Gandiva
Gandiva Phinisi
Four notes for the weeks before you sail
Updated 3 November 2026
Four planning notes for a Komodo anniversary trip on Gandiva: arrival and pick-up, which cabin gives calm sleep, the camera bag with phone signal, and the evening on board. Each takes about five minutes to read and ends with something to pack or to ask us.
Four notes for the weeks before you sail
A trip like this is decided by small things that nobody lists: where you sleep the night before, which window you wake at, whether the camera card is empty, what the boat does after dinner. The notes below cover those four, one each, and none of them needs more than five minutes of your evening.
They were written for the couple who plans early and wants the arrangements settled before the flights are booked, and who would rather read a short page twice than a long one once. Every note finishes with a thing to do, such as a question to send us, a card to empty or a bag to pack.
From the arrivals hall to the first dusk on boardLand in Labuan Bajo, take the harbour transfer, board Gandiva and watch the first dusk. Flights after 14:00 on the last day; pick-up confirmed in writing.
Choosing a bed for a guest who dreads the swellSeasick on a boat? Compare Gandiva's upper-deck and lower-deck cabins for calm sleep, and read how meals, water and the first morning help. General advice.
The camera bag, the phone and the signalPack the camera bag for salt and heat, plan around local Wi-Fi and a patchy phone signal, and know the drone permit is its own line. Notes for Gandiva.
After dinner on board, until first lightDinner at the deck table, quiet hours, the captain's choice of anchorage and tea at first light: the evening on board Gandiva and the early start on day 2.
Arrival, sleep, camera and evening: the four notes
The arrival note follows you from the airport to the first dusk on board, and ends with the flights that suit your last day. The sleep note compares the upper and the lower decks for a guest who dreads the swell, and it covers food, water and the first morning too.
Camera advice deals with salt, heat, storage, the phone signal and the drone permit. The evening note covers dinner at the deck table, the quiet hours and the captain's choice of anchorage, and it is the one that tells you what to lay out before bed. It also covers the early start on the second morning, when the light arrives before most guests have finished their tea.
Which note to read first
If your flights are not booked yet, read the arrival note first. It tells you which day to land and which flight to avoid on the last day.
If the flights are booked and you have a cabin in mind, read the sleep note. If you are bringing a camera or a drone, read the camera note before you pack, since the permit takes time. The evening note is the last of the four, and it is the one to read on the plane.
Any question the notes leave open is one to send us. We answer in writing, and the answer goes into your booking, so that nothing depends on anyone's memory. Send it early, because some answers, such as a drone permit, take days.
Check availability — Gandiva
Gandiva sails with its own crew; Komodo Explorer is the booking partner and answers for your reservation.