Sumbawa liveaboard cost: published rates and what they leave out

By Sumbawa Liveaboard Editorial Desk

Sourced figures: prices in the table are published by the operators and guides named, with source and check month. They are not our offers, and they change. Nothing here is legal or medical advice.

A Sumbawa liveaboard has no single market price. Operators publish per-person rates for specific boats and routes, from an eight-day Bali round trip to a 15-day snorkelling crossing, and you can read those rates in the price table on this page. Park fees, Nitrox, rental gear and tips often sit outside them, so compare inclusions before totals.

How much do published Sumbawa liveaboard trips cost?

The figures are in the price table on this page. The text around it explains what each figure buys, because a rate without its route, cabin and source tells you very little. Four trips anchor the table, and each is a different kind of Sumbawa liveaboard.

Figures stay in the currency each source uses: euros, US dollars or rupiah. We do not convert them, since a conversion would add an exchange rate of our choosing to someone else's price. We also print no average, because four unlike trips would average into a number that describes none of them.

Each row has a fuller page behind it. Neptune One is covered in the Bali to Komodo crossing guide and Mermaid II's stop in the Saleh Bay whale shark liveaboard page. Programmes with no published rate sit in the 4D/3N guide. La Galigo ties price to season, so read the best time for a Sumbawa liveaboard alongside this page. Divers should add the diving guide, and Moyo and Satonda have pages on what those stops involve.

None of these rates is an offer from this site, and the boats and dates belong to the operators named. Use every row as a starting point and verify it on the source page, since rates can move after the month shown beside them.

Why do rates differ so much between boats and routes?

Five things move the figure, and only some of them show on a rate card.

• Cabin. Mermaid II appears twice in the table, lower deck and deluxe, on the same eight-day trip. Setting one boat's deluxe cabin against another boat's lower deck says nothing useful about either boat.
• Type of trip. A snorkelling voyage with seven cabins for 12 guests, a dive crossing and a shared boat between Lombok and Labuan Bajo answer different needs. Their rates cannot be ranked against each other.
• Rate wording. A "from" rate is the entry point of a listing. Ask which cabin and which date it refers to before you treat it as your price.
• Season. La Galigo, a liveaboard operator, treats April to November as high season: the sea is calmer and the prices climb. It gives no figure for how far they climb.
• Inclusions. This is the one you can test in a single email, so it gets the next paragraph.

On one trip, Komodo Resort puts the en-suite cabin, transfers, the scheduled dives with their tanks and weights, all meals and snacks, basic Starlink and snorkelling gear inside the rate. Another seller can draw that line somewhere else, and a lower headline rate can turn out dearer once the missing items return as extras. Our guide to what a Sumbawa liveaboard rate includes goes through those lists line by line.

How does trip length change the total?

La Galigo's cost guide sorts Sumbawa trips into three usual lengths: 4 days, 7 days, and 8 to 10 days when the boat makes an extended crossing. The trip rates in the table sit at 4, 8, 10 and 15 days. The table holds no published rate for a seven-day trip, and multiplying a guide's daily tier would only invent one.

Length also changes the total unevenly, because extras are charged on different bases:

• By the day: equipment rental and Nitrox in La Galigo's estimates, and the crew tip guide from Komodo Resort. These grow with every extra day.
• By the trip or flat: marine park and conservation fees in La Galigo's estimate, which vary by itinerary, and Tiger Blue's flat per-person park fee. These do not grow day by day in the same way.
• By percentage: a common global tipping guideline, cited by La Galigo, of 5 to 10 percent of the trip price. A dearer cabin raises it.

One-way trips carry a further cost that no rate card shows. Neptune One and Naga Biru start and finish in different places, so your flight home leaves from a different airport than the one you landed at. The guide to Sumbawa liveaboard routes shows which published trips are one-way and which return to their start.

To estimate a total from one operator's answer, work through these steps:

1. Take the rate for your cabin and your departure date.
2. Add park and conservation fees on the basis that operator uses.
3. Multiply any rental and Nitrox day charge by your diving days.
4. Add the crew tip on the basis the operator suggests.
5. Add flights and any hotel nights before and after the boat.

Keep to one operator's figures throughout. Mixing estimates from different sources produces a total that nobody has offered you.

Which costs usually sit outside the quoted rate?

Komodo Resort's list for one trip is the clearest single example: drinks, Nitrox, rental gear, the supplement for a single cabin, and park and port fees all stay outside the rate. The table below adds what other sources say about each item.

When you learn about a cost matters as much as its size, so ask for the excluded list in your first message. The guide to hidden costs on a Sumbawa liveaboard explains how late those items can surface. The two tip methods above can also give very different answers on the same trip, which is another reason to ask the operator what it expects.

Payment dates shape your risk too. Tropical Snorkeling collects its money in stages: a first deposit, two more at the 12-month and 6-month marks, then the remainder three months out. Treat that as one organiser's schedule and not a norm. On a trip booked far ahead, your money can be committed long before the sea conditions are known.

How should you read a daily rate from a cost guide?

La Galigo's guide sets out three tiers, budget, mid-range and luxury, as per-day estimates for 2026 and 2027, each with its own row in the price table on this page. They give a rough sense of where a quote sits, and little more. Read them with four cautions.

• The author sells liveaboard trips. The tiers are an operator's estimate and not a market survey.
• A tier has no boat, date or cabin attached. It cannot be set against a published trip rate, and multiplying it by a number of days does not produce a quote.
• The budget tier disagrees with itself. The guide's table gives a per-day figure while its text gives a lower per-trip range. We print only the per-day figure and do not use it as a budget total, so check the guide itself if that tier matters to you.
• The labels belong to the guide. A boat's own quote and inclusions list will tell you more than a tier name.

If someone quotes you a daily rate, ask how the days are counted. A trip sold as eight days has seven nights, and the first and last days may hold little of the programme. Ask for the trip total on the same basis as the published rates, then read the exclusions.

Who issues an offer if you ask this desk?

This desk answers questions about published trips and takes requests. The site itself is not a contracting party, and the rates in the table are not ours to quote. Should a request become an offer, note that brokerage, central agency, charter marketing and commercial representation contracts are issued by PT Komodo Bahari Nusantara. Any fee and payment terms would be set out in that offer, and only that document binds anyone. Nothing on this page reserves a boat, a date or a cabin.

Our interest is plain: a request sent here may end in a contract with that company. So test our offer the way you would test any other. Put it beside an operator's published page and compare the cabin, the date, the currency, the excluded costs, who collects the park fees, and when each payment falls due.

Which questions come up about cost?

What factors influence the cost of a Sumbawa liveaboard?

Cabin class, trip length, route, season and the inclusions list move the figure most. One boat can show two rates for the same trip depending on the cabin, and La Galigo says prices rise from April to November, without giving a figure for the gap.

Is there a published rate for a seven-day trip?

No, not among the rates printed here. La Galigo names seven days and six nights as a typical length, but the trip rates in the table cover other lengths. Ask an operator for a written quote on that length.

Are park fees included in the rate?

Not always. Komodo Resort leaves park and port fees out of one trip and Tiger Blue says its marine park fee is not included, whereas Sumbawa Tour's private programme counts an entrance fee among its inclusions. Ask each seller directly.

Is tipping the crew expected?

Yes, according to Komodo Resort, which calls it customary and publishes a per-day guide. La Galigo cites a different method based on a percentage of the trip price. Both are third-party norms and neither is a rate of ours.

Does the rate cover Nitrox?

No, not on Komodo Resort's list, which excludes it. La Galigo's guide treats it as an extra as well, so assume you will pay separately until an operator states otherwise in writing.

Which sources support this page?

• Mermaid Liveaboards, 8-day Komodo and Saleh Bay itinerary
• Komodo Resort, Sumbawa liveaboard page
• Tropical Snorkeling, West Komodo and Sumbawa trip page
• Asik Travel, Komodo tour from Lombok guide
• La Galigo Liveaboard, Sumbawa cost guide
• Tiger Blue, Sumbawa destination page
• Sumbawa Tour, 4D/3N programme page
• EcoPro Divers: Komodo to Sumbawa

How do I reach the desk?

Tell us the route or islands, the month, the cabin you want and the number of guests, and we will reply on what can be established. WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or email bd@juaraholding.com. The contact page explains what to include.