traditional boat builders on the island of Sulawesi

Tambora has been built by traditional boat builders on the island of Sulawesi, in the centuries-old tradition of a wooden Phinisi. The design and materials used guarantee immense strength and resilience of all key structural elements, especially the keel, hull and decks. Slight adjustments have been made to the original design, which is geared rather for cargo ships ferrying goods and commodities across the Indonesian archipelago, as compared to a modern liveaboard carrying passengers. Among others, they include a double keel and relatively smaller beam, to minimize rolling of the vessel in heavy seas.

She has been entirely constructed out of Sulawesi iron wood and chosen Javanese teak. While her hull has been painted white, the superstructure, decks and roofs have all been finished with a view towards preserving the natural beauty of the teak wood. All decks and the salon rooftop feature teak parquet flooring. This way, the rustic charm and warmth of a traditional wooden vessel could be preserved. All guest suites and rooms on board have been designed by a renowned Indonesian interior designer, and built-to-design by an experienced interior architect. Guest suites are well appointed and tastefully designed in a perfect blend of traditional Indonesian motifs and modern functionality.



The traditional Phinsi-style arrangement of the sails has been kept unchanged. Experiencing Tambora under sails, with a good wind blowing, is an amazing sight and a great way to travel through the Indonesian islands.
Great care has been taken to optimally combine the space and atmosphere on deck with the activities of liveaboard diving. Our dinghies are equipped with customized racks to store diver’s gear in between dives; tanks do not need to be carried back and forth but can be re-filled directly on the dinghies. At night and during longer legs of sailing, all gear is stored away from the elements in the dive station. No dive gear is left sitting around on deck.