LASHA Komodo Itinerary: 3D2N Day-by-Day Route

Three days and two nights is the shape most Komodo charters should take, and the reason is arithmetic. The park's marine area alone spans roughly 159,172 hectares; its headline sites sit on different tide windows; and the two experiences guests remember longest — sunrise from Padar's ridge and a drift over Manta Point on a running tide — happen at opposite ends of the day. A day trip forces choices. The 3D2N makes none. Here is the route as LASHA actually sails it, drawn from the published LASHA Komodo itinerary, day by day.

One caveat that the charter desk will give you anyway: on a private charter the itinerary is a framework, not a script. The captain reads tide tables and park regulations, and moves the schedule around them. What never gets traded away is the golden hour — most evenings LASHA anchors west-facing, and the late afternoon belongs to the open-air jacuzzi on the top deck.

The route at a glance

Day 1: Labuan Bajo to Rinca, and the Kalong dusk

Boarding is 09:00 in Labuan Bajo — civilised, not the pre-dawn scramble of a day charter. The morning is spent under way into the park while the crew runs the safety briefing and cabins are claimed; with 10 ensuite cabins in four categories across four decks, groups usually settle allocation in the first hour (the cabins page shows what each category buys).

The afternoon belongs to Rinca. The ranger-led trek at Loh Buaya is the quieter of the park's two dragon stations, and licensed guides are mandatory under park rules — LASHA arranges them as part of the day. By late afternoon the ship moves to the Kalong anchorage: a mangrove islet whose flying foxes stream out at dusk in ribbons that last twenty minutes. Dinner is served alfresco with the show overhead, and the night ends in the jacuzzi under a sky with no light pollution in any direction.

Day 2: Padar sunrise, Pink Beach, and the dragons of Loh Liang

This is the postcard day, and it starts at 04:45. The tender runs sunrise climbers ashore in the dark; the ±800-step staircase gains roughly 200 metres to the ridge viewpoint, and the light arrives over Padar's three differently coloured bays while the boat waits below with a big breakfast. It is the single most photographed view in the park, and dawn is when it belongs to you rather than the crowds.

Mid-morning the ship shifts to Pink Beach, anchored close enough that swimmers reach the sand from the stern. The colour is real — red-shelled foraminifera mixed through white coral fragments — and the snorkelling off the beach is a genuine session, not a photo stop. After lunch on the upper deck, LASHA crosses to Komodo Island for the afternoon dragon trek at Loh Liang, the park's flagship station. Two dragon treks on two islands in two days is deliberate: sightings are wildlife, not theatre, and doubling the attempts is how a serious route handles that honestly.

Day 3: Manta Point on the tide, then the sandbar home

The last morning is timed by the current, not the clock. Manta Point is a drift snorkel — guests enter up-current and the tide carries them over the cleaning stations where mantas typically hold at 10–20 metres. December through March is the plankton-rich manta peak, but the site produces year-round. A short run away, the crescent sandbar of Taka Makassar surfaces at lower water; the captain pairs the two stops precisely because the same tide window serves both.

Then the long sail home: lunch under way, the park sliding past, and Labuan Bajo by late afternoon. From roughly October–November through February–March the whole route pivots south toward the sites around Nusa Kode, trading a little rain for the manta peak — same ship, same structure, different anchorages.

The rhythm aboard between the stops

What the table cannot show is the texture of the days. Coffee appears on the sun deck before first light for anyone awake to want it. Meals are full-board, prepared on board, and served where the light is — brunch under sail, dinner at anchor. The late afternoon is protected: the captain positions LASHA west-facing most evenings, and the hour in the jacuzzi as the light turns gold is the fixed point every route is drawn around. With up to 26 guests across a 52.5-metre, four-deck ship, the ratio of deck space to people means nobody queues for a lounger.

What the 3D2N costs

The 3D2N sails on LASHA's Komodo multi-night band: $770 per guest per night leisure or $750 with diving, from 14 guests at a two-night minimum — whole boat from $10,800 per night, with park entrance at $25 per guest per night charged separately. Smaller groups charter the whole boat at the 1–14 guest rate; larger groups climb a published ladder that includes free-of-charge places from the fifteenth paying guest. The complete tables, every group size, are on the rates page.

Day trip, 2D1N or 3D2N: which format fits

The 1-Day charter (max 16 hours, $500 per guest, from 20 guests) is the sampler: Padar, Pink Beach and a Loh Liang dragon trek between a dark-hours departure and a 21:00 return. Choose it when the calendar gives you exactly one day — corporate groups and cruise-ship connections use it hard. It works year-round because it stays central.

The 2D1N flagship ($900 per guest per night, from 14 guests) is one perfect loop: every headline site, one sunset at Kalong, one Padar-adjacent dawn, no rushing. Choose it when you want the full experience but the schedule cannot give up a third day. It is at its best in the April–October dry season — June–September departures sell six to twelve months out.

The 3D2N is the all-season answer and the one this article maps: Rinca joins the route, the snorkel stops multiply, and there is time to simply be at anchor. Choose it when the trip is the point of the holiday rather than an excursion inside one. Groups wanting longer roll the same program toward Alor, Sumbawa, Lombok or Bali — or east to the five-night expedition band covered on the liveaboard page.

Whichever format you take, it books as a private whole-boat charter through one door — details on the Komodo charter page.

Frequently asked questions

Draft your route with the charter desk

Send your dates and wish-list stops, and the desk will draft a day-by-day route around the tides. Every LASHA Phinisi Cruise reservation is handled end-to-end by Komodo Luxury, the vessel's official operator: WhatsApp +62 811-3823-875 or [email protected] — replies within WITA office hours, usually under an hour.

⚓ This guide is part of the journal of LASHA Phinisi — the 52.5-metre luxury phinisi sailing Komodo National Park and Raja Ampat. Official booking only via lashacruise.com · WhatsApp +62 811-3823-875 (Komodo Luxury).