Majik

Komodo is Majik home region and the cheapest way onto her. Scheduled departures leave Labuan Bajo at 06:00 and run from five days and four nights up to eleven days, with the shorter trips advertised from around USD 3,020 per person and the eleven-night Best of Komodo closer to USD 7,550.

Because diving is inside the rate, the economics here are different from most vessels in the park. Fun dives, Nitrox, tanks and all gear except a computer are included, along with the marine park, harbour and community fees that other operators collect separately at the gate. On a four-night Komodo trip that bundle is worth several hundred dollars a head.

At 2.2 metres of draft she is shallower than the 45 to 55-metre yachts and can work anchorages they cannot. With only eight guests and two RHIB tenders, getting ashore at Padar before the day boats arrive is a matter of deciding to, not queuing for it.

Raja Ampat departures join in Sorong and run long: the published 2026 schedule shows eleven and twelve-day trips covering Central and North, or Central, North and South together, from USD 7,500 to USD 8,580 per person. These sell out well ahead.

This is where the dive setup matters most. Two Coltri Nitrox compressors and an eight-guest maximum means a genuinely low ratio in the water and no waiting for tank turnaround. The photographer desk on board is not decoration either, given how many people come here to shoot.

Rates east of Komodo run slightly higher across the board, both for the whole vessel and per cabin. The gap is small, roughly USD 300 a night on charter, and reflects the relocation rather than a different product.

The Banda Sea and the Forgotten Islands are Majik shoulder-season crossings, joining in Ambon. They are the least frequently scheduled and the most weather-dependent trips she runs.

The diving is pelagic: hammerhead schools on the seamounts, the sea snake aggregation at Manuk, and walls dropping into open ocean. Ashore, Banda Neira still carries the Dutch forts and nutmeg groves that made these islands the original reason Europeans sailed this far.

Be realistic about the passages. A 42-metre hull with a 2.2-metre draft is a shallow, manoeuvrable boat rather than a heavy-weather one, and Banda crossings are long open water. Fine in the right window, which is exactly why the operator does not run them year-round.

The Komodo to Alor route is a one-way crossing east through the Lesser Sunda chain, and it is one of the more interesting things on her calendar because it covers ground most boats skip entirely.

Alor itself sits at the end of the Pantar Strait, where cold water funnelling between the islands produces the visibility and the current the region is known for. Drift entries are normal. The muck sites hold species Komodo does not have, and with eight guests the dive plan can actually flex to conditions.

The land half is the reason to come as much as the reef. The hill villages above Kalabahi still weave and still hold ceremonies on their own terms. Expect a genuine expedition rather than a park loop.

The Lesser Sunda and Komodo to Sumbawa itineraries run west out of Labuan Bajo, and they are the least-known part of Majik programme. The published 2026 schedule includes an eleven-day Komodo to Sumbawa round trip built specifically around whale sharks and mantas, from USD 7,550 per person.

Sumbawa is the draw. The bagan fishing platforms in Saleh Bay hold whale sharks year-round, and unlike Cenderawasih this is a half-day steam from Komodo rather than a separate expedition to West Papua. Satonda crater lake and the volcanic coast fill out the rest.

These trips suit people who have already done the Komodo loop and want the next thing without committing to a Raja Ampat flight. Departures are occasional, so dates need checking early.