Akassa Collection
Akassa Collection (Akassa Cruise, Derya, Giona, Semesta Voyages)
3 day private Komodo boat itinerary for photographers
Updated 26 October 2026
This 3 day private Komodo boat itinerary for photographers runs Kelor and Kalong at dusk on day 1, Padar at sunrise on day 2, and Taka Makassar and Kanawa on day 3. The whole boat for 3D2N starts at IDR 45,000,000 (≈ USD 2,761) for up to 5 guests. Boarding is at 10:00.
Day 1: Kelor first, flying foxes last
Three days, two nights, one sample route. Read it as a shot list first and a timetable second.
- 1. Board at Labuan Bajo harbor from 10:00. Kelor comes first.
- 2. Manjarite snorkel stop after lunch, then the run to Kalong.
- 3. Dusk at Kalong: flying foxes leave the mangroves, watched from the deck.
- 4. Day 2, before first light: the Padar ridge, facing east.
- 5. Komodo Island with a ranger, then Pink Beach and Manta Point.
- 6. Day 3: Taka Makassar sandbank, Kanawa reef, back by 14:00.
Day 1 starts with a 10:00 boarding. Kelor follows: a short climb to a bay viewpoint, about 60 minutes at the stop. The sun is already high by then, so the light is white, not gold. Lunch is on board.
Manjarite is the afternoon snorkel stop. Kalong closes the day. A mangrove islet between Komodo and Rinca, it holds thousands of flying foxes that leave at dusk. You watch from the boat. Nobody lands.
None of this order is fixed. The captain sets the stops and the anchorage on the day, and the weather has its say in where you spend the night.
Day 1
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | Boarding at Labuan Bajo harbour from 10:00 on a private charter (open trip: meeting point confirmed in writing) | passport or ID |
| · | Kelor Island | shoes with grip, water |
| · | Lunch on board | |
| · | Manjarite Island | mask and snorkel |
| · | Kalong Island, the flying foxes at dusk | 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. | |
Day 2
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| · | Padar Island | shoes with grip, head torch |
| · | Breakfast on board | |
| · | Komodo Island | closed shoes, park ticket |
| · | Lunch on board | |
| · | Pink Beach | reef-safe sunscreen |
| · | Manta Point. Sightings are not guaranteed Tide | 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. | |
Day 3
| What happens | Have ready | |
|---|---|---|
| · | Breakfast on board | |
| · | Taka Makassar Tide | hat, water |
| · | Kanawa Island | mask and snorkel |
| · | Lunch on board | |
| · | Back at Labuan Bajo harbour; check-out by 14:00 on a private charter | flight after your check-out |
Times show an example day, not a timetable. Boarding from 10:00 on a private charter is the fixed point.
Day 2: ridge at dawn, dragons by midmorning, pink sand after
Day 2 is the long one. Padar opens it, and the example route reaches Pink Beach only after Komodo. That order puts the sand in higher light than the pink-sand pictures you have seen.
- Padar · first light, from the east · the ridge looks over three bays · climb 25 to 45 minutes, head torch, shoes with grip
- Komodo Island · morning, shade on the trail · ranger-led treks from Loh Liang · about 2 hours at the stop
- Pink Beach · pinkish sand from red coral fragments · color shows best in low sun · about 90 minutes, snorkeling
- Manta Point · reef drift with the current · snorkel with a life jacket, about 60 minutes · sightings are not guaranteed
Leave the boat about an hour before sunrise. Sunrise falls between 05:31 and 06:18 by month, and the shape of the ridge is clear a few minutes before the sun clears the horizon. Breakfast is back on board.
Then Komodo, where a ranger leads every trek and sets the distance. Lunch, then Pink Beach, then the snorkel drift at Manta Point. Dinner closes the day on board.
Day 3: Taka Makassar, Kanawa and back by 14:00
Breakfast on board, then the sandbank. Taka Makassar is a crescent of sand inside shallow reef, visible mainly at low tide. The stop lasts about 60 minutes. We confirm tide times on the day, not in advance.
Shade on the sand is thin. Bring a hat and water. If you plan a frame of the crescent from above, read the drone rule on the Taka Makassar page first: it needs a park permit and a daily ticket, and we never promise a drone shot.
Kanawa follows at midday. White sand, a shallow reef, about 90 minutes at the stop. The light is flat, so this is a swimming stop and a quiet one for pictures at water level.
Lunch is on board. Check-out is by 14:00 at the harbor on a private charter. Book a flight that leaves after check-out, not before. Free pickup in Labuan Bajo covers the ride to the airport or your hotel.
Sunrise and sunset times for the days you sail
Across the year, sunrise at Padar runs from 05:31 to 06:18 and sunset at Kalong from 17:49 to 18:27. These are approximate local times (WITA), worked out with the NOAA solar formula to within 2 minutes, not an official table.
Two months show the spread. In July the sun comes up at about 06:18. In November it is up at about 05:31. A 45-minute shift moves your wake-up call, so we confirm the departure hour for your month in writing.
No hour of light is guaranteed. Cloud and haze flatten a sunrise, and the captain moves the plan when the sea asks for it. The month-by-month view sits on the best time page.
| Month | Sea | Visibility | Mantas | Crowds | Rain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | rough | low | peak | low | wet | Wet season. Heavy showers, the roughest seas of the year and low visibility, with manta sightings at their best. |
| February | rough | low | peak | low | wet | Wet season. Rough seas and low visibility, quiet water, and manta sightings at their best. |
| March | moderate | medium | good | low | wet | Last wet-season month. Showers ease, seas settle to moderate and visibility is medium. |
| April | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Dry season begins. Calm seas and high visibility, with crowds at a medium level. |
| May | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Dry, calm and clear. Seas are calm and visibility is high for snorkeling and trekking. |
| June | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Dry and clear with calm seas. The south-east winds start to build toward July. |
| July | rough | medium | peak | high | dry | Dry but windier. Seas are rough, visibility is medium, manta season peaks and crowds are high. |
| August | rough | medium | peak | high | dry | The windiest dry-season month. Seas are rough, anchorages are busy and mantas are common. |
| September | moderate | high | peak | medium | dry | Winds ease and visibility is high. Seas are moderate, mantas are still around and crowds are medium. |
| October | calm | high | fair | medium | dry | Calm, clear and hot. Seas are calm and crowds are lighter than in July and August. |
| November | calm | high | fair | low | dry | End of the dry season. Seas are calm, the water is clear and the sites are quieter. |
| December | moderate | medium | peak | medium | wet | Wet season starts and mantas return. Seas are moderate, and late December is busy with holiday travelers. |
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Whole-boat fares for 3D2N, by party size
Your head count picks the boat. Ten or fewer sail on Akassa Cruise, Derya or Giona, and 11 to 18 on Semesta Voyages. Of the small three, Akassa Cruise (3 suites) costs the most, Derya (4 cabins) sits in the middle and Giona (4 cabins) costs the least.
Four guests on Giona pay IDR 11,250,000 (≈ USD 690) each. Eight guests on Derya pay IDR 8,120,000 (≈ USD 498) each. Twelve guests on Semesta Voyages pay IDR 8,830,000 (≈ USD 542) each, and the eight suites of that boat are the only ones that take a party above 10.
June to August dates get a written quote from the higher card. Add park tickets and ranger fees on top. A guide or photo and video documentation can be booked as extras, quoted separately.
Akassa Cruise
| Guests | per boat | per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | IDR 70,000,000 (≈ USD 4,294) | IDR 17,500,000 |
| 5–10 | IDR 78,000,000 (≈ USD 4,785) | IDR 7,800,000 |
Derya
| Guests | per boat | per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | IDR 62,000,000 (≈ USD 3,804) | IDR 15,500,000 |
| 5–8 | IDR 65,000,000 (≈ USD 3,988) | IDR 8,120,000 |
| 9–10 | IDR 69,000,000 (≈ USD 4,233) | IDR 6,900,000 |
Giona
| Guests | per boat | per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1–5 | IDR 45,000,000 (≈ USD 2,761) | IDR 9,000,000 |
| 6–10 | IDR 52,000,000 (≈ USD 3,190) | IDR 5,200,000 |
Semesta Voyages
| Guests | per boat | per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1–12 | IDR 106,000,000 (≈ USD 6,503) | IDR 8,830,000 |
| Extra guest · max guests 18 | IDR 5,000,000 (≈ USD 307) |
Akassa Cruise
| Group size | 2D1N | 3D2N | 4D3N |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | IDR 28,250,000 | IDR 35,000,000 | IDR 38,500,000 |
| 4 | IDR 14,120,000 | IDR 17,500,000 | IDR 19,250,000 |
| 6 | IDR 10,670,000 | IDR 13,000,000 | IDR 14,420,000 |
| 8 | IDR 8,000,000 | IDR 9,750,000 | IDR 10,810,000 |
| 10 | IDR 6,400,000 | IDR 7,800,000 | IDR 8,650,000 |
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per person · Whole boat ÷ group size
Derya
| Group size | 2D1N | 3D2N | 4D3N |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | IDR 27,000,000 | IDR 31,000,000 | IDR 38,000,000 |
| 4 | IDR 13,500,000 | IDR 15,500,000 | IDR 19,000,000 |
| 6 | IDR 9,500,000 | IDR 10,830,000 | IDR 13,170,000 |
| 8 | IDR 7,120,000 | IDR 8,120,000 | IDR 9,880,000 |
| 10 | IDR 6,050,000 | IDR 6,900,000 | IDR 8,500,000 |
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per person · Whole boat ÷ group size
Giona
| Group size | 2D1N | 3D2N | 4D3N |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | IDR 19,000,000 | IDR 22,500,000 | IDR 27,250,000 |
| 4 | IDR 9,500,000 | IDR 11,250,000 | IDR 13,620,000 |
| 6 | IDR 7,000,000 | IDR 8,670,000 | IDR 10,330,000 |
| 8 | IDR 5,250,000 | IDR 6,500,000 | IDR 7,750,000 |
| 10 | IDR 4,200,000 | IDR 5,200,000 | IDR 6,200,000 |
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per person · Whole boat ÷ group size
Semesta Voyages
| Group size | 2D1N | 3D2N | 4D3N |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | IDR 41,500,000 | IDR 53,000,000 | IDR 76,500,000 |
| 4 | IDR 20,750,000 | IDR 26,500,000 | IDR 38,250,000 |
| 6 | IDR 13,830,000 | IDR 17,670,000 | IDR 25,500,000 |
| 8 | IDR 10,380,000 | IDR 13,250,000 | IDR 19,120,000 |
| 10 | IDR 8,300,000 | IDR 10,600,000 | IDR 15,300,000 |
| 12 | IDR 6,920,000 | IDR 8,830,000 | IDR 12,750,000 |
| 14 | IDR 6,500,000 | IDR 8,290,000 | IDR 11,790,000 |
| 16 | IDR 6,190,000 | IDR 7,880,000 | IDR 11,060,000 |
| 18 | IDR 5,940,000 | IDR 7,560,000 | IDR 10,500,000 |
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per person · Whole boat ÷ group size
What the plan cannot promise
Clouds and haze can change any morning on this route, so no hour of light is guaranteed, and neither are mantas. The captain decides the stops and the anchorage on the day.
The same holds for Pink Beach at low sun, a clear Padar horizon and a full bat stream at Kalong. We name the hour each stop works. We do not sell the sky.
One thing we do put in writing. If your boat can't sail, you get a phinisi of equal or higher standard on the same date at no extra cost. Or you get your money back in full within 14 days.
Send us your party size and the light you want, sunrise, sunset or both, and we'll price your dates.
FAQ
How many sunrises and sunsets does a 3 day Komodo trip have?
Two sunrises and two sunsets pass in 3D2N, but the route is built around one of each. Kalong at dusk closes day 1, and Padar opens day 2. Day 3 has Taka Makassar and Kanawa in morning and midday light. The captain decides the order on the day, and no hour of light is guaranteed.
Can we swap Pink Beach and Komodo on day 2?
The sample order puts Komodo before Pink Beach, and the captain decides the order of stops on the day. Ask for the swap when you book and we pass it on in writing. Swapping moves Pink Beach earlier, closer to softer morning light, but a ranger-led trek at Komodo then lands in harder sun.
Is the 3D2N route the same on all four boats?
The route is the same: Kelor, Manjarite, Kalong, Padar, Komodo, Pink Beach, Manta Point, Taka Makassar, Kanawa. What changes is the boat. Akassa Cruise, Derya and Giona take up to 10 guests, Semesta Voyages takes up to 18, and the whole-boat fare changes with the boat and the party.
Where does the boat sleep on night two?
That's for the weather and the captain to decide on the day, so we name no anchorage in advance. Dinner is on board after Manta Point, and breakfast on day 3 is on board before Taka Makassar.
What time is check-out on day 3?
Check-out on a private charter is by 14:00 at the Labuan Bajo harbor. Lunch is on board after Kanawa. Book a flight that leaves after check-out. Free pickup in Labuan Bajo runs in both directions, to the airport or to your hotel.
Is the Padar sunrise guaranteed to be clear?
No. Cloud and haze can flatten the sunrise, and no hour of light is guaranteed. The climb starts about an hour before the sun clears the horizon, so the ridge is yours in the half-light even when the sky stays gray. The captain decides the plan on the day.
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