Private Full-Boat Charter of Yumana Liveaboard in Komodo

The difference between booking a cabin and booking the boat is not luxury — the cabins, the food and the crew are the same. The difference is control. On a shared departure, sixteen people negotiate the day implicitly and the schedule wins. On a private charter, you decide when the anchor comes up, whether you spend three hours at Karang Makassar or twenty minutes, and whether dinner is at seven or at sunset wherever the boat happens to be.

What exclusivity actually changes

Vessel specification

Yumana is a traditional Indonesian phinisi — a wooden sailing liveaboard built in the Sulawesi boatbuilding tradition — fitted out to luxury class and operated year-round in Komodo National Park.

How many guests fit

This is worth stating precisely, because the two numbers get confused constantly. The eight cabins sleep roughly sixteen guests in beds: one Royal Suite (queen, private balcony, jacuzzi, two guests plus two extra beds), one main-deck Signature Cabin I, two upper-deck Signature Cabins II and III, two Deluxe Cabins and two Superior Cabins — each with a queen bed, an extra bed available, air conditioning and a private bathroom. The 25-person figure on our specification strip is the vessel’s total permitted capacity, which matters for day charters and events, not for overnight berths. Cabin-by-cabin detail is on the cabin comparison and deck plan.

How a private charter quote is built

We do not publish a full-boat price, and there is a reason for that beyond commercial coyness: a Komodo charter number that ignores your dates is not a real number. Independent market reporting puts budget shared cabins from around USD 150 per night and luxury liveaboards from around USD 500 per night, but there is no verified universal private-charter band, and anyone quoting one before asking your season is guessing. These variables move the figure:

• Season. July to September is peak demand across the entire Labuan Bajo fleet. December to March is the quiet window.
• Number of nights. Longer charters carry a lower effective per-night cost; fuel and provisioning scale differently from crew cost.
• Headcount. Cabin occupancy and extra beds change provisioning and crew load.
• Route ambition. A northern-park route with Gili Lawa Darat burns more fuel than a compact southern loop.
• Dive versus snorkel. Dive guides, tanks, compressor hours and nitrox are a separate cost line.
• Special requirements. Chef requests, celebration set-ups, photographers and extra tenders are added transparently rather than folded in.
• Park and government fees. From IDR 250,000 per foreign visitor per day, with some routes issued as bundled route tickets. The 2022 IDR 3,750,000 premium-membership scheme was cancelled and is not enforced. Confirm the exact current figure with us before departure.

Send us dates, headcount, nights and whether you are diving, and you will get a written quote with every line itemised. For corporate offsites, milestone birthdays and family reunions, the group and celebration charter page covers the logistics side. When you are ready to move, the booking process is four steps. If you are comparing vessels of different sizes for the same brief, our yacht charter specialists in Labuan Bajo handle multi-boat requests.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to charter Yumana privately?

It is quoted per enquiry. We will not publish a headline number, because the honest figure depends on your season, nights, headcount, route and whether you are diving. Give us those five inputs on WhatsApp and you will have an itemised written quote — not a range that changes when you ask a second question.

Can we design our own route?

Yes, within what the park and the sea allow. You tell us what matters — sunrise viewpoints, manta time, quiet anchorages, minimal sailing hours for young children — and we build a draft route around it. The captain retains final authority on safety and weather, which is not negotiable on any vessel.

What is the minimum charter length?

One night is possible, though the economics improve sharply from two nights up, and most private groups take three or four. If you are weighing a single night, compare it against the published 2D1N short cruise before committing to a full-boat rate.

Are crew, chef and guide included?

Captain, crew, on-board guide and galley team are part of the charter. Dive guides are attached when you take a dive package. Tips are at your discretion and are not built into the quote.

Can we bring our own dive instructor or photographer?

Usually yes, subject to a berth being available and to Indonesian working requirements for anyone operating professionally. Tell us at quote stage so the cabin is allocated rather than discovered missing on boarding day.

What happens if the weather forces a route change?

The captain reroutes and we tell you why. Komodo weather closes specific anchorages rather than whole itineraries, so in practice this means a different order or a substituted stop, not a cancelled trip. Full cancellations are rare and are handled case by case with the reservations team.

Is the jacuzzi and balcony cabin included in a full charter?

Yes — a private charter includes every cabin on board, including the Royal Suite with its private balcony and jacuzzi. How your group allocates the cabins is entirely up to you.