New for 2024 departures, Indonesian expedition cruise operator, SeaTrek Sailing Adventures has significantly enhanced its signature Whales Sharks, Corals and Dragons itinerary, increasing the length of the trip from eight to nine days as well as starting and ending on the exotic islands of the Komodo National Park.

Still featuring all the highlights of the original cruise, this new itinerary, which will be available from April 2024, is a significant upgrade and will have the added advantage of doubling the amount of time guests spend exploring the Komodo National Park, from two to four days.

It will offer even greater opportunities to get off the beaten track to sail in places few visitors get to see and experience, such as a live volcano, a freshwater caldera, a swim in a jungle waterfall on the island of Moyo, and to relax and play on a picture perfect pink sand beach on the desert island of Gili Banta, as well as swim and snorkel with magnificent Whale Sharks, Sea Turtles and Manta Rays.

Snorkelling sits at the heart of the SeaTrek experience, and guests can expect to get in the water at least once a day to snorkel for hours on the magnificent coral reefs that line the entire route.

Sailing aboard a choice of two traditional, UNESCO-heritage Indonesian wooden pinisi sailing ships, with either 6 or 12 cabins, in addition to spotting Whale Sharks guests can expect a series of unique wildlife opportunities from a ranger-led walk through Komodo’s dry, rugged landscape in search of dragons to snorkelling on some of the Komodo Park’s best reefs among thousands of colourful fish and giant manta rays. Guests will see conservation in action at a coral restoration project and snorkel at a favourite hangout of sea turtles, swimming with huge numbers of these gentle reptiles as they cruise along the shallow water of the reef.

Guests will spend a full day on Satonda Island, an extinct volcano with a sunken crater lake in its centre, (following the eruption of Mt Tambora in 1815). Guests can swim, kayak and paddleboard on the lake, or go trekking around the crater rim. In the evening, guests will enjoy the traditional hospitality of the all-Indonesian crew with a beach BBQ and party and witness the nightly ritual of thousands of flying foxes as they leave their forest home on Satonda to forage on the mainland of Sumbawa.

The cruise also visits a nearby active volcanic island of Sangean where guests can go ashore to see a large wooden pinisi boat with the same pedigree and history of SeaTrek’s very own ships, being built on the beach. There’s the opportunity to meet and chat with the local people in their small village, seeing their simple way of life, and maybe buying some handmade textiles as a souvenir.

On the mainland of Flores there will be further opportunities to meet local people on a visit to Melo village where guests will witness a traditional Caci dance as local strongmen perform a ritual whip-fight each armed with a rattan shield and a whip, whilst moving to the rhythm of traditional acoustic instruments.