The Remote Ring of Fire: East of Flores

You will be met at Kalibahi airport and taken straight to the boat. After lunch, you will visit Takpala village for a fascinating cultural performance. Later in this evening, you will head west to Pura Island, where you will spend a quiet night at anchor.

After breakfast, you will snorkel at Clown Valley, home to many sea anemones and their resident guardian clown fish. In the early afternoon, you will have a second snorkel at Buaya Island, a location with a beautiful drop off and lots of fish. You will then head to a local quiet bay to spend the night at anchor. 

After breakfast, you will an ancient Muslim village of Uma Pura, where you will stroll around, meet the people and see their way of life. The village is well known for using sea sponges for the dying of their textile, and you will get a chance to see the process in action. After this, you will head to a local reef and go snorkeling. Soon after snorkeling, you will depart to Lewaling Bay. 

After breakfast, you will go snorkeling at the Lamawolo drop-off, a spectacular underwater spot. You will go ashore and drive Atawatung village to see some prehistoric rock art. Later that afternoon, you will cruise to a nearby bay that sits in the shadow of the active and smoking Ile Api volcano. After dinner, the boat will head east in the direction of Adonara.

Today is a day or snorkellng with your first one after breakfast at Adonara Island before heading to Serbete Atoll for a second snorkel in the afternoon. Both spots offer spectacular underwater life. Later in that afternoon, you will head west in the direction of Maumere. 

Wake up at anchor in Maumere Bay against the backdrop of an extinct volcano and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before the day’s activities begin. Take a short drive to the scenic Iwang Gete highlands to visit a small village of Watublapi, where you will be met with singing and dancing by the local people. Famed for their unique textiles, you will be shown first hand their ancient techniques of spinning, dyeing and weaving of their famous fabrics. Here you will have the chance to view (and purchase) some of the local textiles, try their betel nut and brave their locally produced liquor. In the late afternoon, you will head off to Riung conservation area. 

Today you will explore the beaches and the underwater world of the 17-island, Riung Conservation Area, home to myriad species of land animals and rich coral reefs, as the boat moves from island to island throughout the day. Enjoy swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkelling and relaxation throughout the day. At around sunset, you will head east in the direction of the Komodo National Park. 

Today, you are already in the area of Komodo NP, after breakfast have a fabulous snorkeling at the area of Hatamin Island. After snorkeling, you will depart to Rinca island, where you will have an afternoon walk through the local village with a visit to a local bat cave. At dusk, you will gather on the back deck at cocktail hour to see the sunset and witness the evening departure of tens of thousands of fruit bats as they leave their forest homes to forage on the mainland.

Go ashore onto Komodo island for an early morning, ranger-led walk through the dry, rugged landscape of the island encountering wildlife along the way. After lunch, you will go in search of manta rays to snorkel with these mighty creatures. You will have your day’s second snorkel in the north of the park, with the chance to watch the sunset from a hilltop vantage point, before spending a quiet night at anchor.

After breakfast, you will go ashore to see the ‘caci’ dance, a traditional cultural performance of the Manggarai people. Later in the morning it will be time to say goodbye to the crew and your fellow shipmates and head to the airport for the flights back to Bali.