This Indonesian Yacht Charter Will Let You Help Save the World's Most Endangered Sharks

RAJA AMPAT

Forget snorkeling past the reef and calling it a day. A new expedition launching in 2027 is turning guests into actual field conservationists — tagging, tracking, and even naming the sharks they help save, all from the deck of one of the most celebrated sailing yachts in the world.

Photo Credit: Cookson Adventures & Silolona

Indonesian Phinisi yacht charter specialists Silolona Sojourns have partnered with luxury adventure travel company Cookson Adventures to launch The Lost Sharks of Raja Ampat — a once-in-a-lifetime conservation itinerary hosted by ReShark, the Indonesian organisation behind one of the world's most ambitious shark rewilding programmes. Running exclusively through Cookson Adventures from March 25 to April 4, 2027, the 10-day expedition puts guests directly into the fieldwork of saving the region's critically endangered leopard sharks — a species nearly wiped out for its fins, with as few as 20 believed left in the wild back in 2020.

Photo Credit: ReShark

What Guests Do

Led by ReShark's Executive Director Dr. Mark Erdmann and Programme Manager Nesha Ichida, the trip isn't a passive wildlife-watching cruise. Guests will use satellite tagging technology — first trialled by ReShark this year — to track juvenile leopard sharks in real time, diving to locate the pups in the wild. The itinerary includes visits to two shark nurseries, at Kri Island and Misool, where guests take part in the actual process of releasing shark pups into the ocean before spending days attempting to re-find them, interspersed with diving across some of Raja Ampat's most celebrated dive sites, including the Fam Islands, Balbulol, Wagmab, and Mesempta.

The science is bookended by five-star comfort: guests sail aboard a tandem charter of Silolona and Si Datu Bua, two handcrafted luxury Phinisi yachts, with evening discussions with scientific experts, kayaking, trekking, and cultural exploration worked in around the conservation work.

Photo Credit: Cookson Adventures & Silolona

The Documentary Twist

A film crew from Cookson Productions joins the voyage throughout, capturing footage that's later cut into a short wildlife documentary. Guests can choose to fund, co-create, or even appear in the final film, which will be released publicly to spotlight the ongoing recovery of Raja Ampat's leopard shark population.

Photo Credit: ReShark

What It Costs

The full experience is priced from £368,000 (roughly US$485,000) for the 10-night trip, covering a group of up to 14 guests across both yachts. Built into that price is a conservation donation to ReShark that funds the adoption of two leopard shark pups — covering egg shipping, nursery rearing, and satellite and acoustic tagging. Guests get to name their adopted pups and receive photo and video updates tracking their growth for up to six months, right through to the pups' eventual release.

For more information and to enquire about booking, visit silolona.com and cooksonadventures.com.