28th June 2026 - The final leg to Lombok

Sea Otter is swinging gently on a mooring in Medana Bay, Lombok, under the shadow of Mount Rinjani after nearly four months of cruising in Indonesia. There is a green beard of seaweed along the waterline, but apart from that she is looking in remarkably good condition. A few other vessels are moored around us, mainly catamarans, along with a low-key marina facility ashore. The black sand shoreline is ringed by palm trees and local boats. The whole place has a very relaxed vibe, which is very welcome.

We arrived this morning after spending the last week moving from the Komodo area. The more time we spend in this part of the world, the more we like it. Since the last post, we have spent the best part of two weeks exploring the Komodo region and another week making our way across the north of Sumbawa and then to Lombok.

As we already mentioned, Komodo is fantastic — and probably all the more special when you get to experience it in your own vessel. You can avoid the crowds, explore further afield, and spend more time at the spots you like. We found a beach called Long Beach, off Padar Island, and anchored there for five or six days. It was a beautiful spot that could get busy during the day but cleared out by late afternoon, leaving us alone. We could go ashore, buy a beer from one of the local vendors’ shacks, and enjoy the sunset once everyone had left. On our final day there, the Elrora Phinisi turned up and we were happily reunited with the crew.

At Padar we also managed to complete the small trek to the high point with no one else in sight. This was the trek I had flagged during the Phinisi tour because there were simply too many people.  We also saw deer on the beach?  Who knew?

Nik at the top of Padar

The ranger station on Rinca Island was our next stop. We checked in and organised a tour to see the dragons the following day. At 0700 we were assigned a guide, Ridwan, and set off on a four-hour walk through the forests. This was such a great tour — far better than our previous trip on Komodo. Some dragons were hanging around the visitor centre, giving us close and personal encounters. During the walk we also came across buffalo, deer, and monkeys. From Rinca we moved slowly through the park, stopping to snorkel and hike at interesting spots. At one snorkelling site Nik was lucky enough to see a dugong. We also enjoyed a spectacular drift snorkel at the top of Komodo.

Nik at the Rinca Island Ranger Station

Spectacular Anchorage at Gilli Lawa Darat

From Komodo we pushed on to Sumbawa, stopping briefly at a remote island called Gili Banda. Within a couple of days we reached the eastern end of Sumbawa. We probably should have lingered longer on the journey across the top of Sumbawa, but we were both keen to reach Lombok. We did stop at Pulau Moyo to visit the Mata Jitu Waterfall — a great side trip. We had seen very few other yachts on the whole journey, but after we dropped anchor another yacht arrived: Miss Juniper. The next day, as we prepared for the walk to the waterfall, her crew had the same idea and joined us. Steve, Kylie, and their daughter Zoe are Australians from Melbourne. We hit it off immediately and spent the day together. Zoe reminded us of Calley when she was on Dulcinea — very confident and entertaining.

The Mata Jitu Waterfall

The waterfall was really pretty, with the main falls feeding a series of swimming pools. Being able to swim in fresh water was a real treat after so long on the boat, especially with our watermaker down and water being used sparingly. When we got back we had a good look around each other’s boats. Miss Juniper is a Hallberg-Rassy 46 — very comfortable and beautifully finished. I could see Nik being tempted to jump ship! We all ended up having dinner together with a few beers.

Steve had heard about a small island on the way to Lombok called Pulau Bedil, home to a rudimentary resort with a bar. He had been contacted by the manager via a sailing social media app and decided to stop in. It sounded perfect, so the next morning we sailed the 20 NM with Miss Juniper.

Pulau Bedil is tiny — about the size of a big football oval — and they are building a basic resort on it. The restaurant, bar, and infinity pool are finished, along with critical services, and accommodation has started. We went ashore for drinks and dinner to watch the sunset. A phinisi arrived and disgorged a crowd of backpackers, so it got quite busy. The sunset was spectacular, and we all had a really enjoyable evening. Also moored off the island was a $500 million superyacht called Nord — apparently owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch and kept in out-of-the-way places to avoid impoundment. Very impressive, if a bit over-the-top.

Palau Bedil......

.....and the Super Yacht Nord

The next day we made an overnight stop on the north coast of Lombok before arriving in Medana Bay the following morning. Miss Juniper has continued on to Bali but will be back next week, and we hope to catch up with them in the Gili Islands.

10th June 2026 - Dragons, Mantas and Bats

Best week yet for the trip I think.  We both absolutely love it here around Komodo.  I had not heard much about it before arriving  - an article every now and then - but it really is a fantastic destination with quite a bit to offer especially if aquatic activities are your bag.

Nik and I joined our Phinisi called Elrora on Friday morning.  Elrora is 32m long and about 2years old.  The range of phinisis which can be chartered runs from older and/or simpler vessels with fewer comforts and amenities to super yacht type luxury phinisi.  As we figured we were due a bit of comfort Nik had booked Elrora which was towards the later end of the spectrum.

The vessel tender came and picked us up from Sea Otter, took us to the port for registration and check in and then onto Elrora.  There are berths for 16 onboard however for this trip there were only five passengers including us. Nik had booked us a lux cabin on the top deck at the stern – it was great and a real change from Sea Otter i.e. full size double bed, aircon, bath, balcony etc.

Our other passengers were a lady from Malaysia called Ayisha travelling on her own and an expat couple living in Thailand, Meghan from Minnesota and Gareth from the UK.  We all got on almost immediately which resulted in a really amiable trip.  There were around ten staff onboard taking care of us who were exceptional from start to finish.

The Elrora Gang

The climate in this area is just about as perfect as it can get – a temperature range of 22 to 26 degrees, constant 5 to 15kt winds from the SE and little rain.  So we set off mid morning on a beautiful day with a slight breeze and headed into the national park.  First stop was a snorkelling spot called manta point.  Although no mantas were spotted the coral gardens were spectacular and full of fish and turtles.  There was a noticeable current so you could just drift and the tender from Elrora would follow and pick you up.  Next we headed to Makassar island which is really just a huge sandbank in the middle of nowhere – probably quite interesting to anybody not living on a boat.  We ended the day off with a trip to a pink sand beach for a beer on one of the main islands called Padar and then anchored for the night in another bay.

View of Padar Island and Pink Beach

One of the only negatives to the trip was that many of the phinisi follow the same itinerary so the popular spots become very crowded.  Next morning was a prime example.  We had an early start to go onshore and walk a short way to a viewpoint to watch the sunrise.  Unfortunately the large number of other Phinisi with the same idea meant that there were a huge number of passengers crowding the trail.  Given our solitude for the last three months this was a bit overwhelming and I did not even make it off the boat.  Nik got part way up with the others.  I stayed and watched the sunrise from Elrora.

Sunrise at Padar Island

Next we visited the island of Komodo and spent a couple of hours with a guide who led us on a trail out of the village to see the famous dragons.  The village itself is nothing much to see – just a typical Indonesian village with rudimentary housing and trash lying around however this quickly gives way to scrub land and forest areas where the dragons live. We saw four or five of them all quite inactive given the time of day.  Very impressive and powerful animals though.

Nik Bravely Poses with a Dragon

Komodo Dragon

The terrain throughout the park is similar – the islands are volcanic so very rugged and imposing with high steep hills covered to a large extent with trees and scrub.  The hills fall straight into the water or end in narrow coastal strip with a fringing beach.  It is very spectacular and has a certain Jurrasic Park feel to it.  The park consists of the three main islands of Rinca, Komodo and Padar plus a host of smaller islands, islets and cays.  The dragons are found on about four of the islands so you need to understand which and get a guide where necessary.

After seeing the dragons, we departed Komodo and headed for another manta spot and this time were lucky enough to see a huge manta ray.  The water was quite shallow – maybe 5m and the visibility was perfect.  The manta came along and at first we thought it was just passing through but it turned around and played underneath us for 20mins and you could dive down and get right up close.  A  truly memorable experience. 

Day Three - Views from Palau Kelor

Sundown found us anchored off the North side of Rinca Island near mangrove island called Kaba famous for the flying foxes or fruit bats.  At sunset we sat on the roof of the boat and watched thousands of the bats depart the mangroves headed for the main land presumably to feed.  There are a few sea eagles also and they hang around and try and pick off an easy meal.  It’s a fantastic show.

Relaxing on Elrora

For our final day we visited a couple of snorkelling spots and then motored back into the harbour in Labuan Bajo.  We left Elrora on their tender and were relieved to find Sea Otter on the mooring where we had left her three days earlier.  We gave the Elrora crew a quick look at Sea Otter which they found amazing and then said our goodbyes.  The whole trip was three days and two nights but it was packed with things to do.  I had two books with me envisaging relaxing on deck and reading but we were always busy with activities or eating or chatting with the other guests. 

Elrora Crew on Sea Otter

One reason for doing the Phinisi trip was to get an overview of the park to give us some ideas when we headed out in Sea Otter. We wanted to hit some of the more remote places not covered by the commercial trips and even revisit a couple of the places we had been to when they will not be so crowded.  So a couple of days later on Monday after getting the provisions onboard and having a final sunset beer followed by a seafood market dinner we sailed out of the anchorage and back into the park area which was only a mater of 10Nm.  

First stop was overnight at Palau Kaba to see the sunset bat migration again.  The following day we moved down to the south of Rinca island to a very quiet spot where we anchored of a beach and where we are still.  There is only one other private yacht about a mile away and yesterday we had a superyacht called Sharlou anchor just near us for the day.  Its a great spot - there are three dragons here that wander along the beach and were swimming after the Sharlou tender when it got too close to shore.  

Dragon Chasing the Tender

There are also wild pigs, monkeys and dear wandering around and magnificent sea eagles patrolling the skies.  This has been home for the past three days and we will probably head off tomorrow towards Padar and Komodo.

3rd June 2026 – Labuan Bajo

Have had a lazy week swinging on a mooring in the outer harbour of Labuan Bajo and visiting the town to catch up on things we have missed out on over the past couple of months.

Labuan Bajo is the centre for the tourist trade around the Komodo National Park Area.  It apparently used to be a fairly small place but is rapidly expanding to cater for an increasingly popular tourist destination.  The town sits on the western end of Flores and overlooks the spectacular Komodo archipelago situated between Flores and Sumbawa.  There are three main islands (Komodo, Rinca and Padar) and countless smaller islands.  The big draw here is the Komodo Dragons but there are also spectacular dive sites due to the amazing marine life and onshore trekking routes to explore.  The islands are accessed either by charter Phinisi or day tripping speedboats.  There are also a bunch of onshore activities visiting caves, villages, volcanic lakes etc on Flores.

Labuan Bajo sits on a hillside and is protected from the North by a couple of small islands and the south by the main island of Rinca.  It is a busy port with God knows how many Phinisi are moored in the anchorage and nearby areas.  There is a marina complex which is not really a marina but more a commercial wharf area for the tourist trade.  The town has the feel of Bali from thirty years ago – not too big, laid back without the drawbacks of excessive mass tourism.  There are cafes and restaurants and bars, shops and supermarkets.  Most of the tourists seem to be European with surprisingly few Australians. And the rubbish situation is nowhere near as bad.  There is still some garbage but nothing compared to Raja Ampat.  The locals are as friendly as anywhere in Indonesia but not as persistent as in Bali.

Labuan Bajo Anchorage/Mooring Field South

So given all the shore side amenities Nik and I have been like kids in a candy shop.  We go out in the morning and wander around buying food and having coffee and then in the evening have found a cool bar to watch the sunset over the islands before having a diner which we did not need to cook and comprises of more that just variations on vegetables and rice.

We had sailed non stop from Raja Ampat to Labuan Bajo which took approximately eight days and Nik had decided to stay with me for the crossing.  This is a big deal as Nik is not a fan of long distance sailing but I reassured her that the conditions would be calm and we both want to stay together on the boat rather than travel separately.

We departed the Fam islands on the morning of the 20^th May.  The total journey is over 800Nm and consists of a couple of legs.  The first is approx. 250Nm to the Kelang Strait off the west coast of Seram near Ambon and then from there its another 600Nm to Flores.  The forecast was good if a little light especially for the initial stage of the trip.  There were a number of islands all along the route where we could have put into if necessary.

The Raja Flores Route

We sailed for most of the first day but then motored in the afternoon once the wind died.  It was forecast to pick up again in the night so we anchored for six hrs until the wind came in.  After sailing most of the night into Thursday the wind died and we ended up motoring the whole day to the Kelang Strait which needs to be carefully navigated due to the string currents.  Once through the strait we picked up south easterlies which were anywhere from 2 to 15kts.  Generally the sailing was great akin to trade wind conditions but every now and then the wind died and we just had to wait it out.

There were a couple of squalls which were the only time Nik was really on edge.  She has a phobia about the boat leaning over and even though I explain the physics she cannot overcome the feeling in the pit of her stomach.  Anyway we got through those and I think she enjoyed the rest of the trip.  It was a huge achievement and I am very proud of her for doing it but do not think she will be doing the Indian Ocean with me.

Calm Crossing Conditions

We reached Flores on Wednesday 27^th May and anchored at a small island near Labuan Bajo for a couple of days to get some rest before heading into the town.  Finding a spot to anchor proved difficult.  There are charter phinisi  everywhere and small boats darting around between them and shore.  The whole of the anchorage is taken up with moorings for the charter fleet so it looked impossible to anchor anywhere and so in the end we picked up a mooring which we managed to hang onto for a couple of days before we were asked (very politely) to move to another spot.

A couple of mooring shifts later and we are still here in the outer harbour with the town dingy dock a short dingy ride away.  We have completed most of the necessary chores I.e. laundry, fuel, water, visas, provisioning etc. We have decided to take a tour on a Phinisi – get off Sea Otter for three days and let someone else drive us around and cook for us.  The trip starts on Friday and goes to a number of spots around the islands.