Phinisi Fleet Bali — Vessel Specs, Cabins, Crew Standards

A phinisi is a traditional Indonesian two-masted wooden sailing schooner, the working ship of the Bugis and Konjo maritime peoples of South Sulawesi. The shipwright villages around Tanah Beru and Ara still build them the old way: hull-first, plank by plank from dense tropical hardwoods such as ironwood and teak, the shape carried in the builder’s experience rather than in blueprints. The craft was inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2017. These were cargo ships for centuries — built to cross open Indonesian seas heavily loaded — which is why the hull form is deep, broad-beamed and notably stable at anchor and under way.

The modern charter phinisi keeps that hull and rig and rebuilds everything above the waterline for guests: en-suite cabins, shaded decks, dive platforms, modern engines and navigation alongside the sails. The result is particular to Indonesia — a vessel with genuine seagoing heritage rather than a fibreglass boat with decorative masts. When we say phinisi fleet, this is the boat we mean.

At the top of the fleet sit two flagships. Komodo Signature is 78.2 metres — among the largest phinisi afloat — with 10 suites for 20 guests, from USD 30,000 per night. Komodo Prestige is 66 metres, with 8 suites for 16 guests, from USD 25,000 per night. These are event-scale vessels: full-family reunions, incentive groups, milestone celebrations where the ship itself is the venue. At this level everything is built around one party’s itinerary — there are no shared departures on either boat.

Beyond the named boats, we group the fleet into three classes so a charter conversation can start from budget rather than from a catalogue of hulls. Deluxe, from USD 1,550 per night, is the honest entry point: a well-run wooden boat, en-suite cabins, full crew and catering. VIP, from USD 1,800 per night, adds larger cabins and a higher service standard. VVIP spans USD 3,800 to 27,000 plus VAT — the wide range reflects how much the top of the market varies, from refined mid-size phinisi to near-flagship vessels. For orientation, entry-luxury private charters in Komodo start from USD 5,300 per yacht per night; worked multi-day examples and what each tier includes are on our Indonesia liveaboard prices page.

No boat in this fleet boards at Benoa, Serangan or any other Bali harbour. The route is a direct flight from Bali (DPS) to Labuan Bajo (LBJ) — about 1 hour 15 minutes, one-way fares typically USD 40–80, multiple airlines daily — and boarding at Labuan Bajo, the gateway town on the edge of Komodo National Park. We ticket the flight with the sailing so the dates always match; the door-to-door version, from your Bali hotel to the dive deck by noon, is described on our Bali to Komodo liveaboard page. The one exception to the flight is the island-crossing programme: Lombok–Labuan Bajo voyages board at Kayangan Harbor, Lombok, with 4D3N shared crossings from USD 425 per person. Raja Ampat sailings board at Sorong or Waisai — see Raja Ampat liveaboards and our flight guide for the routing.