What Is Included in a Komodo Cruise Price — and What Is Not?
marcell
August 1, 2026
9 min read
A Naturalia cruise fare includes accommodation, all meals, water, coffee and tea, an English-speaking guide, snorkelling equipment, life vests, Labuan Bajo transfers and professional trip documentation. It excludes national park fees, alcohol, gratuities, flights, the IDR 1,000,000 drone permit and dive packages.
The two-column answer
“What is included” is the single most-asked question in Komodo cruising and the one operators answer most vaguely. Here it is as a table, with nothing hedged.
| Included in the fare | Not included |
|---|---|
| Accommodation on board for the whole trip | Komodo National Park entrance and ranger fees |
| All meals on board | Alcoholic drinks and drinks outside the standard list |
| Mineral water, coffee and tea | Personal snacks |
| English-speaking guide | Crew gratuities |
| Snorkelling equipment and life vests | Flights to and from Labuan Bajo |
| Hotel or airport transfer within mainland Labuan Bajo | Drone permit (request at least 7 days ahead) |
| Premium trip documentation — drone, GoPro and mirrorless | Personal expenses, laundry, dive packages |
Two entries deserve comment. Premium trip documentation means the crew shoot your trip with a drone, GoPro and mirrorless camera — it is included, not an upsell, and it is the reason most guests do not need to bring an underwater camera. Transfers within mainland Labuan Bajo covers airport or hotel to harbour and back; it does not cover getting to Labuan Bajo in the first place.
The exclusion that costs the most: national park fees
No Komodo operator can include the park tariff in a way that changes what you owe, because it is set by regulation and collected per visit.
| Component | Foreign visitor | Indonesian visitor |
|---|---|---|
| Park entrance, per person per visit (PP 36/2024) | IDR 250,000 flat | IDR 50,000 weekday / IDR 75,000 weekend and public holiday |
| Trekking, wildlife observation, snorkelling | Included in the entrance tariff | Not itemised separately in the official source |
| Ranger and local retribution collected on site | Operator-collected, varies by island and group size | |
| Drone permit | IDR 1,000,000, apply at least 7 days before departure | |
The IDR 650,000 (Komodo/Padar) and IDR 900,000 (Rinca) figures quoted elsewhere are not the PP 36/2024 entrance tariff — they are bundled totals of park PNBP plus regional retribution plus ranger and trail charges. The IDR 3,750,000 “conservation membership” proposed in 2022 was cancelled and does not apply.
This is worth understanding rather than skimming. If an operator quotes you a park fee of IDR 650,000 or IDR 900,000, they are quoting a bundle — entrance PNBP plus regional retribution plus ranger and trail-management charges — not the entrance tariff. That bundle may be perfectly legitimate. It is simply not the same number as the PP 36/2024 tariff, and you are entitled to see it broken down.
Grey areas, answered plainly
| Item | Status on Naturalia |
|---|---|
| Drinking water, coffee, tea | Included, unlimited |
| Soft drinks and juices outside the standard list | Not included |
| Beer, wine, spirits | Not included; ask the reservations desk about bringing your own before you buy |
| Snorkel mask, fins, life vest | Included |
| Scuba diving, tanks, dive guide | Separate package, arranged at booking |
| Stand-up paddleboard and tender use | On board and available; ask about conditions on the day |
| Trip photos and video | Included as premium trip documentation |
| Drone flown by you | Permit IDR 1,000,000, seven days’ notice, not included |
| Crew gratuity | Discretionary, not built into the fare |
| Laundry | Not included |
What the fare itself buys
| Cabin | Deck | Max pax | Notable feature | Rate / person |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandal | Main | 3 | Private balcony, bathtub, sea view | USD 800 |
| Azure | Upper | 2 | Private balcony, bathtub, sea view | USD 710 |
| Coral | Upper | 3 | Shared balcony, sea view | USD 680 |
| Aurea | Main | 4 | Private balcony with jacuzzi | USD 470 |
| Breeze | Upper | 4 | Shared balcony, sea view | USD 430 |
| Tide | Lower | 4 | Porthole view, two bathrooms | USD 430 |
| Lagoon 1 | Lower | 2 | Porthole view | USD 400 |
| Lagoon 2 | Lower | 2 | Porthole view | USD 400 |
Eight cabins, 24 berths. Rates are per person on a shared (open-trip) departure and exclude national park fees.
Everything above is included at every cabin rate. The USD 400 lower-deck cabin and the USD 800 main-deck cabin eat the same meals, use the same guide and receive the same trip documentation — the difference is the cabin, the deck and the balcony, nothing else. Full deck-by-deck detail is on the specifications and rates page.
How this compares with the rest of the market
| Published reference point | Price as published | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Shared boat, 3D2N (Komodo Touristic listing, 2026) | USD 271.57–544.87 per person | Larger sharing vessels, 20–35 guests |
| Shared boat, 4D3N from Labuan Bajo (same source) | from USD 334.39 per person | Same class, extra night |
| Mid-tier phinisi from-price (Phinisi Trip, 2026) | IDR 6,000,000–8,350,000 per person | 30–40 m boats, 7–12 cabins, 20–40 guests |
| Naturalia Cruise cabin rate | USD 400–800 per person | 33.45 m, 8 en-suite cabins, 24 guests maximum |
| Resort-brand luxury cruise (AYANA Lako di’a, 2026) | IDR 29,542,000–56,700,000 | Hotel-operated cruise product |
| Naturalia whole-boat charter | from USD 7,800 per night | Entire 24-berth vessel and crew |
When comparing quotations, compare exclusions rather than headline prices. A USD 271 shared-boat fare and a USD 400 cabin rate can converge quickly once equipment rental, water, transfers and photography are priced in separately — or they can stay far apart. The only way to know is to ask each operator for the two-column list.
Deposit, balance and cancellation terms are published in full on the rates and booking page. If you want the total-trip arithmetic including flights and park fees, we set it out line by line in our under-USD-1,000 budget breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
What is included in a Komodo cruise price?
On Naturalia: accommodation on board, all meals, mineral water, coffee and tea, an English-speaking guide, snorkelling equipment and life vests, hotel or airport transfers within mainland Labuan Bajo, and premium trip documentation with drone, GoPro and mirrorless camera.
What is not included in a Komodo cruise?
National park entrance and ranger fees, alcoholic drinks and drinks outside the standard list, personal snacks, crew gratuities, flights to and from Labuan Bajo, the drone permit at IDR 1,000,000, personal expenses, laundry and dive packages.
Are meals really all included?
Yes — every meal from the first service after boarding to the last before disembarkation, plus mineral water, coffee and tea throughout. Provisioning is done before departure, so dietary requirements must be given at booking rather than on board.
Is snorkelling equipment included or rented?
Included, along with life vests. Diving is different: dive packages are a separate cost and require your certification details at booking, because tank and guide ratios have to be arranged before the boat leaves.
Are transfers from Komodo Airport included?
Yes, within mainland Labuan Bajo — from the airport or your hotel to the harbour and back. Transfers from outside Labuan Bajo, and flights themselves, are not included.
How much should I budget on top of the fare?
For two foreign guests on a 3D2N: IDR 500,000 in park entrance, an operator-collected ranger and retribution charge that varies by island and group size, return flights of roughly IDR 2,400,000–6,000,000 for two, plus whatever you spend on drinks and gratuities.
Booking & enquiries
Naturalia Cruise is operated and marketed by Komodo Luxury (part of Juara Holding Group, working out of Labuan Bajo since 2015). Cabin availability, charter dates and written quotations go through the Komodo Luxury reservations desk: WhatsApp +62 811 3823 875 or [email protected]. Payment terms are published and unchanged: 50% deposit to hold the date, balance due 30 days before departure, full payment if you book inside 30 days, deposit non-refundable on cancellation.
Rates and tariffs on this page were last reviewed on 1 August 2026 and are quoted for the 2027 season. Vessel figures are the operator’s published specifications; national park tariffs are from PP No. 36 Tahun 2024. Always confirm the current rate in writing before transferring a deposit.
Before you compare inclusion lists between boats, it is worth reading the published Labuan Bajo luxury cruise price bands so you are comparing the same season and the same cabin class.