Orangutans and Dragons

You'll be picked up at your hotel lobby early in the morning and transferred approximately 40 minutes to Sei Gohong. You'll board local canoes to observe orangutans on Pulau Kaja island, managed by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS). Afterward, you'll visit BOS's Education Centre in Nyaru Menteng.

Returning to Palangka Raya harbor, you'll board Rahai’i Pangun for lunch and a short cruise upstream. Then, you'll visit Bukit Rawi and Sigi to see beautifully painted sandungs. Finally, you'll return to the boat to start the downstream cruise and moor overnight.

Note: Please be aware that this itinerary is designed to be flexible. The aim to follow the schedule as described, but due to weather, tides, preferences of trip members, and other factors such as the learning of the opportunity to investigate exciting new discoveries, can sometimes need to change course. The boat captain and your Trip Leader make the decisions to maximize trip safety and your overall enjoyment—come prepared to be flexible!

You'll use motorized canoes in the early morning to visit the extensive Blackwater Lake Bagantung. This is a unique peatland swamp ecosystem where you'll have the opportunity to spot birds, other wildlife, and fishing activities by the villagers.

Returning to the village of Pusaka, you'll learn the local self-defense or shadowboxing exercise. Try it yourself! Returning to the boat, you'll continue the cruise downstream to Tumbang Nusa village. On arrival, you'll have a walking tour of the village to see some of their traditional livelihoods.

The boat will continue to cruise downstream, passing the large forested Selat and Badak Islands, where it may be possible to spot orangutans. Then, you'll find a quiet place to tie up overnight.

The boat continues downstream to the village of Pilang where you take a short walk in the forest area near the village to see the process of rubber tapping (Mamantat) and rattan harvesting (Manetes). Your village guide will highlight some local medicinal plants growing in the forest.

Then, you have a walking tour of the village to see some of their traditional livelihoods. Watch the local ladies at their rattan weaving process and meet the villagers. Over a special tea and coffee, with traditional Dayak cakes, you will be entertained with a Kacapi (two-stringed instrument) performance.

Escaping the heat of the midday sun, you will return to the boat for lunch. The boat will cruise downstream to find a quiet mooring place for overnight.

You'll have a relaxed breakfast before your memorable visit to the Sebangau National Park. For this adventure, you'll pack your bags and take the car to Kereng Bangkirai village. Here, you'll join a canoe to travel a half-hour across the amazing reflections of Lake Sebangau to the tiny Koran River.

Explore the boardwalks and forests on the eastern boundary of the park. You'll visit the information center established there and walk along boardwalks provided for visitors to more easily explore the area to catch sight of birds and perhaps wild orangutans.

You'll return to the village of Kereng Bangkirai for a cool drink for transfer to the vehicle and return to the airport. Upon arrival in Bali, you will be escorted to your hotel for the night.

*Flights from Borneo to Bali are included with the cruise

Taking the early morning flight from Bali, you will be met at the airport in Komodo by your tour leaders and be taken straight to your boat. As you settle into your new home, you will head to our first snorkeling spot, a coral restoration project to see how the corals and fish populations have grown since they were first transplanted in 2014.

Go ashore on Komodo Island, searching for the fearsome Komodo dragons found only in the Komodo National Park. This is the world’s largest lizard, growing up to a length of three meters and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms.

Enjoy some magnificent snorkeling on some of Komodo Park’s best reefs.

Swim with manta rays as they feed on the current and circle the so-called cleaning stations, where small fish remove parasites from their skin.

Snorkel at a favorite hangout of sea turtles, where you can swim with these gentle reptiles as they cruise along the shallow water of the reef.

*Flights from Bali to Labuan Bajo in Komodo are included with the cruise

Wake up off the coast of a beautiful uninhabited island with a beach of pure white sand with some sparkles of powdered red coral, creating the effect of a “pink beach”. You spend the morning here, swimming, paddle boarding, and snorkeling on the beautiful coral reef that lies parallel to the beach. Over lunch, you cruise to a nearby active volcanic island where you see a large wooden pinisi boat with the same pedigree and history of SeaTrek’s very own ships being built on the beach. Walking around this small village, get a feel for their simple way of life, chat with the locals and maybe buy some handmade textiles as a souvenir. Spend the day at a strange and mystical volcanic island with a sunken crater lake in its center that was filled with saltwater when the nearby Mt Tambora catastrophically erupted in 1815. Here you swim, kayak and paddleboard on the lake, and the more adventurous can go trekking around the crater rim. Experience one of the famous SeaTrek beach BBQs under a night sky filled with millions of stars as you feast on the amazing local delicacies prepared by the chef, and all accompanied by live medical entertainment from the talented crew. Another highlight of your visit to the island is the sight of thousands of flying foxes that fly at dusk from the island to feed on the mainland.

*Flights from Bali to Labuan Bajo in Komodo are included with the cruise

You have a chance for an early morning swim with whale sharks, the sea's gentle giants. These massive but harmless animals have long congregated here in the bay, but now, thanks to travelers like you, we have formed a mutually beneficial alliance with the local fishermen who have their traditional small floating fishing platforms in the bay that attract the sharks. Spend the day on a beach on a small limestone island nearby, kayaking, swimming snorkeling, and exploring the local karst formations. You cruise to Labuan Aji village on the island of Moyo to visit the village and walk to a scenic waterfall where you can bathe in the refreshing, cool water.

Enjoy a unique snorkeling experience where volcanic gasses escape in the form of bubbles from the sea floor among the corals, with the metallic black volcanic sand below being home to an abundance of very interesting invertebrates. Entering the Komodo National Park again, you drift snorkeling in one of the best and healthiest coral reefs in the park, and for those who want to take the land adventure to another level, you can do a sunset hike up to a gorgeous viewpoint overlooking the other islands in the park. Visit Rinca Island, well known for its diverse wildlife, and maybe spot dragons, monkeys, wild buffaloes, and deer. From the top of the hills, the scenery is breathtaking.

After breakfast on your last day, we will take you on a scenic drive towards Melo Village, where you will witness the traditional Caci dance performance. Local strongmen perform a ritual whip-fight between two rivals in which the players, each armed with a rattan shield and a whip, will try to hit each other while dancing to the rhythm of traditional acoustic instruments.

After lunch on the boat, we will say farewell to the crew and your fellow shipmates as you disembark and continue to your next destination.