Natural 001 Phinisi Editorial DeskShort answer. Pack light and soft. A soft duffel (cabins have no room for hard cases), rupiah in cash because there is no ATM in the park, reef-safe sunscreen, a head torch for the pre-dawn Padar climb, and trail shoes. The boat supplies towels, snorkel gear, water and, on the charter fleet, buoyancy vests.
Three days on a wooden boat in the tropics needs less than people bring. The constraint is cabin storage, not baggage allowance — phinisi cabins are beautifully built and genuinely small.
The list that matters
| Category | Bring | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bag | One soft duffel or dry bag, 40–60 L | Hard shells do not fit under a phinisi berth and cannot be stowed flat |
| Money | IDR 2–4 million in cash per person | Park fees, gratuities and anything ashore. No ATM inside the park |
| Sun | Reef-safe mineral sunscreen, wide-brim hat, UV rash guard | You are on an open teak deck at 8° south. The rash guard beats reapplying |
| Feet | Trail shoes or trainers, plus flip-flops | Padar and the dragon trek are stepped, dusty and unshaded. Decks are barefoot |
| Light | Head torch | The Padar tender leaves in the dark around 05:00 |
| Clothes | 2 swimsuits, quick-dry shorts, 2–3 light tops, one long-sleeve, one light layer for night | Nothing dries in a cabin; two swimsuits means one is always dry |
| Health | Personal medication, motion-sickness tablets, plasters, after-sun | Boats carry a first-aid kit; they do not carry your prescriptions |
| Insects | Repellent | Kalong is a mangrove anchorage and dusk is mosquito hour |
| Tech | Power bank, waterproof phone pouch, charging cable | Cabin sockets vary and shore power does not exist. Signal is patchy to absent |
| Optional | Own snorkel mask, reef gloves, dry bag for the tender | A leaking rental mask ruins a manta drift more than anything else on this list |
What the boat provides varies by vessel. On the charter fleet, towels, snorkel gear, buoyancy vests, drinking water and meals are standard — confirm yours before you duplicate.
What you do not need to bring
Towels, beach towels, snorkel gear, fins, drinking water, hairdryers, and in most cases a wetsuit if you are snorkelling — north and central Komodo runs 26 to 29 °C. Divers heading to southern sites in the June-to-September upwelling, where water can drop to 21–25 °C, are the exception and usually bring or hire a 5 mm suit.
Also leave behind: anything valuable you would be upset to lose overboard, and shoes with soles that mark a teak deck.
The cash question
Worth its own paragraph because it catches people every trip. There is no ATM inside Komodo National Park and card acceptance ashore in Labuan Bajo is limited outside hotels. Park entry under PP 36/2024 is IDR 250,000 per foreign visitor per visit, gratuities are cash, and anything you buy on the last morning in town is cash. Draw more than you think you need before you board.
| Cash line | Typical allowance per person, 3D2N |
|---|---|
| Park entry (foreign visitor, PP 36/2024) | IDR 250,000 per visit |
| Crew gratuity | IDR 300,000–1,000,000 |
| Drinks beyond the included bar | IDR 500,000–2,000,000 |
| Town, transfers, last-day extras | IDR 500,000 |
Gratuity and drinks figures are planning allowances from operator practice, not fixed charges. Park entry is the legal tariff.
Packing for children
Add: rash vests with long sleeves, a spare pair of shoes, a hat with a strap, and their own properly fitting mask. Boats carry child buoyancy vests on the charter fleet, but sizing runs out at the small end, so tell the operator ages and weights at booking rather than on the day. The rest of the family detail is in the family phinisi guide.
How much space do you actually have?
Depends entirely on the cabin. A master with a proper wardrobe and a superior on the lower deck are different propositions, and cabin layout is the thing most worth reading before you pack rather than after — the cabin types guide sets out what each grade gives you. The universal rule holds either way: soft bag, and it gets stowed flat under the berth the moment you unpack it.
What changes if you are diving?
A diving itinerary rewrites about a third of the list, and the biggest change is thermal. North and central Komodo sits at 26–29 °C and a 3 mm suit is comfortable. The south is a different ocean: the June-to-September upwelling pushes water down to 21–25 °C with a sharp thermocline, and visibility drops to 10–20 metres against 15–30 in the north. If your itinerary goes south, bring or hire 5 mm, plus a hood if you feel the cold.
The other additions are current-related. Komodo has genuinely strong sites — Castle Rock and Crystal Rock run 4–5 out of 5, Shotgun likewise — and a reef hook is standard equipment rather than an accessory at those sites. Carry a surface marker buoy and know how to deploy it; drift diving in a channel with boat traffic is exactly the situation it exists for.
- Certification card and logbook, digital copies as backup
- Your own mask and computer — the two pieces of hire kit most likely to spoil a dive
- Reef hook and SMB with a spool
- 5 mm exposure protection if the south is on the plan; 3 mm otherwise
- Dive insurance that covers the depth and current profile you are actually diving
Ask your operator which sites are realistically on your itinerary before you buy anything. A 3D2N staying north needs far less than a 6D5N reaching Manta Alley.
Questions people actually ask
Do I need to bring a towel?
How much cash should I take?
Can I bring a suitcase?
Do I need a wetsuit?
Is sunscreen provided?
What about power and charging?
Check dates and hold a boat
Ask what your specific boat already carries before you buy anything — most of this list is already on board. Bookings, cabin plans and current rate sheets are handled by Komodo Luxury, the Labuan Bajo operator behind this fleet since 2015.
WhatsApp +62 811 3823 875 · Email sales@komodoluxury.com
Figures quoted here are published operator rates as read on 1 August 2026 and move with season, fuel and exchange rate. Ask for a written quote before you transfer a deposit.