Maheswari
A letter from the deck: news · Maheswari Phinisi
Is Komodo open after the August 2026 Flores earthquake? What a family charter should plan
Updated 20 October 2026
Yes. Sailing to Komodo National Park resumed within a day of the 15 August 2026 earthquake, and by 22 August the park ran as normal. Several inland Flores sites stayed shut for longer. For late 2026 and 2027, treat the Komodo days as fixed and confirm any overland add-on shortly before you travel.
What the earthquake hit, and what it did not
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Saturday, 15 August 2026. Its centre lay about 30 km off Mbay in Nagekeo regency, at a depth of 15 km (RRI, 20 August 2026). Aftershocks of magnitude 6.2, 4.5 and 5.6 followed within 24 minutes, from 06:13 to 06:37 WITA, and were felt in Labuan Bajo (RCTI+, 16 August 2026).
The human cost fell mostly inland. BNPB, the national disaster agency, counted 68 deaths as of 17 August (Voice of Indonesia, 18 August 2026). The count was 26 in Manggarai, 24 in East Manggarai, 8 in Nagekeo and 4 in Sikka, with 2 each in Ende, Ngada and West Manggarai, the regency that holds Labuan Bajo. RRI reported 69 dead, 331 injured and 34,689 displaced (RRI, 20 August 2026). Early reports on 16 August had listed four deaths, so read every figure as a snapshot with a date.
For visitors, the damage was patchy. One hotel in West Manggarai had structural damage and its guests were moved out, while the other large hotels in town reported working power and small cracks (RCTI+, 16 August 2026). The name-board wall at Loh Liang on Komodo island fell. Across the whole affected area BNPB listed 2 hotels and 3 homestays with heavy damage and 10 hotels and 5 homestays with light damage (Voice of Indonesia, 18 August 2026).
Sailing and the park: how quickly they came back
Sailing returned first. The harbour office in Labuan Bajo recorded 308 tour boats leaving on Sunday, 16 August, with 3,651 passengers: 2,840 foreign and 811 Indonesian. The park logged about 1,381 visitors at South Padar that day, 328 at Loh Liang, 277 at Loh Buaya on Rinca and 54 at Gili Lawa (InvestorTrust, 17 August 2026). TTG Asia put daily park visitors above 2,000 on 17 August (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026).
The Labuan Bajo Flores Authority, BPOLBF, set the rule for reopening. Its acting president said no destination reopens until it is declared safe, and that a temporary closure is a way to reduce risk, not a halt to tourism (InvestorTrust, 17 August 2026). At 19:00 WITA on 22 August, BPOLBF's monitoring showed sailing to the park running as normal. The harbour office and BPOLBF called reports that sailing to Padar and the Komodo harbour had closed untrue (InvestorTrust, 23 August 2026; Pasardana, 24 August 2026).
Accounts of the mood at sea differ. A regional travel association chair said no closure touched the park and that one of his guests cancelled. A Flores operator reported group and online cancellations, a short pause in boat excursions after a tsunami warning, and some boat operators holding back during aftershocks. BMKG, the weather and geophysics agency, confirmed there was no tsunami threat (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026). The two accounts fit together: the park was open, and each operator set its own pace.
Photo taken on a Komodo Explorer trip · 12 photos
Inland Flores: what stayed shut, and for how long
The overland circuit recovered one site at a time. On 18 August BNPB listed three sites as closed: Rangko Cave, Wae Rebo and Kelimutu National Park (Voice of Indonesia, 18 August 2026). RRI's list two days later named Wae Rebo, Ruteng Pu'u, Kelimutu and the Teluk Maumere marine park, and said sites in Ngada and Nagekeo were restricted because of power and phone outages (RRI, 20 August 2026). Metro TV had reported on 16 August that Wae Rebo was closed for landslide risk on its trail, with no end date, after more than 700 aftershocks (Metro TV, 16 August 2026).
Lists aged within days. Rangko Cave, closed on 18 August, was receiving visitors as normal by 22 August, and the Compang Liang Ndara village reopened on 22 August (InvestorTrust, 23 August 2026). TTG Asia reported Nuca Molas as permanently closed for structural damage. The main sections of the Trans-Flores road had reopened after landslides were cleared. Ende airport cancelled flights through 20 August, and Wings Air flights to Ruteng were suspended through 22 August. Komodo airport stayed open with some schedule changes (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026).
So the islands and the villages ran on different clocks. The park reopened in about a day. The craters, caves and villages reopened, or stayed shut, one by one.
Photo taken on a Komodo Explorer trip · 6 photos
What we do not know yet
- Reopening dates. We found no published date for Wae Rebo, Ruteng Pu'u, Kelimutu or Teluk Maumere in the sources we could open, and BPOLBF says none reopens before it is declared safe.
- The aftershock count. RRI gave more than 2,400 as of 18 August (RRI, 20 August 2026). TTG Asia gave 2,768 as of 19 August, 24 of them above magnitude 5 (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026). The number rises daily, and we have not read a later BMKG figure.
- The casualty figures. They moved from 4 to 68 to 69 in four days, and later counts exist that we have not read.
- The 2027 season. No source we opened projects visitor numbers or cancellations for 2027, and InvestorTrust (23 August 2026) gave no cancellation count at all.
- A repeat. We found no published protocol for how sailing would pause after a future strong shock.
What this means for your dates
If you charter Maheswari for the last months of 2026 or for 2027, the sources support one planning rule: the Komodo days are fixed, and anything inland is provisional.
The harbour office and the park authority decide each sailing day, as they did before August. If an order from either stops Maheswari from sailing, we offer you one of two things. The first is a move, at no extra charge, to a phinisi of equal or higher class sailing on your dates. The other is a full refund within 14 days.
Checklist for your dates
- Flights. Komodo airport kept operating through the aftershock period with some schedule changes (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026). Fly in the day before the sailing, as our booking terms advise.
- Overland add-ons. Do not pay for Wae Rebo, Kelimutu or Ruteng Pu'u from an old list. Send us your dates and we confirm the status in the week you travel, with the date of the source.
- Children. Up to the age of 2 a child sails with you free of charge, and from 3 we charge the full fare. The park programme on a family charter does not depend on any inland site.
- Insurance. Our terms recommend travel insurance. Read the natural-hazard wording before you buy it.
- Your list. Write down which days are Komodo and which are overland, so a change to one never moves the other.
Related pages
- Private phinisi charter in Komodo, priced for 1 to 20 guests
- Open trip dates: Mondays and Fridays, three days and two nights
- From the first message to the morning of boarding
- The best time to visit Komodo, one month at a time
- Eight ensuite cabins, four of them with a private balcony
- Fifty-six questions about Maheswari, answered with the figure
Sources
- Voice of Indonesia (RRI): Major Earthquake Disrupts Tourism, Public Facilities in NTT (2026-08-18)
- RRI: NTT Tourism Destinations Close After Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake (2026-08-20)
- RCTI+ (Okezone): Gempa M7,7 Guncang NTT, Fasilitas Wisata Labuan Bajo dan TN Komodo Rusak (2026-08-16)
- Metro TV: Desa Wisata Wae Rebo Ditutup Sementara Pascagempa NTT (2026-08-16)
- InvestorTrust: Kemenpar Pastikan Pariwisata Labuan Bajo Kembali Normal Pascagempa NTT (2026-08-17)
- TTG Asia: Flores tourism moves toward recovery despite ongoing overland disruptions (2026-08-21)
- InvestorTrust: Labuan Bajo Kembali Normal Seusai Gempa M 7,7, Wisata Tetap Buka (2026-08-23)
- Pasardana: Pasca Gempa NTT, Aktivitas Pariwisata Labuan Bajo Tetap Berjalan (2026-08-24)
FAQ
Is Komodo National Park open after the 2026 Flores earthquake?
Yes. Sailing to the park resumed within a day of the 15 August 2026 earthquake, and BPOLBF's monitoring at 19:00 WITA on 22 August showed sailing and park visits running as normal (InvestorTrust, 23 August 2026). Check the date of any status you read, because closures for weather are issued separately.
Can I still add Wae Rebo or Kelimutu to a Maheswari charter?
Only as a provisional extra. Both were closed in the reports of mid-August 2026, and we found no reopening date in the sources we could open. Send us your dates and we confirm the status in the week you travel, and keep the park days as the fixed core of the programme.
Will my flight to Labuan Bajo be affected?
Komodo airport stayed open after the earthquake, with some schedule changes (TTG Asia, 21 August 2026), and ran to schedule on 22 August (InvestorTrust, 23 August 2026). Flights to Ende and Ruteng were cancelled for some days. We ask you to land the day before you sail, so that a late flight never takes a day from your time aboard.
What happens if a closure falls on my sailing dates?
The harbour office or the park authority decides, and the captain follows the order. Should that order keep Maheswari in harbour, the choice is yours: we move you, at no extra charge, to another phinisi of equal or better class on those days, or we pay a full refund within 14 days.
Check availability — Maheswari
Maheswari is booked through PT Komodo Explorer Indonesia. We arrange the pickup, take the payment and keep your booking in order. The boat sails with its own crew.