A boutique ship built for places big ships can’t reach
Guests aboard Pearl Expeditions’ m/y Paspaley Pearl spend as much time watching the horizon as checking the day’s plan. There’s a reason for that: with room for just 30 people, the yacht can nose into channels, reef passages and village anchorages that far larger vessels never attempt. For 2028, that reach extends further than ever.
Australia’s premier boutique expedition operator has released its 2028 sailing collection, spanning 7- to 11-day voyages across some of the most rarely visited, culturally rich places in the Indo-Pacific and Australia’s own remote frontiers: the Kimberley, Arnhem Land, the Tiwi Islands, the Torres Strait, the Great Barrier Reef, Raja Ampat, East Indonesia’s Spice Islands, Borneo and Papua New Guinea. The new season builds on demand for small-ship expeditions that move past the routes larger cruise lines have already worn smooth.
“These new itineraries and charter flight connections have been developed to make remarkable, hard-to-reach regions more accessible for our guests, without compromising the respect, sensitivity and local relationships required to visit them responsibly. A reflection of our company credo of only leaving small footprints.”
Pearl Expeditions executive chair Sarina Bratton AM.
New charter flights close the distance to the remote Pacific
Getting to the world’s most rewarding corners has always meant giving up a day or two to get there. Pearl Expeditions is narrowing that trade-off with expanded charter flight access for 2028, including dedicated services from Cairns for Papua New Guinea departures and from Darwin for Raja Ampat voyages, cutting transit time for both Australian and international travelers.
The clearest example is a brand-new Raja Ampat itinerary, with charter flights running Darwin to and from Sorong, opening the way for the Paspaley Pearl to reach the Tanimbar and Kei Islands—destinations rarely visited even by other expedition ships.
The reef gains a Torres Strait accent
Demand for Pearl Expeditions’ Great Barrier Reef sailings has pushed the line to add a third departure for 2028, including new voyages built around Torres Strait Islander communities and culture. Offered with both Australian and Sorong departure points, the expanded “Islands, Reefs and Traditions” series gives guests three distinct ways to experience the far-northern reef and its neighboring straits—from snorkeling coral gardens and exploring remote sand cays to visiting islands shaped by deep cultural heritage.
Papua New Guinea, circled anew
Three revitalized 10- and 11-night Papua New Guinea itineraries return for 2028, tracing the region’s volcanic landscapes, WWII history and biodiversity. All PNG departures are packaged Cairns to Cairns. The standout addition is an 11-night New Britain Island circumnavigation, sailing in November and December 2028, which draws together the strongest landfalls from past PNG sailings into a single, more focused voyage: remote village visits, active volcanoes and some of the region’s most spectacular marine environments.
Borneo’s big three, in one journey
Few itineraries anywhere pack in what this one does. Departing in December 2027 and February 2028, the voyage begins in Bali before continuing to Tanjung Puting National Park, where guests now spend two full days on the Sekonyer River with rare access to Camp Leakey, the world-renowned orangutan research sanctuary. The 415,000-hectare UNESCO Biosphere Reserve shelters nine primate species, 38 mammals and more than 230 species of birds; exploring it by traditional klotok riverboat brings guests within sight of wild orangutans, proboscis monkeys and gibbons moving through the peat swamp forest.
The itinerary also adds two lesser-known stops: the coral-rich Kangean Islands north of Bali, and the Tanimbar Islands in far southern Maluku, home to the megalithic ceremonial village of Sangliat Dol. From there, the voyage continues on to snorkel with whale sharks and view Komodo dragons — completing what Pearl Expeditions calls Indonesia’s “big three” wildlife encounters in a single expedition.
Australia’s Kimberley region, timed to the tide
The 2028 Kimberley season offers a choice of 7- or 10-day voyages, built around the Paspaley Pearl’s boutique size and Paspaley’s 90 years of reading the region’s tides and weather. That heritage matters here more than almost anywhere: the ship’s scale gives it access to narrow waterways and to traditional-owner-approved coastal sites that around 75 percent of larger vessels simply cannot reach.
The itineraries move at the pace conditions allow rather than a fixed schedule, calling at rock art galleries that preserve millennia of continuous occupation by custodians of the world’s oldest living culture, and at sandstone gorges cut through billion-year-old geology, with waterfalls, estuary fishing grounds and mangrove systems patrolled by saltwater crocodiles. Exclusive visits to Paspaley pearl farms and the chance to fly in a Paspaley Mallard flying boat round out what the line considers its signature season.
Ancient Arnhem Land’s living galleries
A new October 2028 sailing from Darwin to Gove introduces guests to one of Australia’s most storied and least-traveled regions. The voyage moves through country shaped by tens of thousands of years of culture, ceremony and storytelling, with visits to remote homelands, ancient rock art sites and meetings with Yolŋu artists and custodians across landscapes that remain largely untouched.
East Indonesia’s volcanoes and ceremonial villages
Offered as 9- and 11-night voyages in January and February 2028, this itinerary threads together culture, wildlife and volcanic scenery across Lembata and its neighboring islands. Guests anchor beneath Lembata’s smoldering Ile Ape volcano, visit Lewohala, a ceremonial village where clan houses safeguard heirlooms including elephant tusks and centuries-old Chinese ceramics, and see the naturally dyed ikat weaving traditions of Jontona. The voyage also brings encounters with Komodo dragons, remote reefs and coastal communities across one of eastern Indonesia’s most culturally layered regions.
“The strength of this collection lies in the detail of each journey,” said Mick Fogg, general manager of Pearl Expeditions. “Guests might travel by local klotok riverboat through Tanjung Puting in search of endangered orangutans, spend time with Torres Strait Islander communities on the far-northern reef, explore carved ancestral villages in the Tanimbars, or sail into Arnhem Land with local insight guiding the experience. These are not simply remote places on a map; they are living cultural and natural landscapes, and every itinerary has been designed to help guests engage with them in a considered and deeply meaningful way.”
Securing a place aboard Paspaley Pearl
Bookings for the 2028 season are open now. The Paspaley Pearl carries just 15 staterooms, so availability is naturally tight across every departure. The full 2028 Calendar of Expeditions, including departure dates, itineraries and pricing, is available at pearlexpeditions.com/expeditions, and the ship is also available for private charter. Travelers can find out more at pearlexpeditions.com, by calling +61 2 7235 9999, or through a professional travel advisor.
About the Author: Jason Kerr
