Close Details
Day 1: Join tour Denpasar; to Sanur Beach
The tour starts today at Sanur Beach. Passengers travelling on the group flight from London will arrive in the afternoon and are transferred the short distance to Sanur beach. Please note that you will not meet your tour leader until day 3. A local representative will be available this evening to discuss options in Sanur with you. As this is a scheduled departure, you may have non-Explore travellers joining you aboard the schooner. Please note that families may join you aborad the schooner. You will meet these fellow travellers on day 3.
Overnight Standard Hotel (H+)
Day 2: Free Day in Bali
Today has been left free for you to explore a little more of this area at your leisure. You may wish to just relax and enjoy the long white beach, stroll through the village and revel in the tropical atmosphere of this small coastal resort. The off-shore reef is about a kilometre off the beach, for those wishing to investigate the clear, warm waters, and Sanurhas a number of watersports operators offering a variety of more active pursuits, including windsurfing, kayaks, fishing and diving. Anyone wishing to venture farther afield may like to travel back into Denpasar to investigate something of Bali's bustling capital.
Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast
Day 3: Drive to Amed and board schooner; sail to Gili Isles
This morning you will need to make your own way to the nearby meeting point, where youwill meet your tour leader and have abriefing. We will then drive to Amed in northeast Bali, where we embark on our schooner,the "Katharina", for our sea voyage through the beautiful and untouched isles of Eastern Indonesia. After meeting our crew and settling into our cabins we cruise to the Gili Isles off West Lombok. We stop at Gili Trawangan, the largest of the three tiny muslim islets. With its white sandy beaches, beautiful coral reefs and abundance ofiridescent tropical fish, this is a snorkellers paradise. We'll spend the afternoon relaxingon the beach and snorkelling on the reef.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Pulau Bungin and sail to Pulau Moyo
This morning see us arriving into PulauBungin a tiny inhabited island. The island itself is almost solely inhabited by sea gypsies known as Bajao. The islanders live in stilted houses and we aim to wander the streets of Bungin and take in a traditional performance of music and dance. In the afternoon we continue sailing onto Pulau (island) Moyo, before we continue our night sail to East Sumbawa.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: Visit Wera, sail to Gili Banta
This morning we arrive at the Island of Wera. Situated on East Sumbawa we visit this interesting boat building community before visiting Sangean Island, an active volcano towering some 2000 metres above the tranquil waters below. (Please note this stop is time dependent) We hope to stop to visit the small settlement on the island, before resuming our voyage Gili Banta for some relaxing swimming and snorkelling.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: Wildlife trek on Rinca; sail to Sabalon Reef for snorkelling
Rinca is a wild looking place. Barren rock towers above the ocean waters, its slopes covered with lontar palms and shrub. We will stop here this morning, in a beautiful baywhere dolphins can often be seen playing in the wake of passing boats and sperm whales and dugongs are occasionally seen offshore. There is the opportunity to take a hike into the islands interior, in search of wild horses, buffalo, monkeys, boar and also the extraordinary megapode bird. There is even the prospect of a Komodo dragon or two! Around midday we will set sail again, towards the Sabalon reef, where we will stop for more snorkelling and a chance for some beachcombing, before heading for the Riung archipelago, north of Flores.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7: On Riung; optional trek/activities; afternoon sail to Ropa
Riung is a small archipelago of some 17islets, known as Pulau Tujuhbelas, that lie just off the coast of Flores's verdant shores.This morning we have the chance for somemore optional activities around the area. You may of course just prefer to relax on deckand take in the beautiful idyllic setting, or perhaps swim and snorkel in the clear waters– this is some of the best snorkelling in Flores. For the more active amongst youthough, a trek up to one of the nearbysummits might be more to your liking, withsome fabulous views of the surrounding islands. We also plan a barbeque on the beach if time allows. This afternoon we will continue sailing, to the small harbour of Ropa.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8: Visit Kelimutu Volcano; sail to Labuhanbajo
Arriving in Ropa this morning we take a bus to Kelimutu Volcano (1620m), without doubt one of the highlights of any visit to Flores. This now extinct giant is a magnificent volcano with three craters, all containing lakes of differing colours, which seem to be continually changing overtime. It is believed that the colour change is due to the dissolving of chemicals in the waters. The locals believe the lakes to be the final resting place of the souls of the dead –one for the young, one for the old and one for thieves and murderers. Returning to the schooner we set sail again, for Labuhanbajo, at the western edge of Flores. Flores is a breathtakingly beautiful island, with imposing mountains and lush, verdant slopes. The Portuguesue called it the Cape of Flowers and as we sail along its shores we can more than appreciate the majestic beauty of its setting.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9: Visit Labuhanbajo and sail to Bidadariand Komodo islands.
Early this morning, if weather conditions permit, we hope to have a sailing demonstration aboard ship. The boat is equipped with engines to make our journey more practical and less dependant upon Mother Nature, but the vessels of old would have very much relied on the prevailing winds to take them through these waters, and we will hopefully get some idea this morning as to what that entailed for the crew. Later this morning we arrive at Labuhanbajo and disembark in this small port and visit a nearby village, where we will attend the so called caci (whip) dance. Midday will sees us setting sail again aiming for the island of Bidadari for some snorkelling and swimming. An afternoon sail takes us to the bay of Komodo
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10: Komodo Dragon spotting; optional climb to Lawa Darat summit
This morning we land on Komodo Island – one of the greatest wildlife regions of the world. Only 37km long by 21km wide, Komodo is a rather desolate place inhabited by a fewfishermen and their outriggers. Walking through dry and dusty scrub we head to a point from which we may observe the awesome Komodo Dragons. The largest of the monitor lizards, they have been extinct elsewhere since the Jurassic Age and almost identical fossilised remains date from the age of dinosaurs. Up to three metres long and weighing up to 150 kilograms, their unique size and bulk results from the lack of any serious competing speciesor predator. Yet they can move swiftly to hunt and their powerful jaws and sharp claws can easily tear apart wild pig, goat or deer. This afternoon we head to Gili Lawa where there is the option to climb to the summit, before we set sail again, heading west.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11: Arrive Satonda, visit crater lake
Later today, we land on the sunken volcano of Pulau Satonda and walk up to its caldera in the centre of the island. You can spend the remainder of the afternoon relaxing on the beach or snorkelling off the fine reef. Late this afternoon we sail to Pulau Kromo and onto Lombok and our journey's end.
Overnight Accommodation on Boat (U) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 12: Arrive Lombok; cruise South Baliand transfer to Sanur Beach
This morning, we arrive at Lombok where we will be able to see how palm sugar is manufactured locally. In the afternoon, we re-board our schooner and set sail to Benoa harbour in South East Bali. From here we will be transferred back to our hotel at Sanur Beach.
Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 13: Free Day
The day is once again left free for you to enjoy the delights of this coastal resort and perhaps reflect on the sights and experiences of the past two weeks.
Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast
Day 14: Tour ends Sanur Beach
Included meals: Breakfast
