Safety on Board

Every vessel operated by Dara Flores Adventures holds a valid Sertifikat Keselamatan Penumpang (Passenger Safety Certificate), issued and periodically renewed through inspection by the Syahbandar. This is the primary legal instrument under Indonesian maritime law that certifies a vessel is fit to carry passengers in these waters. We do not operate any vessel that has not passed this inspection process. Certification documents are available for inspection on board at any time upon request.

Our vessels also carry current Surat Ukur (Measurement Certificates) and vessel registration documentation, all maintained in compliance with the Direktorat Jenderal Perhubungan Laut (Directorate General of Sea Transportation) requirements.

Every crew member aboard a Dara Flores Adventures vessel holds the Indonesian maritime certifications required for their role. This includes:

BST (Basic Safety Training) certification for all crew, in line with STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) convention principles covering personal survival, fire prevention and fire fighting, elementary first aid, and personal safety and social responsibility.

Current medical certificates confirming each crew member is physically fit for sea duty, renewed on the schedule required by Indonesian maritime regulations.

Deck officers and navigating crew hold the appropriate ANT (Ahli Nautika Tingkat) or equivalent nautical competency certifications relevant to the vessel class and route. We do not put uncertified personnel in navigational or guest-facing safety roles.

Our crew certification framework aligns with the occupational health and safety principles of ISO 45001, which emphasises worker competency, fitness for duty, and systematic hazard awareness as the baseline for safe operations.

Every vessel carries life-saving equipment calibrated to its certified passenger capacity. This includes:

• —Personal flotation devices (life jackets) for every person on board, adults and children, stored accessibly and inspected before each trip
• —Life rings with throw lines positioned at accessible points on deck
• —Emergency flares (parachute and handheld) within validity dates
• —Life craft appropriate to vessel size and certified passenger load
• —Fire extinguishers positioned at accessible points throughout the vessel

Equipment is inspected and logged at regular intervals. Any item outside its validity period or condition standard is replaced before the vessel departs.

All Dara Flores Adventures vessels are equipped with:

• —Handheld VHF radio (Radio HT) for communication with the harbor master, other vessels, and emergency services
• —Garmin GPS navigation system with current charts of the Komodo National Park and surrounding waters
• —AIS (Automatic Identification System) which broadcasts each vessel's real-time position, speed, and identity to maritime authorities and other vessels continuously

Our crew are trained in radio operation and distress signal protocols. No vessel departs without confirmed communication functionality. The AIS system means our vessels are visible and trackable to the Syahbandar and other parties at all times while underway — a meaningful layer of operational accountability that benefits everyone on board. In the remote waters of the national park, reliable communication is not a convenience. It is the difference between a situation and an emergency.

Before every trip departs, every guest receives a structured safety briefing delivered in English (and other languages on request) that covers:

• —Location and fitting of life jackets
• —Emergency muster points on board
• —Man-overboard procedure
• —Communication with crew during an incident
• —Water entry and exit safety for snorkeling and swimming activities
• —Conduct guidelines for all wildlife encounters

This briefing is mandatory. It is not optional for guests who have been on boats before, and it is not abbreviated for groups with dive experience. We follow the principle that clear pre-departure communication is the most reliable form of incident prevention.

The Flores Sea and the straits of Komodo National Park are tidal environments with conditions that can change significantly within a single day. Our captains conduct weather and sea state assessments before every departure using marine weather services and their own experienced read of local conditions.

We operate a clear go/no-go decision protocol: if sea conditions present an unacceptable risk for the planned route or for guest water activities, the itinerary is modified or the departure is rescheduled. Commercial pressure does not override this decision. Our captains have full authority to call off or modify a trip for safety reasons, and we back that authority without exception.

Guests are informed of any itinerary changes as early as possible and with transparent explanation of the reason.

We maintain crew-to-passenger ratios that allow adequate supervision of guests both on board and during water activities. On open trip departures, crew roles are clearly assigned: a dedicated captain, a deckhand responsible for vessel operations and guest safety on deck, and a guide responsible for activity supervision and briefings.

On private Phinisi charters, crew composition is scaled to the vessel and group size. No trip operates understaffed relative to the number of guests and the nature of the itinerary. This is a non-negotiable operating standard and one of the clearest indicators of the difference between a professionally run operation and a budget one.

Every Dara Flores Adventures vessel carries a stocked first aid kit appropriate for the duration and remoteness of its itinerary. At minimum this includes wound care supplies, burn treatment, oral rehydration salts, seasickness medication, and basic respiratory support equipment.

At least one crew member per vessel holds current first aid certification. For longer liveaboard routes into more remote areas of the park, we carry extended first aid kits and crew members with higher-level first aid training.

We also brief guests at the pre-departure stage on the location of the first aid kit and the nearest medical facility relative to each day's planned position in the park, so that nobody is making those calculations for the first time during an incident.

Snorkeling and swimming in Komodo National Park requires specific safety management that goes beyond standard beach or resort practice. The tidal currents that create the biological richness of this marine environment are also its primary physical hazard.

Our water activity protocol includes:

• —Current assessment by the captain and guide before any water entry, using knowledge of tidal schedules and real-time observation
• —Designated entry and exit points communicated to guests before they enter the water
• —In-water supervision by crew during all snorkeling activities
• —Mandatory buddy system for all snorkelers
• —Clear no-entry zones in areas of identified strong current or poor visibility on the day
• —Surface signalling equipment (whistle, surface marker buoy) available to snorkelers on request

Guests with limited swimming ability are identified at the pre-departure briefing stage and given appropriate support, including the option to use a floatation aid in the water.

Komodo dragon encounters on Komodo and Rinca islands are conducted exclusively within the national park's ranger-guided system. Dara Flores Adventures does not conduct or permit unguided wildlife encounters with Komodo dragons under any circumstances.

All dragon trekking is led by certified national park rangers who carry the traditional forked walking staff (tongkat) used to manage the animals' behaviour during guided walks. Our guides coordinate directly with ranger teams at each island and follow the national park authority's current protocols for group size, trail access, and animal proximity.

Guests are briefed before landing on what to do and not do during the encounter. The briefing is specific: no running, no crouching to the animal's level, no physical contact, staying within the group. These are not suggestions. The Komodo dragon is an apex predator in its own habitat, and the protocols that keep encounters safe are built on decades of ranger experience.