A class on one boat: students in the bunks, teachers in the Masters

A graduation trip by phinisi works when the rooms follow the roles. Students go in the Sharing Rooms, where bunks are the point, and the adults go in the two Master Cabins. This is planning advice, not a rule of the boat, and the boat does not check who sleeps where.

Count it for 20. The three Sharing Rooms take 4, 6 and 4 guests, so 14 students. The two Master Cabins take 3 guests each with their extra beds, so 6 adults or older students. Split the Sharing Rooms by class or by gender. If your trip has more than 14 students, the rest sleep in a Master Cabin beside a teacher.

Every cabin has its own bathroom, its own door and its own air conditioning, so boys and girls can sleep in separate rooms. Send us the split and the written confirmation comes back before any payment.

The cabins page shows the layout room by room. The who-sleeps-where guide gives four ways to split the same 20.

Chaperones: we suggest one adult for every five or six students, and never fewer than two adults aboard. The reason is simple. At a headcount on the tender, one adult stays with the boat while another walks the line, and a single adult cannot do both. This is advice for planning, and the boat makes no claim about supervision.

Spread the adults across the boat. One Master Cabin each keeps an adult close to each side of the bunk rooms, and the extra bed in a Master Cabin takes a third adult.

Give each adult a job. One counts heads at every landing. One walks at the back on Padar. One holds the list of phone numbers and the first-aid kit that the boat supplies. A teacher with a clipboard looks stern, and that is useful.

Agree the rules with the students before sailing, on dry land: the quiet hour, the deck limits, no swimming without an adult. Written rules sent to parents ahead of time save a lot of talk afterwards.

The standard 3D2N works well for a class because every part of the day has a plan.

Day one. Pickup between 10:00 and 11:00 and a sail at 11:00. Kelor gives a hill walk, Manjarite the first snorkel, and Kalong a sunset with bats overhead. Dinner at anchor. Day two. The Padar sunrise climb, then Pink Beach, a ranger walk on Komodo Island, a snorkel at Taka Makassar and a last one at Manta Point. Day three. A snorkel at Kanawa and back at the quay near 12:00.

Pace: the Padar climb takes 30 to 45 minutes. Send the students in two waves, with an adult at the front and an adult at the back. Hold the water break at the top and count heads before the descent.

Bring: closed shoes with grip, a hat, a water bottle each, sun cream and a dry bag for phones. The 2D1N sample suits a school week with two free days, and the 4D3N sample suits a graduation tour with room to spare.

Cost per student comes from the whole-boat fare divided by the headcount. On the standard 3D2N a class of 16 pays IDR 4,060,000 (≈ USD 249) each, and a class of 12 pays IDR 5,000,000 (≈ USD 307) each. A full class of 20 pays the lowest share the boat offers.

The park package per head is paid on top of each share, so add it before you tell parents a total. Tips, flights, hotels and any card fee are outside the fare. A guide or documentation is available on request, quoted separately.

Here the band steps matter to a school. A class of 17 pays the same boat fare as a class of 20, so each of the 17 pays more than each of the 20. If three students are still undecided, tell them where the band sits, because three more friends lower everyone's share.

Collect early, with a receipt per student. A parent who paid in cash and has no note is the oldest problem in school travel, and a sheet with names beside amounts ends it.

Whether a phinisi is safe for students has an honest answer, and it is a list plus a caveat.

The list: life jackets, a life raft, lifebuoys, a fire extinguisher and a first-aid kit are on board, with GPS and radio for navigation and contact. Each cabin comes with a bathroom and AC of its own. A tender takes students to the beaches in turns, and an adult counts heads at each run.

The caveat: the captain decides whether the sea allows a stop. If the swell is wrong, the stops are reshuffled or the boat waits at anchor. Ask us anything your school needs about crew and certificates, early, and we reply in writing ahead of your payment.

Seasickness is likelier than any emergency. Eat lightly, keep to the deck, watch the horizon and take medicine from your own doctor or pharmacist before sailing. Students who can swim should still wear the jacket whenever the tender is moving.