Private luxury phinisi · Komodo · Raja AmpatOracle

The Oracle was built on a beach at Bira, in Sulawesi, by carpenters working in ironwood and teak; construction began in 2017 and she was launched in July 2019. She belongs to Blue Karma and was designed with the same attention to detail as its three boutique hotels, to offer, in the operator’s words, ‘the experience of a floating villa’. She is 35 metres long on a 7.5-metre beam, with a 420-hp Yuchai engine and a top cruising speed of twelve knots.

She takes six guests at most, in three en-suite cabins on three decks. The upper-deck suite has panoramic windows, blackout blinds and a private balcony; the second suite repeats its layout on the main deck and adds a private alfresco terrace; both have king-size beds with latex mattresses and their own projector. The Luxe Room on the lower deck has a double bed. Shared space runs to a 36-square-metre living room with a bar, a 19-square-metre sundeck and a canopied foredeck.

A crew of ten looks after them: a cruise director, captain, chief officer, two engineers, two private chefs, two sailors and a spa therapist. The rate includes meals, local beer and soft drinks, national park fees, Starlink, up to three massages a day shared between the guests, and use of dive gear for certified divers, two paddleboards, two double kayaks, water skis and a mini wakeboard; a six-metre, 150-hp speedboat serves as tender. She is chartered privately, from Labuan Bajo for Komodo and from Sorong for Raja Ampat, with a handful of expeditions to Alor, the Banda Sea, the Spice Islands and Wakatobi.