Booking a private phinisi from mainland China, Hong Kong or Taiwan: steps and timeline

A booking follows a fixed order, and every step ends with something in writing. This is the order I would walk a friend through.

• 1. Pick two or three possible dates. A private charter of Elrora Liveaboard runs on free dates outside July and August. Those two months are open trips only.
• 2. Write to us on WeChat. Give the dates, the number of guests and the age of every child. Team hours: Daily 08:00–20:00 (WITA).
• 3. Read the quote. The private price is on request. It is written for your dates and confirmed in writing before you pay anything.
• 4. Agree the cabin plan. Six cabins take up to 14 guests. Say who needs which bed and who finds stairs hard.
• 5. Pay the deposit. It is 50 percent of the total, and it secures your date.
• 6. Book flights and check entry papers. Both come after the date is secure, never before.
• 7. Pay the balance 30 days before sailing.
• 8. Send passport details 7 days before sailing, then board.

Most people plan forward from today. A charter is easier to plan backward from the day you board, because the fixed dates all sit behind it.

At 60 days or more, a cancellation returns 50 percent of what you paid. From 30 to 59 days it returns 25 percent, and after that nothing comes back. The balance falls due at 30 days. A booking made inside that window is paid in full at once.

Changing the date is free when you ask 30 days or more ahead. From 14 to 29 days it costs IDR 500,000. Later than that, the change counts as a cancellation. Passport details are due at 7 days.

How early should you start? For a popular month, book 4 to 6 months ahead. The reason is not the boat. It is the park. Reports in September 2026 said the 2026 annual visitor quota was used up, so a popular month can run short of park tickets well before the boat itself runs short of free cabins. No 2027 figure exists yet.

The invoice is in rupiah. You can pay by a credit-card payment link, Wise, Revolut, PayPal, QRIS or a rupiah bank transfer. A card fee appears as a line on the invoice. PayPal adds 7.2 percent.

QRIS works with Indonesian bank accounts and local e-wallets, so most guests abroad choose another route. Wise and Revolut suit a party that holds balances in several currencies. A bank transfer suits someone paying straight from an account.

Do not count on your usual phone wallet. The methods above are the full list. Tell us in your first message which route you hold, whether it is a mainland bank card, a Hong Kong dollar account or a Taiwan account, and we say which one fits.

One habit protects you better than any method. Pay only against an invoice that names the company, the boat, the dates and what the price covers. If a message ever asks you to send money elsewhere, stop and check with us first. Prices include VAT of 11 percent.

Entry rules belong to the passport you hold, so I will only state what I can source. The UK government travel advice was updated on 7 October 2026. It asks for a passport valid 6 months beyond arrival, with 2 blank pages. It also asks for proof of onward travel and the free All Indonesia arrival card, filled in within 72 hours before landing.

A regional immigration office page, updated in November 2025, lists China among 97 nationalities that can use the 30-day visa on arrival. Applying online first, through the official e-visa site only, avoids a queue. Third-party sites charge extra.

For Hong Kong and Taiwan passports, rules differ from the mainland list, and commercial visa pages are not a safe source. Look at the official immigration list for your own document, or ask your airline, before you book flights.

The visa fee was 500 thousand rupiah in the UK advice of October 2026. An increase was announced on 12 August 2026, and we found no start date. Treat the fee as a figure to confirm before you fly.

Most international visitors reach Labuan Bajo by connecting through Bali or Jakarta. Direct flights from Bali take a little over an hour. From Jakarta the block time is 2.5 to 3 hours, according to operator guides we checked in October 2026. Schedules change, so read yours before you buy.

Arrive one day before sailing. A late or cancelled flight is the commonest way to lose the first afternoon, and the first afternoon is paid for. For an open-trip sailing, check-in on board runs from 10:00 to 10:30. A private charter's check-in time is set with your date and confirmed in writing before you pay.

Plan the last day with the same care. It pays. Book flights home after 14:00, so a slow disembarkation costs you nothing. The hotels page lists places to stay before and after the sailing.

Park tickets are a separate cost on every booking. A foreign guest pays IDR 250,000 for entry, and the number of ticket days depends on your route. We confirm it in writing, and the park-fees page explains the rest.

Dates move for ordinary reasons. A school calendar shifts, or a work trip lands on top of the voyage, so the terms above are worth reading before you commit rather than after.

If Elrora Liveaboard herself cannot sail, the replacement-boat guarantee applies. A phinisi of equal or higher standing takes her place on your date at no added charge. If you decline the substitute, you are refunded in full within 14 days.

Weather is a different matter. The harbour authority issues sailing approvals, and it can close routes at short notice. On 6 August 2026 it allowed tourist boats to Rinca only, with Komodo and Padar closed for three days. A closure like that is the sea's decision, not ours or the captain's. Our terms treat such events case by case, so ask what applies to your dates before you pay.

Travel insurance with medical and evacuation cover is recommended for every guest. Buy it when you pay the deposit, not the week you fly.