Sleep ashore first, step aboard rested

Flights into Labuan Bajo land late, land early or get moved, and an open-trip departure, shared with other guests, leaves at its own hour regardless. The advice for every voyage is therefore short: arrive the day before you sail. With a night ashore, a delayed flight becomes an inconvenience rather than a lost morning.

That night also buys the small things no timetable makes room for. Dinner in town without watching the clock. A last look through the bag, so that trail shoes, a hat, sunblock and any medicines are where your hand expects them. Cash for the crew's tips, which no fare includes. And a proper night's sleep before a 09:00 start.

None of this is required. It is simply the order we would suggest: land, eat, sleep, board.

Within Labuan Bajo, the transfer between your hotel or Komodo Airport and the harbour is included in the fare, in both directions. There is nothing to pay at the door and no taxi to find.

The driver waits in the lobby at the time we have agreed with you. The open trip meets from 09:00 to 09:30 and leaves the quay from 10:00 to 11:00. For a private charter the hour follows your flights, so a party landing at breakfast time is not asked to be on the quay at dawn.

Prepared before you arrive

• A driver for the run from hotel or airport to the harbour on arrival, and again for the return at the end.
• A pickup time written in your WhatsApp thread, with the driver's contact shared before the day.
• Your hotel's name and your party size on record, so the driver asks for the right people.

On a 3D2N voyage the boat is back at Labuan Bajo harbour around 12:00 on the last day; on the open trip, the voyage ends between 12:00 and 13:00. The drive to the airport or a hotel is included. Book a flight home after 15:00 and there is time for lunch, a shower and the drive.

If you fly the next morning, a bed in town is the simple answer. Reserve it before you sail, especially in July and August, and give us its name so the driver knows where to go. For a late-afternoon flight, ask your hotel whether it will hold your bags after check-out; we cannot promise that on any hotel's behalf.

On the full day, the 2D1N and the 4D3N, the return time follows the route and the weather. We confirm it in writing before you travel, and you choose your flight against it.

The airport, the hotel and the harbour will each want to know who you are. The answer is the same in all three places, and you need give it only once. Send us your arrival day, flight times, chosen hotel and the size of your party in a single WhatsApp message.

We pass those details to the driver, who becomes your one contact for the day, so nothing needs repeating at reception, at arrivals or on the quay. If a flight changes, tell us in the same thread and the pickup moves with it.

Send your passport or ID details at least seven days before sailing, as the booking terms ask, and bring the document itself on the first morning.

The host's note. Keep your passport or ID, sunblock and a hat in the bag you carry, and the rest in the case the driver loads. Every cabin has a safety box, so valuables can go straight into it.