40 m premium phinisi · 7 en-suite cabins · 20 guests · dedicated dive deck — weekly shared departures & private charter from Labuan Bajo
Neptune Cruise is a 40-metre premium phinisi liveaboard sailing Komodo National Park round-trip from Labuan Bajo, carrying 20 guests in seven en-suite cabins with a dedicated dive deck. Shared 3D2N cabins run from $610 per person; whole-boat charter from $8,900 per night. Book via the Komodo Trip desk — operated by Komodo Luxury since 2015.
Neptune Cruise Komodo bookings cluster into three profiles. Couples take the Mansard suites for the private balconies and sea views — at $850 per person on a shared 3D2N they cost less than many whole-cabin upgrades on smaller boats, and there are only two of them, which is why they sell out first in July–August. Families and groups of four to eight split the four Deluxe cabins at $610 per person, keeping everyone on the same deck. And certified divers book her because she is one of the few phinisis in the shared fleet with a dedicated dive deck — guests searching for “Neptune liveaboard Komodo” or “Neptune liveaboard diving” almost always mean this hull. If diving is the whole point of your trip, our Komodo diving liveaboard guide maps which sites fit a 3D2N window and which need a longer charter.
The vessel sails in the premium tier of the fleet our operator manages — Komodo Trip is operated by Komodo Luxury since 2015 — so cabin allocation, crew rosters, and charter dates reach our Labuan Bajo desk directly from the fleet calendar rather than through a chain of resellers. For market context: shared 3D2N cabins in Komodo start from $220 per person on budget-to-mid phinisis and run $350–600 mid-range, which places Neptune firmly in the premium shared band. Our Komodo boat trip overview explains what separates those bands in practice.
Every Neptune Cruise Komodo enquiry that reaches our desk eventually comes down to the same two questions — what do the cabins actually look like, and is the balcony real? The photographs below answer both. They show the hull you board at Labuan Bajo Harbor: the two top-deck Mansard suites with their queen beds and private balconies, the Junior Suite on the main deck, the four Deluxe cabins, and the indoor dining room and lounge where the karaoke sessions happen after the day-two dragon trek. No renders, no stock photography — if a cabin photo shows a balcony rail, that cabin has a balcony rail.
Reading the set top to bottom: Mansard I and Mansard II first (the suites couples reserve months out), then the Junior Suite, the Deluxe class, the en-suite bathrooms with hot showers, and finally the shared spaces — indoor dining and the lounge. What the interiors do not show is the deck plan that makes this hull work: a 40-metre length with only seven cabins leaves genuine open space on the sundeck and a dive deck that is a purpose-built platform, not a cleared corner of the stern.
These are the figures on the operator’s sheet. One honest caveat: some agent listings describe the Neptune phinisi as 38 metres, and one aggregator shortens her name to “Neptune yacht” — she is a two-masted Buginese schooner, a traditional gaff-rigged phinisi, not a motor yacht, and the operator lists her at 40 metres. Where sources disagree, we print the operator figure and flag the variance instead of guessing.
| Specification | Neptune Cruise |
|---|---|
| Vessel type | Traditional phinisi (Buginese schooner), premium class |
| Length × beam | 40 m × 8 m |
| Cabins | 7 — 2 Mansard suites (top deck), 1 Junior Suite, 4 Deluxe |
| Guest capacity | Up to 20 with extra beds; 14 at standard double occupancy |
| Cruising speed | 6–10 knots |
| Engine | W Marine 8D16 |
| Fresh water | 10,000 L |
| Dive facilities | Dedicated dive deck; snorkeling gear and life vests included |
| Shared spaces | Indoor dining room, lounge with bar & karaoke, sundeck, outdoor dining |
| Trip formats | Shared 3D2N open trips; private charter 2D1N–7D6N |
| Year built | Not published on the operator sheet — we leave it blank rather than guess |
| Home port | Labuan Bajo Harbor, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara |
Two numbers worth understanding before you compare quotes. The 6–10 knot cruising speed is normal for a wooden schooner of this displacement — the park anchorages are 1–4 hours apart, so speed matters less than sea-keeping. And the 10,000-litre fresh-water tank is the quiet luxury: it is what lets seven cabins run hot showers for three days without rationing, something the 5,000-litre boats in the same price band cannot promise in high season.
All shared-departure prices below are per person on the 3D2N open trip, straight from the 2026 fleet rate sheet, and every figure is a “from” rate. Each of the seven cabins has air conditioning, a private en-suite bathroom, a queen bed, and a sea view.
Two top-deck suites, each with a queen bed, private balcony, en-suite bathroom, and direct sea views. Extra bed from $410. The cabins guests ask for by name — and the first to go in the dry-season and Christmas windows.
One cabin with queen bed, private balcony, and en-suite bathroom. Extra bed from $410. The sensible middle: suite comforts without the top-deck rate, roughly $120 per person under the Mansards.
Four cabins, each with queen bed, private balcony, and en-suite bathroom. Extra bed from $310. Same comfort basics as the suites — the difference is deck position and floor area, not amenities.
In rupiah terms those cabin rates convert to roughly IDR 10–14 million per person for the 3D2N. Private charter takes the whole boat from $8,900 per night (about IDR 145 million), with routes from 2D1N up to 7D6N and the itinerary rebuilt around your group — the per-person economics start to beat two Mansard suites once a party passes ten guests. Park fees are never inside either number; see the fee breakdown under the itinerary below, or our Komodo trip cost guide for the full budget math.
The core product is the shared 3D2N open trip — you book a cabin, the boat fills with up to 20 guests, and departures run weekly year-round on the fleet’s published 2026 schedule, with both weekend and weekday sailings. Day-one pick-up is at 09:00 from your Labuan Bajo hotel or the airport. If you are comparing shared formats across the whole fleet, our open trip Komodo page lists every boat running scheduled departures. The next blocks on the calendar:
One shared 2026 calendar covers the fleet; per-boat availability inside each block is confirmed at booking, so send your dates before locking flights. The private charter route is the other half of the story: honeymoon parties, family reunions, and dive groups take the whole hull from 2D1N to 7D6N, reorder the stops, and set their own pace. Charter guests get the same crew, the same galley, and a route plan built around what the group cares about — more dive time, more beach time, or a second run at Padar without the crowds.
| Month (2026) | 3D2N shared departure blocks |
|---|---|
| July / August | 31 Jul–2 Aug · 7–9 · 14–16 · 21–23 · 28–30 Aug |
| September | 4–6 · 11–13 · 18–20 · 25–27 |
| October | 2–4 · 9–11 · 16–18 · 23–25 · 30 Oct–1 Nov |
Only two Mansard suites per departure — send your dates and cabin class for same-day confirmation from the Labuan Bajo desk.
This is the route the shared departures actually run — times from our own trip logs, not a brochure.
Boarding at Labuan Bajo Harbor after the 09:00 pick-up. First anchorage is Kelor Island for a short, steep ridge walk and a first snorkel on the fringing reef, then Manjarite’s coral gardens after lunch on board. By 17:30 the boat is anchored off Kalong Island for the dusk spectacle — tens of thousands of flying foxes streaming out of the mangroves as the light drops.
The big day starts at 05:15 with the Padar ridge climb — 35 to 45 minutes to the saddle viewpoint before the heat builds. Pink Beach follows mid-morning for snorkeling over the red-sand shallows, then Komodo Island itself for the ranger-led dragon trek. The afternoon covers Manta Point — a drift snorkel when the current allows — and the white sandbar of Taka Makassar. Divers on board typically log their tanks at Manta Point and the Sebayur walls, coordinated from the dive deck.
Sunrise snorkel at Sebayur around 06:30, breakfast on the crossing, and alongside in Labuan Bajo by roughly 11:00 — early enough to make Komodo Airport departures after 14:00. Private charters can push deeper into the park on longer routes: 5D4N and up adds the northern sites and a second dragon trek on Rinca.
Park fees are never included in cruise fares — ours or anyone’s. Foreigners pay IDR 250,000 (~$16) park entry per day, IDR 200,000 per group of up to five for the ranger trek (IDR 150,000 on Padar), and an IDR 25,000 harbor fee; divers add IDR 25,000 per day. Budget $40–50 per person across a 3D2N. Since April 2026 the park enforces a 1,000-visitor daily cap for Komodo–Padar through the SiOra reservation system — our desk locks your slots the moment a booking is confirmed.
Neptune’s closest sisters in the premium shared fleet are Elbark Cruise and Naturalia. The honest comparison:
| Boat | Shared 3D2N | Charter | Cabins / guests | Length | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune Cruise | from $610/pp | from $8,900/night | 7 / 20 | 40 m | Divers + most space per guest |
| Elbark Cruise | from $400/pp | from $8,400/night | 9 / 21 | 37 m | Widest cabin-price spread |
| Naturalia | from $400/pp | from $7,800/night | 8 / 24 | 33.45 m | Families — 4-guest cabins with occupancy-band pricing |
The decision logic our desk gives repeat guests: pick Elbark if budget flexibility matters — her nine cabins run $400 to $700, so a mixed group can spend differently and still share one boat. Pick Naturalia for family cabins that sleep four with per-occupancy pricing. Pick Neptune when the dive deck, the 40-metre deck space, or a balcony suite is the point — every one of her seven cabins carries a private balcony, which neither sister can say. All three sail the identical 3D2N route on the same park calendar, so the boat — not the itinerary — is the real choice. The full fleet is side by side on our Komodo boats page.
Between anchorages, the boat splits naturally into quiet and loud halves. The quiet half is the sundeck and the cabin balconies — every one of the seven cabins has its own — where most guests watch the crossings. The loud half is the lounge, where the bar and karaoke set come out after dinner; on a full shared departure of 20 guests it turns into the most social room in the anchorage. Meals are served in the indoor dining room or at the outdoor dining area on deck, with drinking water, coffee, and tea available all day and included in the fare.
Purpose-built dive platform at the stern; snorkeling sets and life vests for all 20 guests are included in the fare, not billed as add-ons.
The crew shoots your trip on drone, GoPro, and mirrorless cameras and hands over the raw files — a paid extra on many boats, standard here.
Indoor dining room, outdoor deck dining, and a lounge with bar and karaoke — the three shared spaces the gallery above shows as they are.
Two of those facilities are the ones guests ask our desk about most when comparing quotes: the included photo-video documentation and the included snorkeling gear. Both matter to the real price of a trip — when a cheaper boat bills drone footage and gear rental separately, the gap to Neptune’s $610 entry rate narrows fast.
The name causes real booking mistakes, so let us be precise about it.
Neptune One is a different boat. It is a dive liveaboard sold mainly through international dive platforms, with its own operator, its own schedule, and day-rate pricing aimed at certified-diver groups. Neptune Cruise — this page — is the 40-metre premium phinisi running shared 3D2N Komodo trips and private charters from Labuan Bajo. If a quote you received talks about dive packages priced per day on an international booking engine, you are looking at Neptune One; if it lists Mansard, Junior Suite, and Deluxe cabins, it is this vessel. Check the exact name on any quote before you pay a deposit.
There is a third: King Neptune, a separate 46-metre superyacht-class vessel in the same operator’s fleet, sailing in a much higher price bracket. It shares a fleet, not a hull. When in doubt, send the quote to our desk on WhatsApp and we will tell you in one message which of the three boats you are actually holding dates on.
We arrange this vessel through our Labuan Bajo booking desk, and the mechanics are worth stating plainly: Komodo Trip is the booking desk, Neptune Cruise sails in our operator’s premium fleet, and you pay the published cabin rates from the fleet calendar — no markup layered on top. What the desk adds is speed and cabin intelligence: availability confirmed on WhatsApp at +62 811 3823 875, usually within two hours between 08:00 and 21:00 WITA; SiOra park slots reserved under the 1,000-visitor cap the moment you confirm; cabin-position requests — top deck for the view, lower deck for light sleepers — passed straight to the crew; and a one-message straight answer if you are torn between Neptune and a sister boat. A deposit holds the cabin; the balance settles before boarding. Dry-season pattern to plan around: Mansard suites go first in the July–August window and again over Christmas–New Year, often four to six weeks out.
Shared 3D2N cabins from $610 per person · whole-boat charter from $8,900 per night · park permits handled by our desk.
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