Skip to content

Staying in a luxury Phinisi boat

luxury phinisi boat
A luxury Phinisi boat. Do yo see a man standing at the corner?

I am sitting at the deck of this luxury Phinisi boat called Felicia, sailing in the middle of the sea. Till yesterday morning I had no clue how it would be like. In fact, I was wondering how and why staying in a boat could be more fascinating than exploring the ever exotic Bali.

It so happened that our plan was changed to have one day less in Bali, and instead, have an extra day in Labuan Bajo Island hopping through Komodo National Park in a boat. I stayed only one night aboard and believe me, it turned out to be the most memorable time of my entire trip of around 3 weeks in Indonesia!

luxury phinisi boat

luxury phinisi boat felicia plataran

luxury phinisi boat plataran

This is a Plataran Phinisi sailing schooner, hand-crafted from local woods like Teak and Ironwood. It is strong and built from the keel over 18 months. The Upper deck has a shaded space for lounging, napping, gossiping or just enjoying the world as it quietly passes by. With its carefree sails, one can gracefully cut across the remote seas in style. It’s like staying in a floating luxury hotel with a swimming pool as big as the sea. 🙂

The main open airy galley has one large table to accommodate all the guests and that is where we spend most of our time working, eating and laughing. Bottom decks have 6 air-con cabins with two master cabins and four twins. All with clean bathrooms with a shower, sink and toilet.

luxury phinisi boat felicia plataran

img20160824091515-2

luxury phinisi boat felicia plataran

The inside table area is suitable for dining, get together etc. Felicia has 2 upper decks, both have bean bags to laze around and do whatever you want to. I was amazed to see the quality and variety of meals they prepared for us in the middle of the sea! And that continuous flow of tea, coffee, snacks, fruits etc.
They also have satellite phone, International and local radios, life rafts, life jackets and a crew trained in emergency procedures if need be.

What I like is that we are just around 14 of us. They only take smaller groups in order to cater to our needs better. The crew is extremely friendly, warm, helpful and courteous. I feel very safe to be in the hands of such an efficient crew.

Food prepared onboard
Food prepared onboard
luxury phinisi boat plataran
Jack, the Captain of our boat.
luxury phinisi boat plataran
A portion of my bedroom!

The boat has been designed to run silent at night, with natural ventilation and fans keeping us cool while sleeping. The gentle swaying of the noiseless ship had put me to sleep and in the morning I woke up to the sounds of the water against the hull.

They offered us plenty of off-boat activities also. Only yesterday we had sailed around Flores, Komodo National Park area (Rinca and Komodo Islands) and visited the parks on Rinca and Komodo where we saw Komodo dragons besides other animals. We did site-seeing, trekking, snorkeling, sunset watching and hiking.

img20160824101037-2

img20160824101315-2

On boat we worked, chatted, discussed, laughed, did yoga, learnt photography tricks, sunbathed. At night we made our way to upper deck for stargazing. The sky was clear and the stars were twinkling. Some of us got busy discussing the constellation of stars, some photographing them and some just chilling with Bintang in their hands.

small boat at night
Two small boats tied to our Felicia at night.

Now, as I wait for my Phinisi boat to touch the shores of Labuan Bajo again, I feel somewhat sad, having to leave it. I wish I was here for some more days. But then, there is always a next time.

I highly recommend overnight stay option on Phinisi boat with Plataran. I will definitely do it again!

The trip price includes:
• Transport to & fro the pier and back
• Full room and board on trip
• Unlimited Tea, coffee, hot water
• Tanks and weights
• Dive guides
• Delicious food all the time
• Courteous and helpful crew
For more details you can visit their website.

I can easily say, sailing around Komodo National Park in Phinisi boat was the highlight of my tour of Indonesia.

Disclaimer: My experience on this boat was made possible by Tourism Indonesia. However, opinions are mine as always and are based on my own personal experience.

You may want to read more on Indonesia.

VW Safari tour from Bali to Ubud
Exploring Jakarta in 48 hours
Senggarang, the Chinese village in Bintan
Indonesia in Pictures
A Dance Drama called Barong
Top things to do in Indonesia
Evocative Bali Craft
Tangkuban Perahu – Arising out of a legend
Indonesia from Above
Kawah Putih, the white crater
Indonesia : Beyond Bali & Jakarta
Asian African Carnival 2015

If you want to travel places with us, I suggest you to join us on my Facebook travel page.
P.S.- This article belongs to www.lemonicks.com. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. If you are viewing this on a website instead of your RSS feed reader, then that website is guilty of stealing our content. Kindly do us a favour. Please visit our site and help us taking action by letting us know against this theft. Thank you.

35 thoughts on “Staying in a luxury Phinisi boat”

    1. It depends on the type of boat you book and the no. of days you want to stay and whether it is a sharing boat or not. Also on no. of activities you want to do.
      A typical double sharing cost for a 2night/3 days will be around $900 per person. It includes many other facilities such as all meals & refreshments, airport transfer and activities.

      Better would be to check their website that I have mentioned in the article. 🙂

  1. I recently sailed around the Flores Sea for a visit to Komod/Rinca and some snorkeling, but my boat was nowhere near as nice as this! Your bedroom is so luxurious and even the food prepared on board looks great. Lovely photos. It looks and sounds like you had a memorable experience!

  2. What an incredible looking boat, the craftsmanship is beautiful. I sounds a lovely experience and with the smaller group size you’d have a more intimate experience and plenty of room to move around without it feeling crowded.

  3. I’ve never been to such a ship and Felicia looks really amazing! A small group allows interaction – but also some personal space, which is needed on a ship:D I love the food and the rooms. Thanks for mentioning the recommendation to spend a night on the ship – sounds like a wonderful experience

  4. This boat looks absolutely delightful! I would be happy to spend several nights there too. It looks very spacious. I think small groups are the best – any bigger than 14 then it might get a bit crowded and you lose the intimacy & companionship. What a gorgeous night away!

  5. I’ve always dreamed of being out on the ocean in a small sailboat. This would seem like the right way to do it – surrounded by the beauty of Indonesia, incredible sunrises and sunsets, and on a luxury vessel. Great report, and great experience!

  6. The Phinisi boat cruise and stay sounds really awesome. A great way to cruise through Komodo National Park. The overnight stay sounds really very interesting. Stargazing while floating on water sounds really fascinating. Staying on a boat as a group breeds a unique camaraderie which makes for some unforgettable experiences. Definitely sounds like a must-have experience in Indonesia.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.