
The park. Ranger-led treks are mandatory, the five-metre distance from a dragon is enforced, mooring buoys are used where they exist, and the entrance ticket is charged to everyone. None of that is an operator policy we can waive on request.
Everything else is a conversation. But we would rather say these two out loud now than have a captain say no to you at sea.
What flexibility costs
The price of being able to change things
In USD, excluding the park ticket. The gap between these two rows is essentially what customisation costs.
Cheapest
Scheduled sailing
$300–$850
per person, 3D2N
Fixed departure days, fixed circuit, set meal times, 8–12 others aboard. Dietary requirements are the one thing that still adjusts.
Fully flexible
Deluxe charter
From $1,550
per yacht, per night
Everything above becomes yours: dates, route, timings, menu, cabin allocation. About USD 3,100 for two nights, whoever is aboard.
VIP charter
From $1,800
per yacht, per night
The same flexibility with more deck space, a better crew ratio and a chef rather than a cook — which is where menu customisation actually starts to show.
For four people or fewer, the honest answer is often the scheduled sailing plus one specific request. Tell us what you actually need changed and we will price the cheapest way to get it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I customise a share-cabin trip?
- Barely. Dietary requirements yes, and the crew will accommodate a reasonable request. Dates, route, timings and meal times are fixed — that is precisely what keeps the per-person price at USD 300 rather than USD 1,550 a night.
- How far ahead do custom requests need to go in?
- At booking, for anything needing provisioning or a specific vessel. Diving, a beach set-up, a birthday cake and any dietary requirement all get bought in Labuan Bajo before you sail.
- Can we design the whole route ourselves?
- You can propose it and the captain will tell you what the tide and wind allow for your dates. What comes back is usually your route with two things moved — and the moving is the expertise you are paying for.
- Can you handle a proposal or a birthday?
- Yes, and it works far better with notice. Tell us the date and roughly what you have in mind at enquiry rather than on the boat, and we will tell you which vessels do it well.
- Is there a charge for customisation?
- Not as a line item. The charter rate is what buys the flexibility. Specific add-ons that cost money — diving, a photographer, a beach set-up — are quoted separately and shown as their own lines.
- What if we want something you cannot do?
- We will say so rather than agree and disappoint you at sea. The two hard limits are the tide and the park's own rules; nearly everything else is a question of the right vessel and enough notice.
Read next
- 3-Day Itinerary The standard circuit: dragons, Padar at sunrise, Pink Beach, mantas.
- 5-Day Itinerary Four nights by charter — the circuit plus the northern anchorages.
- 7-Day Itinerary Six nights: south, north and the dive sites a short trip cannot reach.
- Private Charter The whole boat, your dates, your routing — 2D1N to 4D3N.
- Luxury Charter What the VIP and VVIP tiers actually buy, and when they are overkill.
- All Packages Every format side by side, with price bands and how boarding works.
Tell us what the trip is for
Not just dates and numbers — what has to happen for it to have been worth it. We will tell you which vessel does that, what it costs, and honestly whether a scheduled sailing would have done.
Tell Us What You Want
+62 811-3823-875
sales@komodoluxury.com