When the MY Coralia Couldn't Sail

New in 2019, the MY Coralia phinisi-style liveaboard was built to create unforgettable Indonesian experiences (so says its publicity material), but it seems it's not any experience a subscriber we'll call Monty is likely to have.

Four days before its departure in Raja Ampat for a trip to Halmahera from Sorong on July 3, he was informed that the vessel got stuck in Makassar with engine problems, and the trip was canceled. Instead, they offered the passengers an alternative island-based trip with Papua Explorer Resort or a future trip on the Coralia.

Caught off guard by the information, Monty, who was headed to the airport and expected a luxurious liveaboard trip, didn't want a resort destination, and, with such a short notice, he didn't trust them in case the Coralia had more serious problems. (Coralia's message did not state that the Papua Explorer Resort was owned by the same company and was located in Raja Ampat, West Papua.) He turned the car around and headed home, telling us later, "Ten huts on an island, no aircon, a mosquito net and no cell service. Eleven days in those huts was looking far, far away. Dive sites 60-90 minutes. Once on the boat, there's no getting off. Eight or nine hours in a tropical open boat for 11 days was way too much."

Yes, a lot of divers these days do not like resort diving, but most of this group (one other did not want land-based diving) proceeded. Roger Fonseca (Kailua, HI), who put the trip together, wrote to Undercurrent, "While Coralia did give us only four days' warning of the cancellation (at which two of our group were already en route), we see no reason to question Coralia's statement that they had been hopeful that the engine could be repaired, until the last minute. Their offer of recompense was more than generous: They gave each of us a choice of a full refund or a stay at their Papua Explorers Resort for the same number of days, PLUS a free future trip on Coralia (individually or as a group) anywhere Coralia sailed. Ten [out of twelve] of us chose the second option and are having a wonderful dive vacation at the resort."

They made a good choice, John Bantin, our Senior Editor, says: "Some of the best diving I've done was in Raja Ampat, based at Kri island, long before any liveaboards ventured there. The dive sites are all close to the islands, so it's usual to return to land between dives. Papua Explorers uses the same type of dive support boats as MY Coralia, so the only difference is spending dive intervals on land instead of the oft-cramped conditions of a liveaboard vessel. I would have gone and enjoyed it."

That said, I can imagine a diver rushing to the airport, a long flight ahead, receiving such a cancellation with incomplete information, and making a snap-judgment to call it off. Had I turned around, I'd soon be full of regret, not only because I missed 11 days at a beautiful resort, but I'd also get a trip on the Coralia in the future, a real twofer. That's quite a deal.

Ben Davison