After a long wait, the season has finally come for a holiday with Komodo Liveaboard! Soon, you are going to meet the mighty Komodo dragons, hike to the out-of-this-word Padar, and venture the raw nature of Flores. It’s only logical if you get all giggly and cannot wait to jump on the liveaboard.
As one of, ahem, seasoned traveler, I have ventured to Komodo National Park with Komodo Liveaboard by Hello Flores. And boy, all I can say is that all the experiences were downright amazing. They made a trip to the beautiful frontier of Indonesia just like a five starred resort by nature. From my experience, here I would like to share things you can expect on a trip with a liveaboard.
Services Just Like A Hotel Would Do
While you are embarking for days full of adventure, holiday is still holiday. You deserve to get the comfort like you have on a hotel. A proper liveaboard should have cabins with real bed, pillows, and blanket. Nothing like sleeping in a semi open deck with a thin sleeping mattress. My liveaboard was far from a high-end luxurious boat, but it gave me clean sheet and soft bed. We got air conditioner cabin complete with western-style toilet and showers. I’ve seen some fellow travelers sleeping in a cramped cabin with low-quality bed, so I feel pretty lucky.
Service aside, I just want to share how lovely the design of my liveaboard was. The teakwood cabin was nicely polished and gorgeously decorated. It’s so pleasant to see how the blue furnitures meet the color of the wood.
Food and Beverages
If your liveaboard require you to bring your own food, then you have booked the wrong one. You deserve to expect basic food services in any liveaboard, which covers three day meals, snacks, and drinking water. It’s even better if the boat provide soda, juices, or cocktails as well. Voyaging in the sea, I didn’t have full course gourmet meal all day. However, we got a professional chef on board that always give warm, fresh, and delicious dishes. Sometimes we even got random snacks (think about banana fritters) and fruit right after snorkelling!
Hospitality of the Crew
The Komodo liveaboard, we can say, is your hotel during the Flores-Komodo excursion. You can expect proper housekeeping on board, which includes daily changes of sheets and towels. Don’t be shy to ask for extra help when you need it, it’s included on the service. The crews will make sure that you don’t lack of anything. Some Komodo liveaboard even offers additional services such as massages on board.
Adjustable Agenda
What’s the fun from having a strict, fixed itinerary? Why you would visit a place that don’t really suit to your liking? You will feel like wasting your time form something you don’t really enjoy. The same thing happen for a strict itinerary. It’s not pleasant if your tour agency keep poking at you and being so ambitious with the agenda. They’ll tell you to prepare moving on the next destination when you are barely catching breath in the current destination.
I was so lucky that my group can arrange our itinerary alone—with some suggestion from the company. We are having 3D2N journey and visiting our dream places; Komodo, Padar, Taka Makassar, Kanawa, and Gili Lawa. During our Komodo excursion, my travelling group were not really into diving. So, we only done some snorkeling in Pink Beach and Manta Point, and skip the popular diving sites.
Safety
Every company should make safety on the top of their priority! Make sure that your Komodo Liveaboard is equipped with fire extinguisher, safety jackets, flotation devices, oxygen unit, and first aid kit. Accident can happen anywhere, and when it does happen, we should have prepared for it.
Always pay attention to all briefing—whether it’s for diving, snorkeling, or hiking. Always follow the safety procedures and travel insurance whenever you go.
