How much does Malca Voyages cost per night?

Whole-boat private charter of Malca Voyages starts from $5,300 per night (about IDR 86 million), with itineraries from 2D1N up to 7D6N. Shared open-trip departures price per person instead: from $300 to $580 for a 3D2N depending on cabin and occupancy. Komodo National Park fees — roughly $40–50 per person on a 3D2N — are always billed separately.

How much is a shared cabin on Malca?

The Triple Room is the cheapest at $300 per person when three travelers book it together ($330 on a bed-share basis). The Quad Room runs from $330 per person at full occupancy, Double Rooms $400 each for two sharing, Superior $450, Deluxe $500, and the balcony Master $580. Every cabin is en-suite, air-conditioned and sea-view — including the two cheapest.

Does Malca Voyages run shared open trips?

Yes — Malca is one of the workhorse hulls of the weekly shared 3D2N calendar, sailing year-round from Labuan Bajo on Friday–Sunday blocks with weekday shared cruises also scheduled. Because the calendar is fleet-wide, the desk confirms which hull sails your exact date at booking; ask specifically for Malca and we anchor your liveaboard booking to her departures.

Where does Malca depart from, and what time is pick-up?

Malca departs Labuan Bajo Harbor, Flores. Day-1 pick-up for Malca guests is 08:00–09:00 from hotels or the airport within Labuan Bajo mainland — one of the earlier slots in the shared fleet, which gives the boat time to reach Kelor Island before midday. Day 3 returns you to the harbor by early-to-mid afternoon.

What cabins does Malca Voyages have?

Seven en-suite, air-conditioned, sea-view cabins: one Master Ocean View with a private balcony sleeping up to four, one Deluxe, one Superior, two Double Rooms, one Quad Room with double bunks for four, and one Triple Room with single bunks. The spec sheet rates the hull for 21 guests; standard configurations sleep 19, with $330 extra beds in the Master and Deluxe closing the gap.

Is Malca good for families?

Very — the Quad Room (double bunks, four berths, $330 per person at full occupancy) is effectively a private family cabin with its own bathroom, and the Triple suits a parent with two kids at $300 each. The 3D2N route is child-friendly: short hill walks on Kelor and Padar, calm snorkeling at Manjarite and Taka Makassar, and the flying-fox spectacle at dusk.

What is included in Malca's rate?

Shared-cabin rates include onboard accommodation, all meals, drinking water, coffee and tea, a licensed guide, snorkeling gear, life vests, and trip documentation with drone, GoPro and mirrorless footage delivered as raw files. Excluded: Komodo National Park entry (IDR 250,000 per person per day), ranger fees (IDR 200,000 per group), the IDR 25,000 harbor fee, and crew gratuities.

Malca vs Ayvara — which one should I pick?

Pick Malca for price and pace: shared cabins from $300 versus Ayvara's $450, a bigger 30 m hull, and 15–16-knot speed that buys extra water time on the five-stop Day 2. Pick Ayvara for Starlink connectivity, her 360° rooftop deck, and a smaller 15-guest capacity. Both are 7-cabin premium phinisi liveaboards on the identical weekly route.

When does Malca sell out?

July through September is the crunch: the $300 Triple and $330 Quad berths are the lowest real prices on the entire shared calendar, so they go first, and August weekend blocks are commonly full 4–6 weeks ahead. The park's 1,000-visitor daily cap for the Komodo–Padar zone, enforced since April 2026, adds pressure — book at least a month out for dry-season dates.

Premium · Open Trip & Private Charter

Malca Voyages — Komodo Open Trip Phinisi & Private Charter

30 m ironwood phinisi · 7 en-suite sea-view cabins · up to 21 guests · 15–16 knots

The Budget Anchor

Why Malca Voyages Is the Budget Anchor of the Premium Fleet

Malca Voyages is a 30 m premium phinisi liveaboard sailing Komodo National Park from Labuan Bajo, carrying up to 21 guests in 7 en-suite sea-view cabins. Shared 3D2N cabins from $300/person — the lowest real cabin price in the shared fleet — and whole-boat charter from $5,300/night. Book via the Komodo Trip desk.

Every shared-departure fleet has one hull that quietly sets the price floor, and in Komodo that hull is Malca Voyages. Her Triple Room lists at $300 per person when three travelers book it together — the cheapest genuinely bookable cabin across the entire weekly shared calendar, roughly IDR 4,900,000 at current rates. That number matters because the “from $220” headline you see on aggregator pages is a teaser tier that is almost never itemized; Malca’s $300 Triple is a real cabin, with a real bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning and a sea view, sailing on real 2026 dates.

The surprise is what sits above that price floor. Malca is not a budget boat wearing a premium badge — she is a 30-meter traditional wooden ship built from ironwood and teak, rated in the operator’s top shared-fleet tier, with a 340 HP Mitsubishi 8DC11 main engine that pushes her to 15–16 knots. Most phinisi on this route cruise at 7–10 knots. In practice that speed means Malca spends less of your three days in transit and more of it anchored at Padar, Pink Beach and Manta Point. If you have been comparing Malca Voyages price lists across agencies, the through-line is consistent: shared cabins $300–$580 per person, whole boat from $5,300 per night — and the Komodo Trip desk holds cabins at those published rates, operated by Komodo Luxury since 2015.

One naming note before we go deeper: some guests search for the Malca cruise or the Malca yacht. She is neither a cruise ship nor a motor yacht — she is a two-masted wooden phinisi in the Sulawesi boatbuilding tradition, sailed by a local crew, with a modern engine room and navigation stack behind the timber. That combination of traditional hull and quick modern machinery is precisely what makes Malca Komodo departures such good value.

Malca Voyages under sail — Komodo National Park, by our operator Komodo Luxury

Photo Gallery

Malca in Photos: Cabins, Decks & Under Sail

These photographs are from the vessel herself — exterior lines first, then each cabin class in the order you will find them on the rate card, then the shared decks and dining spaces where you will spend most of your daylight hours between snorkel stops. Note the Master cabin’s freestanding bathtub and private balcony — rare fittings at this price tier — and the bunk layouts in the Quad and Triple rooms, which are the two cabins that make Malca the value pick of the calendar.

Malca Voyages exterior — Komodo National Park

Malca Voyages under sail — Komodo National Park

Malca Voyages phinisi — Komodo National Park

Malca Master Ocean View cabin — Komodo National Park

Malca Master cabin with freestanding bathtub — Komodo National Park

Malca Master cabin private balcony — Komodo National Park

Malca Master cabin en-suite — Komodo National Park

Malca Deluxe Ocean View cabin — Komodo National Park

Malca Double Room — Komodo National Park

Malca Quad Room Ocean View — Komodo National Park

Malca Quad Room bunk layout — Komodo National Park

Malca Triple Room — Komodo National Park

Malca Triple Room single bunks — Komodo National Park

Malca shared deck facilities — Komodo National Park

Malca dining and deck space — Komodo National Park

Verified Specs

Malca Phinisi: Verified Specifications

Numbers below are taken from the operator’s published specification sheet, not estimated. Two figures deserve a highlight. First, the 6,000-liter freshwater tank — generous for a 30-meter hull — keeps showers unrestricted even on the longer 5D4N and 7D6N charter itineraries. Second, the twin 15 KVA generators mean cabin air conditioning runs through the night at anchor without the main engine idling under your bunk.

For context inside her own class: Ayvara runs 25 meters at 9–10 knots, Yumana 32 meters at 7–11 knots. Malca gives up a little deck length to Yumana but is comfortably the fastest of the three — on a route where the best moments happen at anchor, speed between anchorages is the spec that quietly buys you more snorkeling time.

The build itself is worth a paragraph. Malca’s hull is laid in ironwood — the dense Sulawesi timber phinisi builders reserve for keels and frames because it shrugs off teredo worm and tropical rot — with teak through the decks and interiors. On board that translates into a boat that feels warm rather than clinical: oiled timber underfoot, solid joinery in the cabins, and none of the fiberglass echo you get on modern dive boats. She is a working example of a boatbuilding tradition that UNESCO inscribed on its intangible cultural heritage list, and she earns her premium badge on craft as much as on cabin count.

Specification	Detail
Type	Traditional wooden phinisi (ironwood & teak)
Length × beam	30 m × 5.1 m
Cabins	7, all en-suite, AC, sea view
Guests	Up to 21 (spec-sheet rating; standard cabin configs sleep 19, extra beds close the gap)
Cruising speed	15–16 knots
Engine	Mitsubishi 8DC11, 340 HP
Generators	2 × 15 KVA
Fresh water	6,000 L
Navigation & comms	GPS, VHF, marine radio
Trip formats	Weekly shared 3D2N · private charter 2D1N–7D6N

2026 Rates

Malca Voyages Komodo Rates 2026: Every Cabin, Every Price

Malca sells shared cabins per person on the weekly 3D2N open trip, and the whole boat per night on private charter. All rates below are “from” prices in USD; Komodo National Park fees are always billed separately (budget $40–50 per person for a 3D2N — detail further down). For the shared trip, the market band across Labuan Bajo sits around IDR 3.5–5.5 million per person, and Malca’s cheapest cabins land at the bottom of that band.

Cabin class	Setup	Open trip 3D2N — from (per person)
Master Ocean View	1 cabin · double bed · up to 4 guests · private balcony · en-suite	$580 (extra bed $330)
Deluxe Ocean View	1 cabin · double bed · 2 guests · en-suite	$500 (extra bed $330)
Superior Ocean View	1 cabin · double bed · 2 guests · en-suite	$450
Double Room 1 & 2	2 cabins · double bed · 2 guests each · en-suite	$400 at two sharing · $550 single occupancy
Quad Room Ocean View	1 cabin · double bunk · up to 4 guests · en-suite	$330 at four · $350 at three · $470 at two
Triple Room	1 cabin · single bunks · 3 guests · en-suite	$300 at three privately · $330 bed-share · $400 at two
Whole boat — private charter	All 7 cabins · up to 21 guests · custom route 2D1N–7D6N	from $5,300/night (≈ IDR 86 juta)

Read the occupancy bands carefully — they are where Malca rewards groups. A couple who takes the Double Room pays $400 each; three friends in the Triple pay $300 each; a family of four in the Quad pays $330 each. Every cabin on board, including the two cheapest, has its own bathroom, air conditioning and a sea view — there are no windowless lower-deck cabins on this hull, which is unusual at this price point.

Private charter: the whole boat starts from $5,300 per night (≈ IDR 86 million), scaling from quick 2D1N escapes to a full 7D6N crossing of the park. With a full complement of 21 guests that works out to roughly $252 per person per night for a private ship — before park fees — which explains why Malca charters are popular for extended-family groups and company trips that would otherwise book six cabins on a shared departure anyway.

Two Ways to Sail

Open Trip or Private Charter: How Malca Actually Sells

Malca is one of the workhorses of the weekly shared calendar. Open-trip 3D2N departures run year-round from Labuan Bajo, mostly on Friday–Sunday blocks, with weekday shared cruises also available on the same schedule — useful if you want the identical route at a quieter Padar viewpoint. Day-1 pick-up for Malca guests is 08:00–09:00 from hotels or the airport within Labuan Bajo mainland, one of the earlier slots in the fleet; the early start is deliberate, giving the boat time to clear the harbor and reach Kelor before the midday heat flattens the light.

Weekend or weekday is a genuine choice, not a footnote. The Friday–Sunday blocks suit anyone connecting from a working week in Bali — the Denpasar–Labuan Bajo hop is under 1.5 hours — while the weekday shared cruises trade a little scheduling convenience for noticeably thinner crowds at the Padar viewpoint and Komodo ranger station. Prices are identical either way.

One honest caveat about how shared calendars work: the weekly schedule is fleet-wide, and the desk confirms which hull sails your specific date at booking. If your trip is built around Malca specifically — her speed, her $300 Triple, her balcony Master — say so when you enquire and we will anchor your booking to her dates rather than the generic calendar. Private charter, by contrast, is simple: pick the boat, pick the dates, from $5,300 per night, any duration from 2D1N to 7D6N, with the itinerary shaped around your group. For the wider fleet picture, our open trip Komodo page covers the shared calendar and our Komodo boat trip guide compares every format — day boat to week-long liveaboard.

Shared 3D2N Departures

Month (2026)	Shared 3D2N departure dates
August	7–9 · 14–16 · 21–23 · 28–30
September	4–6 · 11–13 · 18–20 · 25–27
October	2–4 · 9–11 · 16–18 · 23–25 · 30 Oct–1 Nov
November	6–8 · 13–15 · 20–22 · 27–29

Upcoming shared 3D2N departure blocks for the rest of the 2026 dry season and into November. The $300 Triple and $330 Quad berths are the first to go on every dry-season departure — Dewi at our Guest Experience desk checks live availability in minutes.

Sample Route

The 3D2N Route: Where Malca Sails Every Week

The itinerary below is the standard shared-departure route Malca runs weekly. Distances in the park are short but the schedule is tight — her 15–16-knot cruise is what keeps the margins comfortable where slower hulls have to trim a snorkel stop.

Day 1 — Kelor · Manjarite · Kalong

Pick-up 08:00–09:00 in Labuan Bajo, boarding at the harbor, safety briefing from the crew, then a short steam to Kelor Island. The hill climb is 15 sweaty minutes for a first panorama of the archipelago. Lunch on board en route to Manjarite for the first snorkel — a calm, shallow reef ideal for warming up, water typically 26–28°C. Late afternoon the boat anchors off Kalong Island, where at dusk tens of thousands of flying foxes lift off the mangroves in a river of wings. Dinner on deck; overnight at anchor.

Day 2 — Padar at 05:15 · Pink Beach · Komodo · Taka Makassar · Manta Point

This is the day Malca’s speed earns its keep. Wake-up is early: our lead park guide Andi times the Padar landing for 05:15 so you top the viewpoint stairs — roughly a 30-minute climb — as the sun clears the three-bay ridge. Back on board for breakfast while the boat runs to Pink Beach for snorkeling over rose-tinted sand, then the main event: a ranger-led walk on Komodo Island among the dragons. Afternoon doubles down on the water — the white sandbar crescent of Taka Makassar, then drifting Manta Point, where reef mantas with 3–4-meter wingspans queue at the cleaning stations. Five stops in one day is only relaxed on a fast hull.

Day 3 — Sebayur · return to Labuan Bajo

A final morning snorkel at Sebayur’s reef wall — a gentle sloping coral garden where turtles graze in the shallows — then brunch on deck as the shared fleet brings its hulls home in loose convoy. Malca is usually alongside Labuan Bajo Harbor by early-to-mid afternoon: comfortable timing for late-afternoon flights, though we recommend an evening or next-day departure so the last snorkel never feels rushed.

Park fees — what to budget on top

Komodo National Park fees are never bundled into any boat’s headline price, ours included. Foreign visitors pay entry of IDR 250,000 (~$16) per person per day, ranger trekking fees of IDR 200,000 per group of up to five (IDR 150,000 on Padar), and a small IDR 25,000 harbor fee — budget $40–50 per person across a 3D2N. Note also that from April 2026 the park enforces a 1,000-visitor daily cap for the Komodo–Padar zone via the SiOra reservation system, which is one more reason August dates are booked well ahead. Full current numbers live in our Komodo trip cost breakdown.

Sister Boats

Malca Voyages vs Her Sister Boats

Malca’s closest sisters on the shared calendar are Ayvara and Yumana — same premium tier, overlapping price bands, genuinely different personalities.

Boat	Open trip from (pp)	Charter from (night)	Cabins / guests	Length	Best for
Malca Voyages	$300	$5,300	7 / 21	30 m	Lowest real cabin price in the fleet + fastest hull of the three
Ayvara	$450	$5,500	7 / 15	25 m	Starlink on board + 360° rooftop deck; smaller guest count
Yumana	$330	$5,950	8 / 25	32 m	Biggest capacity of the three; 13,000 L water for long charters

The short version: choose Malca for price and pace, Ayvara if you need to stay connected mid-park or want the rooftop sunset deck to yourself with fewer guests, Yumana if you are moving a big group and want the largest hull. All three sail the same weekly Kelor–Padar–Komodo–Manta Point circuit, so the route is never the differentiator — the boat is. The full 18-boat lineup, filterable by budget and trip type, is on our Komodo boats fleet page.

Booking

Booking Malca Through the Komodo Trip Desk

We are the Komodo Trip desk at Labuan Bajo Harbor, and this is what the booking actually looks like: you send us a date and a cabin preference, Dewi from Guest Experience confirms live availability — usually within the hour during the day, WITA time — and holds the cabin while you confirm. On departure morning our team meets you at pick-up; on board, the vessel’s own crew takes over, with Komodo Trip guides handling the park legs. Our operator Komodo Luxury is rated 4.8/5 from 150+ Google reviews, and every hull on our calendar, Malca included, passes the annual Indonesian maritime safety inspection. Shared-cabin rates include all meals, drinking water, coffee and tea, snorkeling gear, life vests, a licensed guide and trip documentation with drone and GoPro footage — park fees, as above, are the only meaningful extra.

Two practical notes for the trip itself. Bring park fees in Indonesian rupiah cash — card facilities at the ranger stations are unreliable — plus reef-safe sunscreen and a dry bag for the tender runs ashore. And if you are prone to seasickness, take comfort in the season: June through September the Flores Sea inside the park is typically calm in the mornings, and Malca’s beamy 5.1-meter hull sits steadily at anchor. Shoulder-season travelers in November–March should pack tablets for the open-water legs.

Book Malca — Shared Cabin or Whole Boat

Shared 3D2N cabins from $300/person · private charter from $5,300/night. Tell us your dates and group size — we answer with real availability, not a form letter.

Check Availability

Rates checked & page updated: 26 July 2026 · Komodo Trip desk, Labuan Bajo