Kira Kira

Kira Kira is a 22-metre wooden phinisi for eight divers, built by hand on a beach in South Sulawesi and launched in 2014, running eight-day Komodo trips in the dry season and eleven-day Raja Ampat trips from October to April.

Her hull sits on a double ironwood keel, the body shaped over fires and the ribs cut from bitti timber by the Konjo boatbuilders of Ara, near Bira, over two years. She is crewed by Bugis sailors from the same coast, five Indonesian crew and two Western cruise staff, and owned by Liquid Adventures Indonesia, a small operator that has run the same two routes for a decade.

The boat

Four cabins for eight guests: two twins and two doubles, cut from kendoli and teak, with large beds, portholes, a fan, a wardrobe and a desk, and naturally ventilated rather than air-conditioned. Two shared bathrooms with marine toilets and hot showers. The saloon is a closed room with a communal dining table, a projector and a film and book library; the sun deck above has loungers and a covered area for the heat of the day. She motors at 7 to 8 knots on a 190-horsepower Mitsubishi and sails under a ketch cutter rig of 110 square metres when the wind serves, which in Komodo’s dry season it often does.

The dive deck is covered, with a platform, a camera rinse tub and two Coltri compressors filling 24 eleven-litre tanks; there is no nitrox on board. A 6.2-metre tender with twin 40-horsepower outboards runs the dives and the shore trips. Safety kit is a 25-person life raft, oxygen, four powder extinguishers on each deck and two first-aid trained crew. Kayaks, a wakeboard, snorkelling and fishing gear are on board for the surface intervals.

Itineraries

Komodo, June to September: 8 days, 7 nights, 17 to 18 dives

Boarding is at Labuan Bajo harbour, with a check dive at Sebayur Kecil the same afternoon. Departures run roughly every ten days.

• Days 2 and 3: the Tatawa islands, a night dive at Siaba, then the manta cleaning stations at Karang Makassar.
• Day 4: the dragon walk on Komodo island and the Padar viewpoint.
• Days 5 and 6: Batu Bolong and The Passage at Gili Lawa Darat, then the walls and seamounts of Batu Moncong on the park boundary.
• Day 7: three dives around Gili Lawa Laut, The Cauldron, Crystal Rock and Castle Rock.
• Day 8: one last dive and a slow cruise back to Labuan Bajo.

Raja Ampat, October to April: 11 days, 10 nights, 25 or more dives

Boarding is at Waisai harbour, two hours by fast ferry from Sorong. Departures run every two weeks, with three dives a day and the order set by the current.

• First days: the Dampier Strait, with Mioskon, Blue Magic, Chicken Reef, the Yenbuba and Arborek jetties and the wobbegongs and walking sharks of Lalosi.
• Middle of the trip: an overnight sail to Misool for three full days on No Contest, Boo Rocks, Fiabacet, Wayilbatan and the Four Kings, with a night at anchor in the hidden lagoon.
• The way back: north through Penemu, Melissa’s Garden, Citrus Ridge, Mayhem and Mike’s Point.
• Last day: Blue Magic and Cape Kri, then Waisai.

What is included, and what is not

• Included: all guided dives on the itinerary, tanks, weights and belts, full board with three cooked meals and snacks, drinking water, tea and coffee, shore excursions, kayaks and snorkelling gear and a cruise director.
• Paid in advance, separately: park fees and harbour clearances, IDR 3,000,000 per person for Komodo (about USD 170 or EUR 145) and IDR 4,900,000 for Raja Ampat (about USD 280 or EUR 240).
• Paid on board in rupiah: rental dive gear at IDR 350,000 a day (about USD 20 or EUR 15), canned drinks and beer, and the crew tip, for which the operator suggests IDR 150,000 to 350,000 per guest per day (about USD 10 to 20 or EUR 5 to 15).
• Not included: flights, transfers to the harbour, travel and dive insurance. Dive insurance is mandatory on this boat, and the operator recommends DAN.

Who she suits

Divers who rate the diving and the crew above the cabin. Eight guests means small groups underwater and sites picked on the day, and it means fans instead of air conditioning, shared bathrooms and a boat that puts her sails up whenever the wind allows. The two double cabins make her a good choice for couples. Non-diving companions pay the same rate and get the snorkelling, the kayaks and the islands. Prices are per person in a shared cabin; ask us about a private charter, from four nights in Komodo and eight in Raja Ampat.