The practical question that every prospective member arrives at after the conversation about the voyage itself is the logistics question: how do I actually get there? The Naora voyage boards at different ports across its five-year route, and the boarding port for the leg a member is joining is not always the most connected airport in the region.
This article is the practical guide for the member who has confirmed their leg and is now planning the journey from wherever they are to wherever the boat is.
Bodrum (Turkey) — The Opening Leg
Bodrum is the departure port for the Naora circumnavigation in May 2027 and the boarding port for the Mediterranean opening legs. Bodrum Milas airport has direct flights from several European hubs and connecting flights from Brussels via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, which is the most direct routing from Belgium.
The airport is approximately 35 kilometres from the marina by taxi. The marina itself is the Milta Bodrum Marina, which is the base for the blue water fleet departures in the spring season and which has the provisioning and customs clearance infrastructure that the departure requires. Members boarding in Bodrum should plan to arrive the evening before the departure day: the pre-departure briefing and the first Long Table happen on the boarding evening rather than on the morning of departure.
Papeete (French Polynesia) — The Pacific Legs
Papeete on Tahiti is the main boarding port for the Pacific legs from approximately late 2028 through 2029. Papeete’s Faa’a International Airport has Air France connections from Paris Charles de Gaulle and Air Tahiti Nui connections from Los Angeles, which is the standard routing from Europe: Brussels to Paris or Amsterdam, transatlantic to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Papeete.
The total journey time is typically 26 to 30 hours from Brussels. The specific leg boarding location may be Papeete itself or one of the outer island ports depending on where the voyage is in the Pacific chapter at the time of boarding: the pre-departure materials will specify the exact boarding point and the inter-island transport from Papeete if the boarding is not in Papeete itself.
Galle (Sri Lanka) — The Indian Ocean Legs
Galle on Sri Lanka’s south coast is a likely boarding port for the Indian Ocean legs in 2030 and 2031. Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport has direct connections from several European cities and from the Gulf hubs that provide the most efficient routing from Belgium: Brussels to Dubai or Doha, connecting to Colombo, taxi to Galle.
The total journey time is typically 14 to 18 hours. Galle is one of the finest colonial harbour towns on the Indian Ocean and the pre-departure day is worth arriving early for: the Dutch colonial fortifications, the specific quality of the Galle harbour market, and the specific version of Sri Lanka that the approach from the sea produces on the morning our boat departs are all reasons to be there the day before the boarding rather than arriving on the morning of it.
The General Principle
The general principle for every boarding port on the Naora route is to arrive the evening before the departure day. The pre-departure briefing, the cabin settling, the first Long Table, and the specific quality of a night at anchor in the boarding port’s bay on the evening before the passage begins are all experiences that belong to the boarding experience and that the member who arrives on the morning of departure misses.
The flight is worth booking to arrive the evening before. The extra night’s accommodation in the boarding port is part of the cost of the leg and is included in the specific budget calculation that the membership conversation addresses.
