Stairs, rails and safety gear on Soe Besar Vanrei: notes for older guests and families

I'm Jewel, the boat inspector at Komodo Explorer. These are my inspection notes on Soe Besar Vanrei for a party with a grandparent or a toddler, set beside the operator's photographs and the boat file. Where a feature is confirmed I say so. Where it is not, the question goes on the list at the end, and we ask the boat for the answer in writing before you pay.

Three decks, seven cabins, seven bathrooms and a two-level wooden deckhouse are confirmed. A stair count, rail heights and cabin areas are not published, so you will not find them here. For a family travelling with a grandparent and a toddler, knowing what is still open is often the most useful thing I can tell you.

Stairs are the first thing an older guest asks me about. The photographs show no staircase, ladder or handrail between decks, so the number of steps between decks is not published, and it heads the list at the end.

The flyer sorts the cabins by deck. The Master Ocean is on the main deck, the Master Suite Ocean and the two Deluxe cabins on the upper deck, and the two Superior cabins and the Sharing Cabin on the lower deck. The Master Ocean is the only cabin on the main deck. If someone in your party dreads steps, that's the best news on the boat: the cabin sits level with the walkway outside its door.

The photographs show a wooden side walkway outside the Master Ocean with a railing and an open view of the sea, and an open side-deck door in the cabin with a fire extinguisher in view. The height of the railing, the gap between its bars and the sill of the door are not published.

Which deck the saloon and the dining deck are on is not published, and that decides how often anyone climbs. If the meals are on the main deck, upper and lower cabins add a flight every time. If they're elsewhere, the sums change. It is the first question on the list below.

Here's how I'd match each cabin to a guest, with the caution I'd give alongside.

• Master Ocean (main deck): the eldest guest, or anyone worried about stairs. Wide windows and a shower bathroom. Caution: a shower, and no grab bar appears in the bathroom photo.
• Master Suite Ocean (upper deck): a couple with the youngest child on the pull-out bed that the photos show under the main bed. A private terrace with a turf floor, two chairs and a small table. A freestanding bathtub with a wooden tray. Caution: there's a flight of stairs, and getting into a tub means stepping over its edge, which older legs may not enjoy.
• Deluxe Ocean (upper deck): adults who want a window and can take the stairs. A double bed, sea-view windows, a shower, no balcony.
• Superior (lower deck): sound sleepers and teenagers. A double bed and a small porthole window, so less daylight. We promise no quiet cabin.
• Sharing Cabin (lower deck): older children, in two bunk beds with four single berths. Caution: the photos show the upper berths and no rail.

Hot water in the cabins is confirmed in writing before payment, so please ask rather than assume.

The jacuzzi is a round white tub set into the wooden deck at the bow, under the blue sail ties. No depth, temperature, step or rim height is published. For a toddler or a grandparent I would ask four things: how deep, how hot, how a person gets in and out, and who watches it. Wet wood is slippery anywhere on a boat, so shoes with grip are worth wearing even here.

Shade is mixed. The foredeck chill area has a white canopy with fringed parasols and bean-bag cushions. The dining deck is covered by a blue canopy, with a long table, benches along the sides and a barbecue grill. The drone photo shows a white awning over part of the upper deck. The photo of the sun loungers, however, shows a row of cushioned loungers facing the harbour with no roof in frame. I'd spend the middle of the day in the shade and keep the loungers for the morning and late afternoon.

Indoors, the saloon has a long table, an upholstered bench and a counter with a wall screen, a fridge and a first-aid cabinet.

The boat carries these types of safety equipment: a life raft, life jackets, life buoys, fire extinguishers and a first-aid kit, with AIS, radar and a compass for navigation. Two of them show in the photographs: a fire extinguisher in a Master Ocean photo, and a first-aid cabinet on the saloon wall.

Everything else is a type and not a count. The number of life jackets is not published, and nor are the sizes. For children, size is the whole question. The harbour authority's guideline of 14 October 2024 calls for enough life jackets for every passenger and a safety briefing before departure (detikBali). That's the standard I'd hold the boat to, and I'd want the child sizes in writing before anyone pays.

The crew size, engines, tender and build year are not published, so none is claimed here.

Caveat: a photo of an extinguisher proves it was there on the day of the photo. It tells you nothing about when it was last serviced.

Ranked by how much it matters to a party with a grandparent and a child.

• 1. Stairs. The number of steps between the main deck and each other deck, and a handrail on both sides.
• 2. Where the meals are. The deck that holds the saloon and the dining deck.
• 3. Child life jackets. Sizes aboard, in writing, and the briefing before departure.
• 4. Bunk rails. Whether the upper berths in the Sharing Cabin have them.
• 5. Bathrooms. Whether any bathroom has a grab bar, a shower seat or a raised sill.
• 6. Jacuzzi rules. Depth, entry and supervision for children and older guests.
• 7. Boarding. How guests get from the pier to the deck and to the beach. We do not claim wheelchair access.

This is the list I'm sending the operator. When the answers come back, I'll update this page and date the change.