Arenui liveaboard: cabin choices, routes, costs and diving requirements

Who Arenui suits

Arenui is a 43-metre Indonesian wooden phinisi with a choice of main-deck master suites, main-deck twins and lower-deck deluxe cabins. It suits divers who want to choose a specific room on a small-capacity vessel and spend several days in one diving region, or deliberately book a longer crossing.

It is less straightforward if you need a short cruise on fixed dates: the current schedule includes numerous chartered and full sailings. A boat profile is not a promise of a berth. Match the dated cruise, embarkation port and room before arranging flights.

Use the cabin plan, not just the deck name

The operator uses both main deck and upper deck when describing the same cabin area. Its named cabin plan places Rama, Shinta, Barong and Ganesh on the main deck; the other four are on the lower deck. Reserve by cabin name and plan position to avoid that terminology ambiguity. All cabins have private bathrooms and individual air conditioning.

Rama and Shinta are a window-and-bed choice, not a large jump in floor area over every deluxe cabin. The operator describes Legong, for example, as 21 square metres with a king bed and a sofa that can become an extra bed. Any third-person arrangement needs a specific quote and approval; it is not a reason to infer a higher normal vessel capacity.

What its Raja Ampat programme actually covers

The published 12-day/11-night Sorong–Sorong sample boards in Sorong on day 1, spends days 2–8 in Misool, visits Penemu on day 9 and uses days 10–11 for Dampier Strait before disembarking in Sorong on day 12. That is a southern-heavy Raja Ampat plan, not an equal split between every part of the archipelago. Site selection and land visits remain conditional.

For a dated example, the operator lists 30 October–10 November 2026 as 11 nights in Raja Ampat, Sorong–Sorong, at USD 7,700 per person, marked chartered. It lists 12–23 November 2026 at the same duration and price, marked full. These are schedule examples checked on 25 October 2026, not available offers. Chartered means an agent or group holds the cruise; the operator may be able to identify the organiser, but the trip may be private or full.

The date-specific port pair overrides the generic annual-season paragraph. A Sorong–Ambon crossing requires a different flight plan and sacrifices some regional concentration compared with the Sorong loop.

Certification, currents and the dive day

Arenui’s FAQ says it welcomes divers regardless of certification level, with groups and dive sites chosen at the Cruise Director’s discretion for ability, comfort and safety. It does not publish a single fleet-wide minimum logged-dive number in that answer. This does not establish that every beginner can join every current-exposed site or remote crossing. Give the operator your certification, recent dive history and intended cruise before committing.

The stated pattern is up to four dives daily, with fewer on the first and last diving days. Divers kit up on the main vessel; crew transport scuba units to the tenders and divers use backward-roll entries. The rules require staying within certification limits, no-decompression diving and no solo diving. Nitrox up to 32% costs extra; training may be arranged onboard. Diving insurance is compulsory for divers.

What belongs in the Arenui quote

Standard inclusions list shared deluxe accommodation, meals, soft drinks, diving, cylinders, weights, weight belts, programme shore excursions and airport transfers at the embarkation and disembarkation ports. Exclusions include park entry, administration/port clearance, fuel surcharge, Nitrox, most rental kit, flights, pre/post-cruise hotels and crew gratuities. The master supplement is separate.

One small published conflict is worth resolving on the invoice: the schedule includes espresso and cappuccino, while the terms exclude them. More importantly, the fuel clause allows a surcharge to be applied or revised before departure in specified exceptional circumstances. A package price is therefore not a complete trip total.

For an individual booking, the published terms request a 30% deposit within 10 days and the balance 90 days before departure. Cancellation 90 days or less before departure loses the full balance under those terms; group/charter terms differ. Read the exact contract and insurance exclusions before paying rather than assuming a transferable deposit.

Safety equipment is operator-reported evidence

Arenui’s vessel page lists inflatable life rafts, life jackets, cabin smoke detectors, extinguishers, first-aid equipment, oxygen and communications equipment. It states that the vessel is dry-docked annually. Those are the operator’s published provisions, not an independent inspection, current service-certificate check or a safety endorsement by this site.

Its list of shore-based hyperbaric chambers is not an onboard treatment facility or a guaranteed evacuation route. For the chosen sailing, obtain the current safety briefing, cabin escape arrangements and evacuation procedure, and verify that your own policy covers the intended remote diving. Room size and a premium price do not settle those questions.