Kudanil Explorer

Kudanil Explorer was launched in 1978 at the Teraoka shipyard as a safety standby vessel, a working ship meant to wait near offshore installations in any weather. A refit completed in 2018 turned that sturdy steel hull into an expedition yacht for sixteen guests, and her origins still shape the experience. She is broad, steady and unhurried, cruising at around ten knots, with more room inside than most yachts of her length can offer.

Groups usually choose her for the cabins. All eight are around 30 square metres including the bathroom and sleep two, in a king or in twin beds. Every one of them also has its own outdoor space of 11 square metres, with a daybed and seating. Mornings can start with coffee outside your own door rather than on a shared deck, and extra beds for children can be added on request.

Higher up, a long teak table seats all sixteen at once under shade, with daybeds and open views on every side, and the very top of the ship holds a Jacuzzi and loungers. A spa room for treatments and a library lounge sit on the main deck. For divers there is a dedicated dive deck with a compressor and Nitrox, and surfboards travel with her. Alix Thomson designed the interiors.

Indonesia is the whole point, and the routes go further than most. Besides Komodo and Raja Ampat, she runs a two-week voyage into Asmat country, starting in Timika and ending in Sorong, a week through the Spice Islands, a trip to swim with whale sharks off Sumbawa and a surf voyage to Halmahera. Days are built around reefs, breaks and villages, not marinas.

She is a good match for large families, groups of friends who dive or surf, and travellers who want to see remote Indonesia while keeping a private corner of their own. If you are after a sleek, fast yacht, a Mediterranean summer or a party scene, look elsewhere: she is a working ship made comfortable, and she stays in Southeast Asia and the Pacific all year.