Greetings travelers,
I'm currently in Nepal and will be leaving the mountains
and heading toward the beaches tommorow. Was wondering if
any of you have taken sailing or motor boat trips (diving
or just touring) for a week or more to the islands east of
Bali and Lombok? If you have or know of any "budget"
companies that offer this service I'd love your advice. I
should reach Bali the week of the 20th and would be
grateful for some advice. Regards, Zoe
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A company that offers shorter boattrips to the islands east
of Lombok is Perama. you can probably get one from Bali, I
know there are trips starting from Lombok ending in Flores
and the other way around. Fairly cheap and comfortable.
Took one that lasted three days in Jan of '98. Longer trips
possible, usually everything is included (except drinks),
like food,entrance fees to Komodo and Rinca, snorkeling
gear etc. etc.
Their main office is located on the Legian Rd., Kuta, Bali.
They have safe deposit and left-luggage storage, if you want
to travel light. The problem with them is that you wind up
like a budget package tour. You can use their storage
facilities cheaply, and go ot on your own.
-
I'd recommend flying from Bali out to Maumere (best) or
Kupang, then working back overland. Get a group of people
together in Labuhanbajo and charter a big outrigger for a
few days, and go to Bima via Komodo and Rinca. From Bima,
it's easy to bus back to Bali in a couple of days, or you
could again arrange a boat to Labuhan Lombok if you're a
little adventurous. Once on Lombok, it's an easy run to
Bali. It all depends how much you want to think and
organize.
It is a lot cheaper to do the 5 day fishing boat trip from
Flores to Lombok than it is to go the other way. There will
also be much more interesting people as they have already
probably travelled through the Eastern Islands from Timor
to get to Flores.
Whilst waiting in Labuanbajo for your boat trip to start
you can spend a few days out at one of the nearby island
that have great reefs for snorkelling. Bargin hard for your
boat trip and try to get your accommodation in Labuanbajo
thrown in. Take some supplies for the trip as the cabbage
and rice diet gets a bit boring.
This part of Indo has beautiful waters but they can be
dangerous. When I was in Flores/Sumbawa in Mar this year, I
read in a local paper (I speak Bahasa Indo) that one of
those fishing boat trips was capsized and four backpackers
were missing presumed drowned. Consider Pelni ships - the
national shipping line. And have fun.
Hi,
I did a 5 day boat trip from Lombok to Flores in October
last year.
It was very basic; wooden fishing boat, sleeping out on
deck; salt water mandi etc.....but it was really good fun -
if you're one for adventure.
The snorkelling was fantastic and the scenery beautiful,
stopping off along the way.
....BUT! We had to sail through the night to get to Komodo
and that was shit scary...storm force winds, massive waves
washing over the deck (everything got soaked) and I thought
we were going to die, seriously, I just hid under a stinky
diesel blanket praying that this was a dream....I survived,
I think our crew knew what they were doing although I wasn't
sure because only one of them could speak a little
english.....they were really funny though and I felt sorry
for them because the food they cooked for us was great but
what they were eating was our leftovers.
Afew points about the boat....no lifejackets....no
navigation equipment.....no radio.....no backup boat....no
lifeboat.....probably as basic as it gets....live chickens
on board and rats on deck at night....coakroaches loved the
squat mandi....even more so at night!
One of the funniest moments of the journey was when leaving
Lombok, an hour or so into the journey we sees this huge
dead fish floating in the sea. Suddenly the crew go into a
frenzy, the sail comes down, engine goes into reverse and
crew into recovery fish mode....turns out fishy had
swallowed a puffer......we ate him that night and I think
the chickens were happy because they got to see another
day..........
The cost of this voyage was 300,000rp (all inclusive) and I
worked out that if you were to sell your 2 litre bottles of
water (per day), based on the supermarket price the trip
would set you back ú10!! A bargain.....ENJOY! Even cheaper
from Flores.....PS check out in the LP book what it says
about the waters round Komodo.
I just came back from Bali and islands east....must give a
standing o to the comments above...I agree with everything
said. Weather is a big big factor in this trip...bad
weather could mean big trouble, but they are coming out of
monsoon/rainy season, so that should not be a factor.
Just wanted to add one thing - the trip is available in a
few formats (3, 4 or 5 nights). Many agencies charge you
the same price since their biggest expense is fuel and the
longer trips simply stop longer in certain spots. We liked
the ride but 3 nights on deck was just enough to satisfy our
sense of adventure. Also make sure to check the supplies on
board, like water or snorkelling gear, to make sure there's
enough for everyone.
Nick while you and I were not on the same trip together you
described my experience exactly--I went about 3 weeks ago.
They do have navigation equipment, it's a compass. What
freaked me out the most about my trip was the guide was
begging the captain to go to shore and pull into a cove and
the captain refused. I recommend the trip to anyone, I
really enjoyed myself. The people on my boat were all
really cool--at least the ones that spoke english--the
others seemed cool. The snorkling is amazing! Remeber if
the weather gets rough, keep in mind which direction the
land is. I found the lightening helped a lot. If the boat
starts to sink, leave your backpack. I put my tickets,
passport, and money pouch into a small plastic bag. I doubt
there will be any problems! Certainly a great memory.