Family

The question with children is not whether a trip is beautiful but how much of it is spent on a boat with nowhere to go. That is what separates the trips on this page from the rest of the catalogue.

The Banggai and Luwuk trips work best. Crossings are short, Paisupok is a clear freshwater lake where children can swim without current, the reefs start a few metres off the beach, and there is somewhere to get out of the sun most of the day. The three-day island-hopping version suits roughly ages six and up; the longer five-day trip suits confident swimmers who have done a boat holiday before.

Saleh Bay is a genuine early start, on the water before dawn, and it asks a child to get into deep open water beside a very large animal. Some eight-year-olds love it and some twelve-year-olds do not. You know yours.

What we would steer families away from, at least for younger children, is the long Sulawesi karst itineraries and the current-heavy Komodo sites. Labengki and Sombori involve several hours under way between stops, and Manta Point is a drift snorkel in moving water where the group stays together and the tender follows. Neither is unsafe with a strong swimmer; both are long days with little margin for a bad mood.

Practical things that matter more than they sound: cabins are small and mostly have two beds, not four, so a family of four is usually two cabins or a suite with rollaways. Bring child-size masks, because boat gear starts at adult sizes and a mask that leaks ends the snorkelling for that child.