The “Alila Purnama”: Sailing, Diving and Oh My, Komodo Dragons!

Scales glinting, this Komodo dragon looks, well… stoned.

We’re cruising Indonesia on the Alila Purnama.

Today we’re taking a break from diving Komodo National Park – we’re ashore on a Komodo island tour looking for the island’s fearsome dragons.

Komodo Island tour on our Indonesia cruise

But whoah, when it starts to move, spitting out its menacing tongue and throwing its body from side to side, with its powerful muscular tail snaking behind, it’s another story.

“Dragons run fast, up to 12 mph,” warns Tasrif, our ranger-guide as he hustles us out of its way.

Curiously, Tasrif has no gun, just a large forked stick which he holds at the ready.

But no one fancies being the animal’s next meal. 

So we cautiously walk around this specimen and continue our hunt for more sightings – the infamous dragons are found only on Komodo and neighboring Indonesian islands.

Meet the stylish Alila Purnama

Sailing Indonesia on the Alila Purnama to Komodo National Park offers a host of surprises and thrills, of which the dragons are just one.

Indeed, one of the biggest surprises is how luxurious a bespoke sailing ship experience can be (and very different from the other cruises we’ve enjoyed).

Built as a phinisi

Other sailing-style ships like the Star Clipper offer Indonesia cruise itineraries that include Komodo Island.

But the Alila Purnama (translated, the “Full Moon”) is much smaller. 

Launched in 2012, she was hand-built in the style of a traditional phinisi.

These two-masted ships were originally used by the Bugis seafarers plying Indonesian waters in days gone by, trading in bird-of-paradise feathers and other exotic goods.

All polished teak and rattan, with billowing camel-colored sails, the Alila Purnama is a 150-foot beauty.

Staterooms

Though nautical in feel, her five staterooms could be mistaken for stylish hotel rooms.

(Singapore-based Alila Hotels and Resorts manages the yacht; we stayed at the luxurious Alila Villas Uluwatu just before our Indonesia cruise.)

The feature queen-size beds, 400-thread count linens, mother-of-pearl mosaic tiled showers and individually-controlled air-conditioning.

And oh the goodies we discover!

Pillow-soft bathrobes and slippers, a wicker beach bag, sunhats and sarongs, a yoga mat and a huge wooden box filled with lemongrass body lotions, after-sun cooling gels and face mist.

Daybeds on deck

Up top, on the sweeping bow deck, there are cushioned double daybeds under parasols for each couple to lounge on (iced cappuccinos anyone?).

Library

There’s lots of space for privacy too, even a small library with books on the colorful local sea life.

Service

Most important, the service onboard is first-class.

In no time at all, the Indonesian waiters know each guest’s individual preferences for drinks, coffees (double shot? extra foam?) and teas, which magically appear at each meal before anyone can ask.

If this is sailing, sign us up!

Flying to Komodo Island

Our voyage starts with a 95-minute prop flight from the island of Bali over a sprinkling of velvety green islands, ringed by different shades of turquoise ocean.

Indonesia is a vast archipelago of over 17,000 islands (1,000 inhabited), so we’ll only be sailing Komodo and a few other select islands.

In Labuan Bajo on Flores island – a tiny speck of a town with tin roof houses and feisty chickens scurrying across red dirt roads – we transfer to the Alila Purnama, anchored in the bay.

Barefoot luxury on our Komodo liveaboard

Over lunch around the massive dining table, we meet our six fellow guests – a Singapore-based couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary, two French women friends and a honeymoon couple from Mexico City.

Diving Komodo

Over the course of our cruise, divemaster Johnny and our cruise director Mario (also a master dive guide) take us out on up to three dives a day, even a night dive.

Our eyes pop with the underwater sights we see diving Komodo National Park.

We explore garden upon garden of candy-colored corals in wonderful and weird shapes – lilac fingers, monster brain coral and yellow heart valves.

Bug-eyed garden eels peek out from their sand holes.

Blue-spotted stingrays coast by, and enormous sea cucumbers shaped like Styrofoam boxes rest on the sandy bottom.

Yellow-and-black striped Moorish Idols, their graceful dorsal fins fluttering behind them, nibble away.

One site we dive – Castle Rock – is a colossal coral-encrusted pinnacle rising to 13 feet underwater, rated one of the world’s 10 best dive sites.

Here, Mario expertly guides us during a lull between normally strong currents into a fish superhighway.

We’re engulfed by more sea life than we’ve ever gaped at in our lives – enormous schools of silvery jackfish, white-tipped reef sharks, slow-cruising turtles, lionfish, fat puffer fish, even a pair of lacy, superbly camouflaged, leaf scorpion fish.

Each time we clamber back into the zodiac, we’re handed fluffy towels.

Minutes later on our luxurious Komodo liveaboard, we’re welcomed back with glacier-cold facecloths and fresh papaya-and-mango or orange-and-carrot juice.

One of the 16 staff always starts helping us off with our wetsuits.

“Sit, please sit!” we’re cajoled, and the neoprene is peeled off us while we snack on smoked salmon appies.

Diving has never been so pampered!

Non-dive activities on the Alila Purnama

Sometimes we join in the non-diving guests’ activities – like kayaking (the Alila Purnama carries its own sea kayaks), snorkeling and going for a spin on the “doughnut” inflatable, pulled behind a high-speed boat.

Indonesia beaches

On a couple of occasions, discreet hands set up cushions under umbrellas on deserted islands.

They haul over coolers of sodas (and face mist too) – so we can lie back and revel in the awesomeness of being the only ones on a strip of talc-white sand, with no other souls in sight.

Hiking

One afternoon, we all scramble up an islet’s rocky cliffs for a sunset view of the islands below and Mount Sangeang (“mountain of spirits” in Balinese) in the distance.

The volcanic mountain sits in Indonesia’s notorious Ring of Fire.

Thankfully, its spirits are feeling kindly toward us and the mountain slumbers in peace for us. (We hear later it blew its top shortly after our visit.)

Komodo Island trip

And then, in the sweltering heat, we arrive at Komodo for our walk through the nature park.

After the initial excitement of our first dragon, we spy a couple more resting in the bush.

About 50 to 60 intrepid visitors set foot on the island each day to look for the dragons (over 1,800 call the island home).

Tasrif tells us one dragon is occasionally fed so it stays close to the ranger hut, guaranteeing expectant visitors at least one sighting.

Back at the landing site, the biggest danger we face is parting with our souvenir money.

Michael, the shrewd trader from Singapore, shows interest in the “real” black pearl necklaces going for $10 or less, and we’re all mobbed by a crowd of skinny young men hawking carved dragons and other local artefacts.

Of course, a two-foot wooden dragon finds its way into our suitcase.

Alila Purnama cruise farewell

Our last evening brings a special surprise.

Instead of dinner onboard, a motorboat takes everyone to a beach, where the staff have created a restaurant in the sand for us.

At the urging of his staff, Mario picks up a guitar and sings.

We join in too as best we can – we’ve all become family over this week and can’t believe this sailing adventure must soon come to an end.

Details: Sailing Indonesia on the Alila Purnama

Rates

Unlimited scuba diving, activities and meals are included in the rates (but not alcohol).

Flights

You have to make your own way to Flores island, a 95-minute flight from Bali.

We’ve flown EVA Airlines a couple of times now to Asia. They fly to Bali via Taipei, and we’ve found their ticket prices and service to be good. See our Eva Air review.

Where to stay before or after your cruise

Alila Hotels and Resorts, which operates the Alila Purnama, also manages several luxury boutique resorts in Indonesia, India and Oman, including the oh-so-deluxe Alila Villas Uluwatu.

We stayed here right before our cruise. (See our review of this deluxe hotel.)

For more information on the Alila Purnama

See the Alila Purnama website.

---

If you like this post, then save it on Pinterest!

---

---

Photo credits: 4, 6 to 12, 14 to 17, 21 to 26 © Janice and George Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase | Remaining photos Alila Purnama (except where noted)

---

We were hosted as media guests aboard the Alila Purnama. But all views and words are entirely our own.

---