Four mornings instead of three, and no stop squeezed

Day one is Kelor, Rinca and Kalong. Kelor is the short steep climb with the harbour behind you. Rinca is a walk with a park ranger. A dragon on the path is possible and never promised.

So the first afternoon is fuller than on the three-day route, though not rushed. She leaves the harbour after the transfer, lunch is laid on deck, and nobody is hurried. You need shoes with grip, water and a hat for the two walks.

Kalong is the closing frame. In March the sun sets there at 18:15. As it goes, the fruit bats leave the mangroves and cross the boat, and the sails keep the last colour. Dinner is on board. Which anchorage takes the boat overnight is the captain's choice that day, weather permitting.

Light check. The bats read best against the open sky, so stand on the upper deck with the sky in front of you. Bring a light layer, since the deck cools after sunset.

Day two is the longest, and it begins in the dark. Padar comes first, with a head torch, shoes with grip and water, so that the climb ends at the ridge as the light arrives. In March the sun rises over Padar at 06:06.

Pink Beach follows, then Komodo Island on foot with a park ranger, then Taka Makassar, a sandbar visited when the water level allows. Gili Lawa Darat ends the day as a hill walk.

The stops are many and the captain sets their sequence by wind, tide and park rules. On a day this full the order matters: a sandbar waits for the water, and a ridge cannot wait for the sun. We tell you the plan the evening before, and the captain's call overrides it.

Dinner is on board. Tonight Arjuna's bathtub, or any hot ensuite shower, earns its keep. Then sleep.

Day three belongs to the water. It opens with Manta Point, a drift snorkel in the current. We can show you where to look; we can't promise the photograph. Mantas are never guaranteed, and a wrong current can cancel the stop.

Siaba Besar comes next, with turtles over the sea grass. Turtles come and go as mantas do; slip in slowly and quietly for the best chance. Mawan follows, a beach and a reef for the last long swim of the trip.

No walks today. After two mornings of climbing it's all reef and sand from the tender, which suits a child, or a parent who sat out the hills and will happily float.

Dinner is on board once more. With three days on the water behind you, the evening is the right time for the lounge, the bar, the 65-inch screen and the karaoke, if the guests aboard want them.

The fourth morning is brief. After breakfast the boat goes to Kanawa for the last swim before the harbour, and then it turns for Labuan Bajo. The arrival time is confirmed in writing, because wind and tide set it.

A flight out that day should leave after 14:00. On a charter we can set the finishing time around your flight, a real advantage of having the whole boat.

Give the last hour to the sundeck. Three nights aboard change what you notice: the sound of the hull, the way the crew move, the moment the harbour comes into view. None of that is on a shot list, and it is what people talk about afterwards.

The harbour transfer is in the fare. We suggest a night in a Labuan Bajo hotel before a long flight home, and our hotels page lists where to stay.