Different groups, one boat, the same arithmetic

One thing never changes. Arfisyana is one wooden phinisi with 5 cabins and up to 20 guests, sold only as a whole-boat private charter. Nobody joins your party, and you do not join anyone else's, which is the whole point of booking the boat whole and keeping the group together from the first headcount to the last.

The fare follows your final headcount, in five bands: 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16 and 17-20 guests. The standard 3D2N route is the same for everyone. The one-day, 2D1N and 4D3N routes are sample routes, finalised with the captain by weather and flights.

So are the inclusions. Crew, meals, water, snorkel gear, towels and pickup come with the boat on every route. The fare leaves out the park package per head, tips, flights, hotels and alcohol. Guide and documentation come only if you ask for them, and carry their own quote.

Say it once to your group. It holds for every page that follows, from the smallest class to the full 20, and it saves a dozen messages later.

Pace comes first. A fit team takes Padar in 30 minutes and asks for more. A family with a grandmother and a four-year-old takes 45, stops at the first viewpoint and calls it a win. Both are fine. The captain and the leader set the day to the slowest comfortable walker.

Rooming is the second. The two Master Cabins suit teachers, chaperones, elders or a parent with a small child. The three Sharing Rooms, with bunk beds for 4, 6 and 4, suit classes, teammates and cousins. They are bunk rooms, so a couple wanting privacy should read the fit check first.

Then comes the paper, which is where trips are won or lost. A school wants a name list and a letter. A company wants an invoice and a deposit schedule. A family wants one cousin to hold the money. Tell us who signs. We write the quote for that person.

This boat takes 20, so a bigger party needs a word with us first. Send the headcount and dates before you plan the rooms, and we tell you what can be arranged.