Gandiva Phinisi desk review: five cabins, one balcony, what the numbers say

A desk review means reading the documents and studying the photographs without setting foot on board. Ours uses three sources: the boat's published specification of August 2026, the boat's own website and the photographs from the boat's own folder. We compared them line by line on 3 November 2026.

Nobody from our team has boarded Gandiva, so this page does not say she was inspected or surveyed. When a team member does board her, the date and findings go on this page. Until then each line is the boat's claim, as we read it, and not our finding.

Third-party listings of this boat disagree with the boat's own documents on capacity. We use the lower, documented figures: 12 guests and 5 cabins. Where two sources differ on a fact and we could not settle it, the fact stays out of this page.

The specification gives 28.5 m by 5.2 m, a Mitsubishi 6D16 main engine, with a stated cruising speed of 6 to 9 knots. Two generators of 42 kVA each supply power, and the tanks hold 4,000 litres of fuel and 5,500 litres of fresh water. A speedboat tender with a 40 hp Yamaha engine carries guests to beaches. Navigation is a Garmin GPS, a chart and a compass, and communication is SSB and VHF marine radio with walkie-talkies. The boat carries two masts, and the drone photographs show four sails set.

Three things we read into those numbers ourselves. A crew of 6 for 12 guests is two guests to each crew member on a full boat. And 6 to 9 knots is a stated speed that we have not timed.

• Arjuna: upper deck, sea view, double bed, private balcony and a freestanding bathtub. The only cabin with either.
• Nakula and Sadewa: upper deck, sea view, double bed each.
• Bima: lower deck, double bed. The photographs show portholes, so it is not a sea-view room.
• Yudhistira: lower deck, one double and two single beds for two to four guests. The third and fourth guest add IDR 6,500,000 (≈ USD 399) each on the open trip.

All five cabins have air conditioning, an ensuite bathroom with hot water in the shower, a chiller and a safe box. The cabin photographs show towel swans on the beds.

The useful finding is the spread between them. Four cabins are cheaper than Arjuna, and two of the four have no sea view. A couple who wants the view and the bath should book Arjuna, and a couple who wants only the view has two upper-deck alternatives.

The listed spaces are three sundecks with sofas, a large outdoor area, a deck table with sofa benches under a shade roof, and an indoor lounge with a bar, a 65-inch screen and karaoke. For the water there are stand-up paddle boards, a canoe, snorkelling gear and the tender. Wi-Fi is local. It can be intermittent, so do not plan a video call on it.

About the photographs. The three exterior pictures are drone originals from the boat's own folder, with no people in them. The interiors come from the boat's own published photographs, which are edited in a warm tone, so the real teak may look cooler than the picture. A beach dinner photograph from the same folder shows lanterns set in a circle on sand. That is a service on request with its own quote, and it is not part of the boat.

The boat's documents list two life rafts of 15 persons each, 30 life jackets, 4 life buoys, 6 fire extinguishers and a first-aid kit. Add the marine radios above. Two rafts of 15 give 30 places, more than the 12 guests and the boat's crew together. Thirty life jackets also cover everyone aboard.

What the documents leave out matters just as much. We have seen no inspection certificate, no crew training record and no emergency drill log. We do not claim a doctor, a nurse or a defibrillator on board, and we make no claim that one boat is safer than another. Ask us for what exists in writing before you pay, and we will pass the question on.

The harbour authority issues the sailing approval, and it can close routes when the wind and waves rise, as the notices of August and October 2026 showed. A closed route reshuffles the stops.

• Whether the cabins match their photographs, and how they sound when the engine runs.
• Food quality, service and crew manner.
• The real speed, the noise and the state of the hull.
• Wi-Fi strength.
• Guest experience: there are no guest reviews of Gandiva on this site yet, and we found no Google Maps or Tripadvisor profile of the boat itself.

On price, the list we hold on 3 November 2026 shows the whole boat from IDR 80,000,000 (≈ USD 4,908) for 2D1N and IDR 100,000,000 (≈ USD 6,135) for 3D2N with one to four guests. Open-trip seats on 3D2N run from IDR 11,500,000 (≈ USD 706) per person in Arjuna to IDR 9,000,000 (≈ USD 552) in Bima or Yudhistira, on Monday & Friday. Charter guests pay extra for the guide and for documentation. Gandiva has no trips in January and February 2027.

On paper Gandiva fits a couple or a party of up to twelve who want a sailing phinisi with a real bathroom in every cabin and one standout room. The numbers are consistent across the sources we could read, and they are specific enough to check. The unproven parts are the ones only a visit can settle.

To be clear about it: we are recommending a boat we have not boarded. Until we do, treat this as a careful reading, send us your questions, and ask for any detail in writing before the deposit.

If you can sail in the first months of the open-trip calendar, 1 March 2027 onward, you will be among the early guests after maintenance, and your report on the cabins and the bathroom is the one we want most.