Travass Life — Local services in Flores

We went on a 5-day cruise on a large boat Alfatran. Expectations did not match reality. 1. Food. Everything was very poor, little, not tasty, they do not know how to clean shrimp from intestines, everything is spicy. They cut everything with one knife, first garlic, then watermelon, the taste and smell are amazing. In the salad we found short black hairs, no meat, in 5 days they gave chicken meat 2 times for dinner, something more like soy. For 29 people they boiled only 29 eggs, and 1-2 pieces of sausage for breakfast. If you want to lose a couple of kilos during the trip, then this is the place for you. It is not clear why they cook so terribly not tasty, just disgusting. Locations. Very long transfers. The first day was very eventful, the other two days were just sitting on the boat, instead of the beach indicated in the program, it was snorkeling for 30 minutes a day. Not very interesting places for snorkeling, poor. The guide could have come up with something more interesting. Cabin. Large, but terribly dirty! It felt like it had never been cleaned. There was a lot of short blond hair on the bed linen, there was a lot of sand, hair, dirt on the floor and shelves, I wiped everything with wet wipes in order to feel at least some cleanliness and brighten up my stay. The bed linen was not the first freshness, perhaps someone had slept on it earlier, but the team said that everything was changed. Towels were delivered on the day of arrival on the boat, but not at 7 pm, but at 11 am, so it is better to have your own. The boat. It's big, but there's not much room for our 29 people to relax. About 12 people could fit on the second deck under the awning, which was removed on the 3rd day, but we had to fry in the sun because we didn't want to sit in the cabin. There's no internet on the boat either, we were told to use local SIM cards, which had no connection, which meant there was no internet. 5. The guide. The biggest disappointment of the entire program. The guide is just a name. The guy only likes to sleep, hide skillfully, and crack sunflower seeds. He didn't go with us on the landings (he only visited 2), he didn't hold briefings (telling 15 guests that tomorrow we'll wake up at 5 a.m., and then not conveying the information to the other 14 is a failure), he doesn't give a damn about his job, and he probably doesn't get paid enough. Maybe I don't know the work of guides in this country, even though I work in the same position, but this guy didn't give a damn about anything. Total disappointment, absolutely nothing to tell about stops, what to take with you for landing, horror. This person's name was Nanda. Also, be prepared for the boat to leave the port when it is convenient for the captain. We were supposed to leave at 19:00, I understand everything, they said now is low tide, we are waiting until 01:00 at night for high water. My husband went to the store, since we were allowed to leave the boat until this time and quickly buy what we needed. The boat began to leave the port at 23:00, fortunately my husband managed to run up, but the boat had already unmoored, be prepared that no one will check how many people are on board. And also watched the process from 7 pm, how they poured water, how they brought in packs of beer for sale and wait for the very laundry that will bring clean towels, but in the meantime you sit dirty and sweaty! Do I recommend choosing this trip? I think the trip is absolutely not worth the money, you can get to the neighboring islands on your own and take your time to see everything. Maybe with other trips for 2/3 of the night things are much better, but so far...

Booked a 2n 3D boat cruise with my wife. We stayed in the master bedroom of boat 21, “Segara”

The crew is fantastic and welcoming. The tour is good, some of the best snorkelling spots to see. The flying foxes at dusk was a very unique and surreal experience. The food was very good and made fresh by the onboard chef. I do have my reservations about the Komodo island. Short and simple, they sedate the dragons so they don’t move, and tourist can take pictures with them.

As for the 3 stars, the boat needs some serious work. Supposedly it commissioned in 2022, but feels much older. Biggest issues is the leaking water from the bathroom on the upstairs deck. Both the master and superior rooms have showers, unfortunately the water does not drain and seeps through the cracks and drips out of the light socket in the below deck. We were told to try and avoid taking a shower after the issue was noticed… I’m sure it wasn’t the first time.

Secondly is the dripping AC into the bathroom. I slipped once on the tile, since the whole floor is wet from the AC dripping into it. You cannot use the toilet without feeling it dripping. Folks in the lower deck also had the AC dripping onto their bed, which made for a wet sleep..

Thirdly are the locks for the balcony doors and master bedroom door. They have simple latches that don’t lock. All it takes is a few waves, and the door will swing open. It was a common occurrence to waking up to an open door in the middle of the night. We pointed out the broken handle on our first stay, was told not worry about it….

Fourth, the boat is not suited to accommodate 12-14 people. The common areas like the top deck can only sit 10 people. The downstairs dining table can also only fit 10 people comfortably. It felt like a race to secure either bean bag chair, or a comfortable chair the dinner table, or else you are stuck sitting at the corner of the table with no room.

Fifth, the little dingy used to ferry people to and from each activity could also be upgraded. Starting with adding grip strips to it. I believe every passenger had an experience slipping getting into, or out of it. One man even bruised his ribs after slipping. This is dangerous and should not continue the way it is.

I should add, the loud engine runs all night. For anyone staying in the lower deck, their sleep was affected by this.

Overall, Travass must take measures to improve their boat and safety. From the beginning, we were never explained anything about safety. They pointed out that they had a life raft big enough for 25 people. But no mentioning of where the life jackets are located. No mentioning on standard safety procedures in case of an incident.

Again the crew was welcoming and the guide helped was great help. I have nothing but positive things to say about them.

I would book another tour to visit Komodo National park, but I would be hesitant to recommend this company for it. I’m sure they have other boats in better conditions, but I’m also sure that have some that are in...

Unfortunately I'm giving a different review than the rest of the reviews. But I want to be as honest as possible. In the end everyone want to have a good trip right, as you spend quite some money on it 😉

When you book this trip you get the chance to see some amazing spots!

The boat was neat, there are soms nice chill spots, the cabins were good. The food was good, but every day there were the same meals (lot of fried food also). I unfortunately became sea sick because the boat was shaky and the worst part was that the toilet didn't flush good (which is pretty bad when your sick). There were also some cockroaches in the cabins, one guy woke up in his bed with one on his foot..

The tour felt a bit rushed sometime, there was little time to grab your stuff and the tour guide didn't inform us good enough, it annoyed everyone. Because you really needed to bring some good hiking shoes, uv shirt, water - as we didn't know what to expect. So we were dropped at an island (sand bank) with no shadow and no chance to get off, where we got burned pretty bad. The tour guide didn't seem interested in the group, felt a bit fake and arrogant. He was just playing with his mates and annoyingly focused on the poses for the photos.

There were also so many tourists. We were literally "hunting" to see a manta, when they finally saw one a lot of speedboats rushed to the spot and you've got to swim with 30 other tourists above the manta. Same with the Komodo, the rangers grabbed a stick and try to move the Komodo with the stick so that the tourists could make a picture. At least, the rest of the crew was really nice. The only thing was they slept on the floor and couches of the boat, so when I opened my cabin to get some water, one of the crew members was laying under the table of the "dining room", it scared me. And at night another boat hit our boats and shattered the glass of a cabin upstairs, was a bit shocked when I heard this from the other passengers. So, I was glad the time I went off the boat.

I would definitely recommend a tour to Komodo! But I wouldn't go with...