tiger blue is amazing! I loved the diving and the food the crew were great and we enjoyed the beaches, the boat is beautiful!

I just wanted to email you to say what a fantastic holiday we all had. It now all seems such a long time ago! I know you asked for some feedback re our time there. I just thought it was one of the best weeks that I have ever had on holiday. The diving was amazing, we saw manta rays, turtles sharks and the most abdundant fish life that I have ever seen. The beaches in the evenings were beautiful pink sands, clam shells the size of dinner plates, star mapping accompanied by comfortable chairs and gin and tonics! The boys snorkled with manta rays dived, swam wake boarded, kayaked. The food was great, particularly the sashimi on board caught in the morning was the best I had ever tasted. I also found the boat very comfortable and also big enough to have some private space, we slept downstairs, we slept on board and loved sitting on the top deck and watching all the crew fishing off the back.

Thanks to Septi I realised at the end of the week that I had not even hung up a swimming suit to dry which is quite something with 3 kids and we came home with clean clothes rather than a mountain of washing! The crew were great with the kids always keeping an eye for them in the water, taking them out on the speed boat to snorkel looking after them whilst we dived.

My youngest son Lucas soon discovered that he could go into the kitchen and ask for anything he liked! Five coca colas and 9 tubes of smarties later he has been on a sugar free diet since his return home! We all felt so looked after by all the staff. Wouter was also great, he was decisive, had a plan for each day,co-ordinated the whole week very smoothly and was great with the kids.

“I feel compelled to share with you the best travel experience I’ve enjoyed in years – hands down! A 120-foot teak “family liveaboard” schooner (Tiger Blue) in Indonesia. I spent a week on it this June and I’ll never forget it as long as I live. I’m not even a scuba diver and yet I found myself snorkeling with five Manta rays each the size of my bed!

I hiked, I wake-boarded, I ate hour old sashimi gazing at the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen (from the comfort of my lounge chair on a private beach in the Indonesian Archipelago), I caught a barracuda, I saw a wild Komodo Dragon, I was the guest of honor at a profoundly private Hindu prayer service (I’m still wearing the bracelet), I chilled out on the sun deck catching rays during the day and star gazed on the same deck at night. It truly was a week I’ll treasure all my life.

The only thing that would have made this trip better would have been to have my family with me – this is made to be a family experience. Tiger Blue is only a couple of years old so it has all the "mod-cons" from air-conditioned staterooms with king size beds and en suite bathrooms, and a movie room to gourmet food, dive compressors, etc., etc. I never once felt a hint of motion sickness.

Having spent the last few years in the luxury travel business one thing I’ve learnt is that it doesn’t take long before jewels like this get discovered and demand soon outstrips supply (and the inevitable price hike quickly follows).

They charter this boat for a week at a time – its capacity is 12 people so if you can find another family to join you even better!

I seldom, if ever, rave publicly about a travel experience but this one is worth every accolade, every “life-time memory cliché” and every hyperbole I can muster.

Andrew White”

Wouter , thanks again for a great week . We all had a blast , and I’m very keen to get to the Banda islands in the 4th quarter . Harry said Sunday night “ I miss Wouter and those guys , I wish we could stay longer on the boat” . You may be receiving inquiries from a couple of my colleagues who are very interested.

Have a great week off in Bali , Allan Marson

An Amazing Family Vacation!

Three years in Indonesia and the Komodos were the last big adventure to check off the list. We were keen to do a liveaboard to hit both diving and dragons. Tiger Blue is gorgeous - a luxurious timber Phinisi boat. She has king size beds and AC cabins that tall people can stand up in and limitless comfy places to lounge in – both in shade and sun. Great food, wonderful diving, a speedboat with wakeboarding, fishing, kayaks, hiking, a great crew and a 42” flat screen TV if all else fails! My husband says fantastic, the boys say epic and I say simply the best vacation we have ever taken. While the bank account definitely takes a huge hit it was worth every single penny.

Captain Wouter is terrific. His philosophy is if the kids are happy, the parents are happy and he is great with them. We never once had a nap or sundowner cocktail disturbed by a fight or the dreaded, “I’m bored…” The diving is great and as much as you want, the speed boat and wakeboarding are a teenager’s dream (and were in use 6+ hours a day), the beach bonfires, star filled nights and G&Ts are picture perfect. Within hours of boarding in Labuan Baju we were in total relaxation mode and completely away from the influences of Jakarta until getting off in Bima.

This is not for everyone. I would not consider this if you have not spent at least a couple of nights on boats to be sure you don’t get seasick. But if you are familiar with boats you will be impressed with the comfort, if you like diving you will be happy with the opportunities and the set up, and if you have kids you will be delighted with the fantastic family vacation you have before you!

Lisa Baldwin