(Agustina Siringoringo/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures) 
(Paul Thompson/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures) 
(Tim Jolly/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures) 
Joshua Edwards/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures The journey that stays with you
“We sail beyond the familiar, into remote seas and lesser-known shores. Adventure unfolds naturally, one island and encounter at a time. If this way of traveling speaks to you, we’d love to hear from you.”
(SeaTrek Sailing Adventures)SeaTrek with Whale Sharks, Corals & Dragons 2028
Largest Fish, Legendary Animal, and Unique Culture
Overview
Overview
SeaTrek with Whale Sharks, Corals & Dragons is a 10-day, 9-night small-ship cruise that starts and ends in Komodo National Park, eastern Indonesia. Aboard a traditional pinisi, you will trek with Komodo dragons, swim with whale sharks and manta rays, help restore a coral reef and spend time in the villages of Flores and Sumbawa.
This is a journey through the volcanic heart of Indonesia’s Ring of Fire. Over millions of years, shifting tectonic plates have pushed these islands out of the sea. They sit in Wallacea, the meeting zone between Asian and Australian wildlife that the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace first described. The result is a place where land, sea and people are unusually tightly linked, and every day of this cruise shows you another connection.
Cruise Highlights
Cruise Highlights
Meet the dragons. Trek the hills and forests of Rinca in search of wild Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizard. Listen to early-morning birdsong in dry tropical and monsoon forest.
Stand on a living volcano. Go ashore on Sangeang, an active volcanic island, and see how new land is colonised by forest on its slopes and coral below the waterline.
Swim with whale sharks. Share the water with the world’s largest fish and learn how local fishers and these gentle giants have come to share the same bay.
See symbiosis in action. Watch manta rays circle reef “cleaning stations”, where small fish remove parasites in a partnership that benefits both. Swim with sea turtles along the shallows.
Help restore a reef. Join the coral restoration project on Hatamin Island, build your own coral rack and place it on the seabed.
Discover living traditions. Visit fishing, farming and boatbuilding villages, see wooden pinisi ships built by hand using the UNESCO-recognised art of pinisi boatbuilding, and watch the Caci whip dance of the Manggarai people.
Play on pink sand. Swim, kayak and paddle from remote beaches whose pink colour comes from the fragments of tiny red reef organisms.
Watch the sky fill with flying foxes. At dusk, thousands of giant fruit bats leave their island roosts to feed on the mainland, carrying seeds and pollen as they go.
Your First Snorkel: Equipment Check and Beach Introduction
Your First Snorkel: Equipment Check and Beach Introduction
Your first time in the water is gentle and unhurried. Soon after boarding, your tour leaders run an equipment check with every guest. They fit your mask so it seals without leaking, adjust your fins and show you how to clear water from your snorkel.
We then take the tenders to a calm, sandy beach for an introductory snorkel in shallow water. You walk in from the shore, find your rhythm at your own pace and get used to floating face-down, with a tour leader alongside. Flotation vests are available for anyone who wants one. Along the way, your guide points out the basics of reef life: corals, the fish that shelter in them and the clean water they need. By the time we snorkel from the boat, you will feel at home.
Snorkelling with SeaTrek
Snorkelling with SeaTrek
Whether it’s swimming with whale sharks and manta rays, or gliding along a tropical reef surrounded by fish and coral, snorkelling lies at the heart of what we do at SeaTrek. We do it well and we do it often, usually twice a day for an hour or more at a time. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned pro, our tour leaders will make sure you have everything you need for some of the best underwater experiences of your life.
The More You Know, the More You See
The More You Know, the More You See
Our tour leaders know these islands deeply. Before each activity, they give short on-board talks that explain what you are about to see and why it matters: how volcanoes build islands, how coral and algae live as partners, how the bats that fly over the boat at dusk keep the forests growing, and how the communities we visit depend on healthy seas. They are also your cross-cultural bridge to the people we meet, so ask them to translate any time you want to talk with local Indonesians.
Be Prepared to Be Flexible
Be Prepared to Be Flexible
Our aim is the best possible experience in the conditions of the day. Weather, tides and local factors sometimes mean we vary from the published route. At other times, special opportunities arise to explore new places, events and activities. These changes are always made to enhance the trip and are discussed and agreed with guests. The captain and your tour leader make the final decisions on safety and enjoyment, so please come prepared to be flexible.
Want to Add a Wildlife or Cultural Excursion?
Want to Add a Wildlife or Cultural Excursion?
Our four-day orangutan cruise from the Orangutans & Dragons itinerary can be added to any SeaTrek cruise, whatever its length or location. Just let us know and we will arrange it. We can also suggest other destinations and wildlife or cultural excursions across Indonesia. All you have to do is ask.
Indonesia Through Indonesian Eyes
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does the Whale Sharks, Corals & Dragons cruise start and finish? It starts and ends in Komodo National Park. Guests are met at Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo, Flores.
How long is the cruise? Ten days and nine nights aboard a traditional SeaTrek pinisi.
Do I need to be a strong swimmer or experienced snorkeller? No. Every guest has an
equipment check and an introductory snorkel from a calm beach on the first day, and flotation vests are available.
Will I definitely see Komodo dragons and whale sharks? Dragons are seen on almost
every Rinca visit. Whale sharks are wild animals and sightings are likely but not guaranteed.
What will I learn on this cruise? Tour leaders give daily talks on volcanic island formation, reef ecology, symbiosis such as coral–algae partnerships and manta cleaning stations, and the cultures of Flores and Sumbawa.
Can I take part in coral conservation? Yes. On Hatamin Island you build a coral rack and
place it on the reef as part of an active restoration project.
Can I add an orangutan trip? Yes. SeaTrek’s four-day orangutan cruise in Borneo can be
added before or after this trip.
Cruise Itinerary
Days 1 & 2 – Arrival, First Snorkel, Coral Restoration and the Dragons of Rinca
This 10-day itinerary moves from the volcanic islands of Sumbawa to the reefs of Komodo National Park, following one thread: how land, sea and people depend on each other. Each pair of days builds on the last, ending with a return to the reef restoration project to see what has grown.
You will be met at Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo by your tour leaders and taken straight to your ship. After settling into your home for the week, we run an equipment check and head to a calm beach for an introductory snorkel from the shore, so you can find your feet in the water before we snorkel from the boat.
Get hands-on at a coral restoration project. Learn how the fragmenting process works, where small pieces of healthy coral are used to grow new colonies. Attach your own fragments to a coral rack and place it in the water to grow.
Go ashore on Rinca Island in search of wild Komodo dragons. The world’s largest lizard grows up to three metres long and about 70 kilograms, and is found in the wild only in this corner of Indonesia. Your guide will explain how, as the top predator on these islands, dragons shape the whole savanna ecosystem.
At dusk we anchor off a small mangrove island to watch thousands of flying foxes leave their roosts and fly to the mainland to feed. These giant fruit bats pollinate flowers and spread seeds across the islands, helping the forests regrow.
Days 3 & 4 – Fire and Water: Sangeang Volcano and Moyo's Forest
Go ashore on Sangeang, an active volcano rising straight from the sea. Here you see the Ring of Fire at work: fresh volcanic land, forest taking hold on its slopes and a colourful coral reef growing just offshore, where we snorkel. We also visit the local village to see how people farm the rich volcanic soil.
Enjoy one of our famous SeaTrek beach barbecues under a sky full of stars, with local dishes prepared by our chef and live music from our crew.
Go ashore on forested Moyo Island and travel inland to a rainforest waterfall, where you can bathe in its cool pools. It is a chance to see how forest catches and holds the rain that feeds the island’s streams and, ultimately, the reefs.
Days 5 & 6 – Whale Sharks, Buffalo Racing and a Crater Lake
Swim with whale sharks, the gentle giants of the sea, in Saleh Bay. These plankton-feeding sharks gather around the bagans, traditional floating fishing platforms whose lights draw in the small fish they eat. Learn how local fishers, the sharks and responsible visitors now share the bay, and how tourism gives fishing families a reason to protect them.
Visit a Sumbawan village and watch the age-old tradition of buffalo racing, as local men drive their prized animals through a muddy rice paddy.
Spend a day at Satonda, a volcanic island with a salt-water crater lake at its heart. Walk to the lake’s edge and snorkel the reef outside, comparing two very different water worlds on one small island.
Days 7 & 8 – Boatbuilders, Pink Sand and the Cleaning Stations
Visit a village where boatbuilding lies at the heart of the culture. Large wooden pinisi ships, like our own vessel, sit along the shore in various stages of construction, built by hand using the UNESCO-recognised art of pinisi boatbuilding. Meet the builders and learn how their knowledge of wind, wood and sea passes between generations.
Spend a relaxing half day on an uninhabited island with its own pink beach. Swim, sunbathe, wakeboard and snorkel a rich coral reef, and learn where the pink comes from: fragments of a tiny red reef organism mixed into the white sand.
Re-entering Komodo National Park, we drift snorkel some of the park’s healthiest reefs. Swim with sea turtles as they cruise the shallows, and with manta rays as they feed in the current and circle cleaning stations, where small wrasse remove parasites from their skin. It is one of the clearest examples of mutual benefit in nature.
Days 9 & 10 – Snorkelling a Restored Reef, Gili Lawa Sunset and the Caci Dance
Snorkel the Hatamin Island coral restoration project and see what can be achieved when like-minded people come together to solve a problem. Swim among racks placed over the years and see how restored coral brings fish and life back to the reef. Your guide explains how corals live in partnership with the microscopic algae inside them, and why that partnership breaks down when seas warm.
Enjoy a drift snorkel at Gili Lawa Darat, in the north of the park, then hike to the viewpoint for sunset over the islands.
After breakfast on our final day, take a scenic drive to Melo Village to see the Caci dance of the Manggarai people. In this ritual, two performers armed with a whip and a rattan shield take turns to strike and parry, dancing to traditional music.
We say farewell to the crew and your fellow shipmates as you disembark and continue to your next destination.
George Karbus/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures
WowBorneo/SeaTrek Sailing Adventures