Private phinisi liveaboard · Komodo · Raja AmpatLeyla

Leyla is a traditionally built two-masted phinisi, launched in December 2018 by PT Dreamboat Sukses Jaya; her maiden voyage took her from Tanjung Bira in South Sulawesi to Waisai in Raja Ampat, where she began her first trip. Her operator describes the builders as professionals who had spent almost a decade supervising the construction of wooden charter vessels in Indonesia. She is 33 metres overall, 25 metres on deck and 7 metres in the beam, with a 285-hp Doosan diesel, two Yanmar generators and a watermaker.

Four cabins below deck take ten guests, looked after by nine crew and a cruise director. The forward cabin, Sea Star, is 20 square metres with a queen bed and room for a family of four; Dolphin and Fish have a queen and a single each, and Seahorse a queen. Inside is an air-conditioned lounge, the main dining table is aft in the open air, and a shaded upper deck sits on top. The kitchen blends Indonesian herbs and spices with a Mediterranean influence, and breakfast is a buffet served after the first activity of the day.

She was set up for divers, with a soundproofed compressor room in the bow, separate rinse tanks for dive and camera gear, and two tenders, a 6-metre fibreglass boat and a 4.5-metre RIB. Her operator’s published programme was three dives a day, night dives included, always with one of the boat’s guides. Her Instagram account now lists Labuan Bajo and Raja Ampat and offers private charters and open trips.