Inside the Arfisyana phinisi: 5 cabins and 20 berths for a group, counted

This is a cabin-by-cabin count from the boat's record. I worked from the boat's cabin list, two travel listings that agree with it, and the boat's own photographs, 44 frames that I sorted room by room by the beds they show.

Where the photographs and the list agree, I write it as fact. Where they do not, I say so, and I tell you what to ask us to confirm in writing. That is the only honest way to describe a boat I know from the outside in.

The nameplate on the hull reads ARFISYANA INDAH in the photographs. She is a wooden phinisi of 29 m, with a beam of 5.15 m, and she cruises at 7 to 9 knots. I count three levels in the aerial photographs: cabins in the hull, a covered saloon on the main deck, and a sun deck on top.

Headcount, as listed: 5 cabins, 18 standard berths, 20 with the extra bed in each Master Cabin.

Both Master Cabins show a double bed, a wall air-conditioner, a teak floor and a long window with sheer curtains. One has a patterned sofa-bed under the window. The other has a glazed door that opens to the side deck.

The en-suite bathroom in the photographs is compact: a toilet, a hand shower and a small sink with a mirror. There is no separate shower cubicle in any frame I have.

Each Master sleeps 2, and 3 with an extra bed on request. Ask us how the extra bed is set up, and have the answer in writing, before you put a third person in either Master.

For a group these are the cabins for the teachers, the elders or the two couples. They are the only rooms on Arfisyana with a single double bed and no bunk.

The Sharing Room for 4 has one double-width bunk: a double bed below and a double bed above, with a ladder. The photographs show a white marble-look wall, a curtained window and a wall air-conditioner.

The Sharing Room for 6 has two bunk columns either side of a wooden post. One is wide, a double bunk, and one is narrow, a single bunk. Six berths in all. Like every cabin on the boat, it is air-conditioned, and three listings agree on that.

The Third Sharing Room has an L-shaped bunk that runs along two walls, upper and lower, with a ladder and a wall air-conditioner. It is listed for 4, and 4 is the number we plan with.

Bathrooms: the list gives every cabin a private bathroom. I have photographs of the bathrooms of the Masters and the third room, not of the 4- and 6-berth rooms. If that matters to your group, ask for a photo before you pay. Ask for bed sizes in centimetres as well, and we send them in writing.

The main deck holds one covered saloon that serves as dining room and lounge. Two long wooden tables with cushioned benches run down the middle, under a varnished timber ceiling, with a serving counter at one end. The sides are open to the water, with roll-up blinds.

Cushioned benches also line the saloon rail. It is the spot for a briefing in the shade.

The top deck is artificial turf, round woven rugs and bean bags in yellow, blue and pink, set in front of the wheelhouse. The listings add lazy chairs. For 20 guests at sunset it is the room everyone will want, so bring the group up in turns if you need a photo of all of them.

A chef cooks all meals on board. Drinking water, tea and coffee are part of the charter. I did not find a photograph of the galley.

The listed safety equipment: life jackets, a life raft, lifebuoys, a fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit. For navigation, GPS and a radio. A tender speedboat takes the group ashore for the landings.

Two questions I would add for a group. How many child-size life jackets are aboard, if you bring children? And how many guests does the tender carry per run, so you know how many trips it takes to land 20 people on Padar before sunrise?

The Wi-Fi is a local modem, and the signal depends on where the boat is. Satellite internet is not promised, so do not plan a video call from the anchorage.

A count is only useful once you put names against it. Here is how this layout takes three kinds of group.

• Company team of 20: the two managers and four colleagues in the Masters, extra beds included, so 6 there; then 4, 6 and 4 in the sharing rooms. Every berth filled, including both extra beds.
• Family of 16: grandparents in one Master, a couple in the other, the cousins and their children across the three sharing rooms with 2 berths to spare. No extra beds needed.
• Study group of 16: two teachers, one in each Master, and 14 students in the sharing rooms. The free places in the Masters, two on the double beds and two on extra beds, can take more adults.

Notice what decides every plan. It is the double bunks, not the cabin count. In the 4-berth room and on one side of the 6-berth room, two people share each double berth, upper or lower. Friends and siblings will not care. Colleagues may.

I would rather you learn that from a page than from the ladder at 22:00 on the first night.

Here is my list, in the order I would raise it on WhatsApp.

• The two extra beds in the Master Cabins, confirmed in writing for your date.
• Photographs of the bathrooms in the 4- and 6-berth rooms.
• Bunk widths, if your group includes tall adults sharing a double.
• Which deck each cabin sits on, for anyone who dislikes stairs.

None of these changes the count above. Each changes how you share out the rooms.