What is a phinisi? Senada, deck by deck

Indonesians write pinisi; this site writes phinisi. It's the same boat either way, and UNESCO's own pages have used both. Five things make a boat a phinisi.

• Two masts. Pinisi was first the name of a sail rig, a schooner ketch. The hull that carries it is the palari, with two masts (Good News from Indonesia, 17 October 2022).
• A timber tradition. It takes in building techniques, rigs, navigation and the builders' shared social knowledge (Indonesia Travel, undated page read on 26 October 2026).
• South Sulawesi. Bulukumba is the best-known place they are built, and the Bugis and Makassar peoples sailed them (Good News from Indonesia, 23 September 2026).
• A builder's ritual. The same article describes maccera lopi, the purification held before a new hull first touches the sea.
• UNESCO, 2017. The art of boatbuilding in pinisi was inscribed that year, at the session on Jeju Island.

One more fact changes the picture. Many of these boats now run on diesel, and the lambo, the motorised version, was mostly built after 1975. So a phinisi today can be a motor boat with two masts. That's no insult; it's simply how they are built now.

Senada Phinisi is 30 m long and 6 m wide, and she carries two masts above her decks, which puts her squarely in the tradition.

Inside, the lower-deck suites have a low beamed ceiling and carved motifs on the hull wall, and the dining room carries the Senada Phinisi sign.

The rest is plain figures. A crew of 7, which works out at 2.6 guests for each crew member. A tender speedboat with a 40 HP Yamaha. An engine and a generator, a cruising speed of 8 to 10 knots, 7,000 litres of fresh water and 2,000 litres of fuel. Life jackets and a liferaft. Compass, GPS, SSB and VHF radio.

Beds come in two counts. Twelve guests sleep two to a queen bed, and with extra beds in the cabins that take them, she sleeps 18. Walk the decks with us and those numbers turn into places.

We start at the bottom. The lower deck has two Superior Suites, each with a queen bed and an ensuite bathroom. They take 2 guests, with no extra bed, and neither has a balcony.

Up on the main deck there are two cabins that look alike on paper and differ in one way.

• Panoramic Suite with balcony: 2 to 3 guests, queen bed plus an extra bed. A hexagon mirror hangs above the bed, and a door leads out to the balcony.
• Deluxe Ocean Suite: 2 to 3 guests, queen bed plus an extra bed. Windows, and no balcony.

All six cabins have air conditioning, an ensuite bathroom and hot water from a water heater. Bed sizes in centimetres are on request.

On a 3-day open trip, seats go from IDR 5,300,000 (≈ USD 325) in a Superior Suite to IDR 6,700,000 (≈ USD 411) in the Deluxe Ocean Suite and IDR 7,450,000 (≈ USD 457) in the main-deck Panoramic Suite.

Upper deck next, with the two cabins that sleep the most. Both Panoramic Suites have a balcony and take 2 to 4 guests each, on a queen bed and up to two extra beds, with a window-seat bench, balcony chairs and a small table. A seat up here costs IDR 7,450,000 (≈ USD 457) on the 3-day trip.

The shared spaces are where a group of 18 actually spends time together.

• Sundeck: a large area with bean bags and a sofa.
• Outdoor chill area: sofas with coffee tables, a deck bench with a life ring, and seating on the foredeck.
• Indoor dining: where the whole group sits down to the same meal, under the Senada Phinisi sign.
• Daybed lounge: a TV and karaoke speakers. The karaoke set and the TV with Bluetooth sound are two separate things on board.
• Also on board: a canoe, snorkel gear, a dispenser and a refrigerator.

Deck plans and seat counts are on request, and we answer in writing.

First, balconies. Only three cabins have one: the two Panoramic Suites on the upper deck and the one on the main deck. The Deluxe Ocean Suite and both Superior Suites don't. If the organiser has promised everyone a balcony, they need to know that before booking, not after.

Second, who sleeps where. Count how many balconies your group needs, pick a cabin for each household, and send us the ages; the cabin plan comes back in writing.

Third, the kind of trip. A phinisi today is a motor boat with two masts. Senada Phinisi cruises at 8 to 10 knots, an easy pace for short hops between islands, and the captain sets the route each day.

Every seat is listed on the cabins page; whole-boat prices sit on the charter page.