Post-graduation trip to Komodo: a friends' fare sheet for King Cirox 2

Four friends, ten friends or 23: each number has its own cheapest route. Start with the cheapest bed on board. Gresik holds four single bunks, sold one by one at IDR 3,350,000 (≈ USD 206) for 3D2N or IDR 2,900,000 (≈ USD 178) for 2D1N, so a group of four can take the whole cabin and share its bathroom.

A group of six to eight on the open trip spreads across Gresik and one or two private doubles at IDR 4,300,000 (≈ USD 264) per person, and shares the boat with other travellers. The open trip leaves every Monday & Friday, and the local guide and the photo crew with a drone come with the fare.

From about ten friends, the whole boat is worth pricing. You choose the start day, nobody else is aboard, and the sound system and the karaoke are yours. The trade-off is that a charter does not include the guide or the photo crew; both come on request at a separate quote. Count who is definitely coming, then read the fare table below.

Charter prices step by band. A 3D2N is IDR 51,000,000 (≈ USD 3,129) for six to ten guests and IDR 57,000,000 (≈ USD 3,497) for eleven to fifteen, then IDR 2,250,000 (≈ USD 138) for each guest above fifteen up to 23.

• Ten friends: IDR 5,100,000 (≈ USD 313) each.
• Fifteen friends: IDR 3,800,000 (≈ USD 233) each.
• 23 friends: IDR 3,260,000 (≈ USD 200) each.

A shorter trip costs less in total. The 2D1N charter for eleven to fifteen is IDR 44,000,000 (≈ USD 2,699), or IDR 2,930,000 (≈ USD 180) each at fifteen. A single day for the same band is IDR 37,000,000 (≈ USD 2,270).

Notice what happens at the top of the table: the per-head price at a full boat sits close to the bunk price, and every one of you gets the whole deck. The catch is the rooming. At 23, five of you are in Gresik and several sleep on extra beds. Decide that before anyone pays, then use the per-person table below to set each share.

Day one starts with pickup between 10:00 and 11:00, then a 50 to 70 minute run to Kelor and a short, steep climb. Manjarite's long wooden pier is the first snorkel. Strawberry Rock follows if the sea allows, and the day ends at Kalong at sunset, watching the flying foxes leave the mangroves.

Day two carries most of the trip. Padar or Gili Lawa, picked at booking if the park's quota allows. The dragons on Komodo or Rinca with a ranger. Pink Beach, then the drift at Manta Point and the sandbar at Taka Makassar. Day three is Seture's beach and reef before the boat docks in Labuan Bajo between 10:00 and 11:00.

Evenings belong to the group: dinner at the dining table, then the roof deck's bean bags or the karaoke and sound system, both printed in the boat's booklets. The boat spends the night at anchor or under way, depending on the weather and the captain's decision that day. See every stop in the route below.

Graduation season lands on July and August, two of the busiest months on the water. Both are peak crowd months in the park, with windier, rougher seas; they are also strong manta months. If the class can travel in September, October or November, the water is calmer, visibility is high and the anchorages are quieter.

June is a fair compromise: dry and calm, with clear water, with the south-east wind starting to build towards July. Heavy showers mark the wet season, December to March.

Whatever the month, three fixed points shape the booking. The deposit, 50 per cent, holds the boat or the bunks. The balance follows 30 days before departure. And open-trip dates are fixed to Monday & Friday, while a charter starts when you choose. Put the two payment dates in the group chat on the day you book, then check the fit list below.