Budget Komodo liveaboard: the lowest fare on King Cirox 2 and everything you add to it

Two figures sit at the bottom of the fare list: IDR 3,350,000 (≈ USD 206) for three days and two nights, IDR 2,900,000 (≈ USD 178) for two days and one night. Both are the bunk price in Gresik, the four-bunk share cabin on the main deck.

What the saving costs you is easy to list. A bunk instead of a double bed. A cabin shared with up to four other guests. A bathroom shared too, the only one of the six on board that is not private. Air conditioning, a sea-facing window, sockets, towels and linen are the same as in the dearer cabins; the photos show an LG unit on Gresik's wall with its remote beside it.

The next step up is a private double in Surabaya, Kediri or Jember at IDR 4,300,000 (≈ USD 264) per person, sold for two paying guests at least. For one person, that makes the bunk the only budget option; for two, the gap between two bunks and one private double is the price of a door and a bathroom. Read the fare table below before deciding which you would rather keep.

The fare is most of the money, not all of it. Four lines sit outside it.

• Park entry: IDR 250,000 a day for each foreign visitor, under PP 36/2024. Indonesian citizens pay IDR 50,000 Monday to Friday and IDR 75,000 at the weekend.
• Ranger and local levies: paid separately at the sites. The amounts change, and we have not verified a current figure, so we do not print one.
• Fins: not carried on board. Bring your own or rent them in Labuan Bajo.
• Tips for the crew: your choice, not a fare item.

Flights and travel insurance are outside too, and we advise a night in Labuan Bajo before the boat, because a missed pickup is the most expensive mistake on this page. So your real budget is the bunk, plus park entry for each day, plus a hotel night, plus whatever you decide to tip. Write those four numbers down, then compare them with the inclusions table below.

The bunk fare carries more than a bed, and on a budget the inclusions are where you save. The 10:00–11:00 pickup at your Labuan Bajo hotel or the airport costs nothing, and neither does the drop-off on day three. All meals are included: breakfast, lunch and dinner, cooked aboard by the chef. So are free-flow mineral water, tea and coffee, and, on the open trip, snacks and soft drinks.

The local guide is included on the open trip. So is the photo and video crew, which on a private charter is an extra. The paddle board, the canoe, the snorkel masks and the Starlink Wi-Fi come with the fare too.

Add it up and the main thing you buy in Labuan Bajo is the park ticket. Do not pay twice: if a hotel or a street agent offers you a guide, transfers or snorkel gear for this trip, you already have them. Then choose your sailing from the date compass below.

For a big enough group, the charter competes with the bunk. A whole-boat 3D2N for eleven to fifteen guests is IDR 57,000,000 (≈ USD 3,497); split fifteen ways, that is IDR 3,800,000 (≈ USD 233) each. At the full 23, adding IDR 2,250,000 (≈ USD 138) for each guest above fifteen, it is IDR 3,260,000 (≈ USD 200) each.

Set those per-head figures against the private-cabin fare of IDR 4,300,000 (≈ USD 264) and the bunk price of IDR 3,350,000 (≈ USD 206). The table below does the division for every group size, so you can see where the lines cross for your own number of friends.

Before you compare, adjust for two things. A charter does not include the guide or the photo crew; both are quoted separately. And a charter starts on the day you choose instead of a Monday or a Friday, which can save a hotel night. We will tell you honestly if the open trip is cheaper for your group. It is, for any group of one.