The art of expedition travel has always been defined by what lies beyond the reach of the crowd. Pearl Expeditions understands this implicitly. Operating the purpose-built Paspaley Pearl, Australia’s premier boutique expedition operator has unveiled its 2026–2027 collection of sailings – a carefully curated calendar of voyages to some of the planet’s most remote and culturally significant destinations.
This is travel for those who measure luxury not in thread count but in the privilege of arrival – to shorelines where tourist infrastructure remains blissfully absent, to communities that still govern their days by ancient tradition rather than cruise ship schedules.
An intimate vessel for uncharted waters
With just 15 staterooms accommodating a maximum of 30 guests, the Paspaley Pearl operates at a scale that defies the very notion of mass tourism. The yacht’s WASSP navigation system creates safe passages through waters that larger vessels simply cannot access, opening doorways to landscapes and encounters that remain, for most cruisers, purely theoretical.
Five- to twelve-day itineraries span The Kimberley’s dramatic coastline, Papua New Guinea’s culturally rich highlands and waterways, the marine wonderland of Raja Ampat, Eastern Indonesia’s spice-trade remnants, and Borneo’s pristine rivers where endangered orangutans still reign. Additional departures venture to Rowley Shoals, Arnhem Land, the Torres Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef.
Highly credentialed naturalists and expert guides accompany each expedition, transforming observation into understanding, presence into connection.
The Kimberley: Six months in Australia’s last frontier
From April through October annually, Pearl Expeditions dedicates half the year to The Kimberley’s 12,000 kilometers of rugged coastline. During the region’s temperate dry season, guests explore King George River’s towering gorges, Prince Frederick Harbour’s mangrove-fringed waterways, the Buccaneer Archipelago’s maze of islands, and Collier Bay’s powerful tidal movements.
An exclusive element distinguishes these voyages: behind-the-scenes access to the Paspaley Pearling farm at Kuri Bay, where the world’s most lustrous South Sea pearls are cultivated in waters that remain among Australia’s most pristine.
Papua New Guinea: Where tradition governs time
The October–November 2026 and 2027 Papua New Guinea seasons venture into one of Earth’s most culturally diverse regions, where over 800 languages are spoken and some communities maintain traditions unchanged for millennia.
Guests participate in the renowned Tufi canoe experience with local villagers, explore hidden sea caves accessible only by zodiac, and visit blue holes and waterfalls that appear on no tourist maps. These are encounters grounded in mutual respect, shaped by Pearl Expeditions’ close collaboration with local communities to ensure cultural sensitivity and meaningful exchange.
Raja Ampat and Eastern Indonesia: The marine biodiversity capital
Running from January through April 2026, then December 2026 through February 2027 and throughout December 2027, the Indonesian itineraries explore waters where 75 percent of all known coral species congregate alongside 1,800 reef fish species.
Beyond the marine spectacle, guests trace the colonial spice trade’s remnants through Raja Ampat, swim alongside whale sharks in Saleh Bay, witness Komodo dragons in their natural habitat, and journey by traditional klotok boats through Borneo’s pristine rivers to Camp Leakey, where endangered orangutans move through ancient forest canopy.
The Borneo expeditions also include walks across Mount Bromo’s otherworldly volcanic landscape and participation in village celebrations where ancient traditions remain vibrantly alive.
Rowley Shoals and Indigenous Australia’s songlines
The October Rowley Shoals expeditions position guests 300 kilometers west of Broome at one of Earth’s most pristine coral reef systems, where coral walls plunge into cobalt depths and lagoons shimmer in graduated shades of turquoise.
September departures to Arnhem Land, the Torres Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef navigate Indigenous Australia’s most significant cultural regions, where 65,000 years of unbroken knowledge systems inform every encounter and ancient songlines guide modern discovery.
The practicalities of going remote
Paspaley Pearl offers expeditions as short as five nights, with longer itineraries and premium suite categories available throughout the collection. The intimate scale of of the vessel makes these journeys possible also naturally limits availability.
Bookings for the 2026–2027 calendar are open now. For discerning globetrotters who understand that the world’s most profound experiences often occur far from established routes, Pearl Expeditions offers something increasingly rare: access to places where the primary journey remains one of genuine discovery.
About the Author: Jason Kerr
