Two-masted rig
The distinctive gaff or Bermudan rig is what people recognise. Most working boats here motor rather than sail, and use the rig sparingly.
Wooden boats
Phinisi and Wooden Boats
The traditional timber hulls that have worked these waters for generations. Slower than a speedboat, steadier in swell, and a different kind of day out — here is when one is the right call.
Ask What Is AvailableIn short
A Phinisi is a traditional Indonesian wooden sailing boat, and in Raja Ampat it is the slower, steadier alternative to a fibreglass speedboat for anyone who is not in a hurry.
- Slower over the water, so shorter routes suit it best
- Steadier and quieter than a speedboat in swell
- Cheaper on fuel over a long day
- Wrong choice if you want Piaynemo and back in one day
Wooden boat or speedboat?
It comes down to how far you are going and how much of the day you are willing to spend getting there. A speedboat reaches Piaynemo in two to two and a half hours from Waisai. A wooden boat covering the same water takes considerably longer, which is why we put them on shorter routes.
What you get in exchange is a steadier ride. A timber hull sits deeper and rolls slower than a light fibreglass one, which matters if anyone in the group is uneasy on open water. It is also quieter, so the day feels less like a transfer and more like being at sea.
For the Dampier Strait sites — Friwen, Yenbuba, Arborek, the Mansuar beaches — a wooden boat is a genuinely good choice. For Wayag, or a one-day Piaynemo run, take the speedboat.
The boat
What a Phinisi actually is
A working boat before it was ever a tourist one, and still built the same way in the yards of South Sulawesi.
Being straight about what we run
You will find Raja Ampat pages advertising Phinisi liveaboards with en-suite cabins, air conditioning and a chef. Those exist, and they are excellent. They are not what we do.
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What we arrange
Day and multi-day trips on local wooden boats and speedboats, with licensed local owners and crews, sleeping ashore in homestays.
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What we do not
Luxury liveaboard charters with cabins and catering. We do not own a fleet and we will not pretend otherwise.
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If that is what you want
Say so and we will point you to an operator who actually runs them, rather than quoting you for something we would have to subcontract blind.
Ask what is on the water
Wooden boat availability changes with the season and with what the local owners have running. Send your dates and we will tell you what is actually available rather than what looks good on a page.