Your first arrival in Indonesia, before the boat

Most visitors to Indonesia need a visa. Citizens of 97 listed countries can take a visa on arrival, and the same 30-day visa can be applied for online before you fly, through the immigration portal evisa.imigrasi.go.id. Use that portal only. Other sites sell the same form at a mark-up.

You also fill in the All Indonesia digital arrival card in the 72 hours before you land. At the counter the officer looks for a passport valid six months past your arrival date with two blank pages, and can ask to see an onward ticket. Citizens of ASEAN countries enter visa-free for 30 days.

Fees and rules change, so the table gives the figure we found and the date we checked it. Verify the fee and your nationality on the immigration site before you travel. Photograph your passport page and the arrival-card confirmation the night before, so both are on your phone at the counter.

You land at Komodo International Airport (LBJ), which lies 2 to 3 km from the harbour. Few international flights arrive direct; connections run via Bali, Jakarta or Surabaya. The table shows the flight times we found; they are indicative, so check the airline for the schedule on your day.

If you pass through Bali, note that a separate Bali tourist levy applies to foreign visitors and sits outside the visa fee. The immigration site and the Bali provincial site give the current figure.

Plan to land the day before you board. A late or cancelled flight then costs you an evening, not the boat. The arrival note covers the pick-up, the pier and the first night.

In Labuan Bajo you pay in rupiah; foreign cash is of little use. ATMs stand along the harbour road in town and at the airport arrivals hall, where one machine can be out of order. The park and the islands have no machine at all, so your cash must come aboard with you.

Cards work at hotels, dive operators and larger restaurants, with a surcharge of 2 to 4 percent added at some. Small shops, markets and taxis take cash or QRIS. Withdrawal limits per transaction are low, so expect several withdrawals, each with a fee from the machine and another from your home bank. Decline any offer to convert the amount into your own currency at the machine.

Crew tips and personal spending go in cash. Our own payment options for the booking are on the how-to-book page: a card link adds 3 percent, PayPal adds 7.2 percent, and a card terminal in Labuan Bajo adds 3 percent.

We recommend travel insurance that covers medical care and evacuation; scuba divers must hold dive insurance. A serious case in Komodo means a flight out, so the cover is what pays for it. Take this as general guidance, not medical advice, and put vaccination and medicine questions to your own doctor.

Choice in the town's pharmacies is narrow. Bring prescription medicine in its original packaging, with a letter from your doctor, and bring your own sunscreen. Our packing list asks for reef-safe sunscreen, trekking shoes, a small backpack and emergency cash. Dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses exist in the region, so carry repellent for the evenings on shore.

On the water, the sun and the glare do the damage. Cover your shoulders on the sundecks, drink water before you are thirsty, and wear a hat in the middle of the day. The emergency number for the police, ambulance and rescue services is 112, and the boat's crew carries a first-aid kit.