SeaTrek Sailing for Good Program Recognized at Azure Road’s Best Impact Awards 2026

Awarded under the Sustainable Journey category

By Widya Hapsari

Earlier this month, SeaTrek was awarded the Most Sustainable Journey Operator by Azure Road, a sustainability-focused travel and lifestyle platform that spotlights people, place, and operators redefining conscious living through rigorous editorial vetting.

Receiving this recognition brought us back to the coastal communities that have welcomed us warmly and befriended us since the very beginning of our voyage. Communities that openly shared their culture, their way of living, and their deep knowledge of the place they call home, the same place that shaped our sailing identity.

How Sailing for Good Translates on the Ground

We found shared values with Azure Road that exploration should build tourism structures with a better impact, and that partnering with communities elevates the experience on the voyage. Here is what those shared values look like for SeaTrek:

– The Pinisi as Our Foundation

Built by the Konjo tribe and recognised by UNESCO as national heritage, the pinisi inspired SeaTrek to bring this tradition to a wider audience through tourism.

– 100% Indonesian, by Design

SeaTrek is proud to work with a 100% Indonesian crew and tour leaders. Most of the crews have been with SeaTrek for many years. They carry the appreciation of their homeland, heritage, and love to share it with the guests.

– Appreciating the Local Heroes

On shore, we work with local people as knowledge holders, inviting them to showcase their own neighborhoods. They are the local heroes championing wildlife protection and cultural continuity. Our goal is to show guests Indonesia the way Indonesians see it.

– Transparency as Daily Practice

On one of my Sorong–Sorong trips last year, a guest commented on our SFG program after I shared the story of an unsuccessful mangrove planting initiative in Raja Ampat. Rather than questioning our commitment to community-based conservation, the guest asked deeper questions about what went wrong. That moment captures what Sailing for Good looks like in daily practice: transparency.

– Guests as Part of the Journey

Two community libraries have been established in Aduwei and Inosota villages, celebrating a literacy event in Inosota, all of which are made possible by the support of our guests. Guests have also helped us distribute marine-related educational books, reading glasses, and children’s swimming goggles to remote coastal villages.

What This Recognition Means for SeaTrek

Azure Road’s Impact Awards are guided by what their team calls North Star values, modelled on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Categories span wildlife ecosystems, community support, carbon footprints, gender equality, and more.

Their assessment focuses on how companies are genuinely shaping a more responsible travel, food, drink, and lifestyle industry. To be included on that list, among innovators quietly doing the hard work, feels meaningful to us.

This is meaningful because it is proof of a collective effort, the crew, the coastal community, and the guests who travel with intention and purpose. It is meaningful because we have been quietly and patiently building toward a better future of tourism, one that does not just visit these places but helps regenerate them. Thorough it all, we simply tried to listen to the local people, to what they have shared with us, and to let that shape the way we sail.

The Sustainable Journey category in particular speaks directly to the heart of what SeaTrek stands for. We want our boats to be a platform for exploring the sea with care, and for leaving something better behind for the communities, ecosystems, and people we encounter along the way.

A Collective Momentum

Azure Road put it well: a rising tide lifts all boats. That list reflects the collective momentum of people building a more thoughtful and transparent culture across travel and lifestyle.

This recognition belongs to every guest who has chosen to travel with intention, every crew member who makes responsible sailing a daily decision, and every community that has welcomed SeaTrek onto their shores.

SeaTrek has been sailing for good for 27 years, and there is still more to build, more to learn, and more of Indonesia’s ocean to explore responsibly.

Thank you for always Sailing for Good