Who we are?
Explore Sumba, licensed by the Department of Tourism with license number: 03/TDUP-PW/53.12/09/2016, is one of the pioneer licensed tour operators in Sumba.
When we visited Sumba the first time in 2016, we saw so much potential that this magical island has, yet Sumba is very much untouched and unknown by the world.
With our background as a travel agent, our simple mission is to introduce Sumba worldwide in a sustainable way possible at the same time working hand in hand with the community to build the area and empower the people.
We strive to be the fastest in industry in term of instantly replying to our clients’ queries and feedback at any given point of time. And our committed team members headed by dedicated team leader ensure 24 x 7 (365 days) nonstop support for reservation, co-ordination and operations as per your time zone.
Our highly experienced and professional staffs are here at your service.
Cheers
Explore Sumba’s Team
Highlights of our services
Meet our team
Norberto and Melysa, the founders of Explore Sumba, have traveled and worked around Indonesia. The luxury of being engaged directly to the diversity of amazing places with its unique people and its unique culture, include the less visited and unknown area, makes them understand the ones you would trust to handle your perfect holiday. They are confident that their initiation with Explore Sumba can help to introduce this island worldwide.
Norberto Rodriguez Sanchez
Co-Founder
Was born and grew up in Canary Islands. In 2006 he moved to Indonesia to pursue his marine adventure and is falling in love instantly with the colourful underwater life of Indonesia. He also worked as a guide, leading land trips especially to the areas that were rarely touched by mass tourism. After years of great journey, he started his own travel company which gave him even more chances & reasons to travel extensively around Indonesia. In 2016, he decided to open Explore Sumba, also known as Jelajah Sumba, to introduce this magical island and its amazing culture and nature to the world.
Melysa Charlex
Co-Founder
Was born in a small city in South East Sulawesi and grew up in Java, she have traveled extensively to most part of West Indonesia since she was 10 years old. Her passion of knowing different places with its unique cultures and people makes her loving her home-country even more. With years of experience and knowledge in tourism management, she is definitely the one person you want to talk to when preparing your trip.
Yuli
Travel Designer & Sales
Our Travel Designer and Salesperson in charge of Explore Sumba. She has been in the tourism industry since 2013 which makes her a very knowledgeable person in this field. She is always excited to assist people to arrange their holiday, and to show to the world that Sumba (Indonesia) has a lot of beautiful places that are worth visiting. She is willing to share as much information so people can get their best memorable moments.
Gilang Boban
Operational Staff
Just call him Boban. An Explore Sumba’s professional driver and guide with passion for traveling. He was born in Flores but moved to Sumba and now he lives with his beloved wife who is a native. He has explored almost every inch of Sumba which makes him a well experienced guide who knows the best spots in the island. His passion is traveling and your journey with him will be full of fun!
Why travel with us?
Explore Sumba is the first licensed tour operator in West Sumba. Sumba is a piece of paradise that is not yet spoiled by tourism… and so we want to keep it that way! This is one of many reasons why we run our tours in a very sustainable way.
As well as working hand in hand with the communities, we also arrange tours where guests will engage with locals to witness their daily life. We also utilize their services to provide traditional bites and drinks so our guests can be introduced to part of their culture. We help to empower the community and make use of their value into something that will be profitable for them in the long term. Our local guides know the villagers, include the head of the village, for so many years, so the visit to the village will be like a visit to an old friend and family. Our guests will be welcomed and treated as a part of the family. We think this is very important because this way the villagers also learn to preserve and share their culture.
Being local, our guides and drivers are also nature lovers themselves. They will advise best places and times for magnificent photos. You will get no other than first-hand information from our team on how to get amazing experiences and pictures of Sumba, starting from the villages, beaches, waterfalls, rocks configuration, lakes, savannah, and many more.
Many tours start by sunrise and end by sunset and there are some out of the beaten track routes that will not allow guests to have meals in a restaurant. For these routes, we will provide a picnic served in a reusable lunch box that will keep the food warm and keep Sumba clean from excess rubbish. We also try our best to reduce plastic waste. All of our guests will get a stainless-steel water bottle that can be refilled during their trip and brought home as souvenir for their unforgettable experience in this island.
Why book with us?
1. Our commitment to ensure environmental sustainability includes our dedicated program to reduce plastic bottles usage
2. Our direct contact with almost all hotels in Sumba, including the ones in remote areas, provides you with more options on competitive rates
3. Our highlight products make us one of the strongest DMC in the region with numerous visited sites and best managed sightseeing tours across Sumba
4. Our in-house ground handling products ensure best guaranteed rates, private tours, last minute availability, most flexible booking and cancellation policy
5. Our committed team members headed by dedicated team leader ensure 24 x 7 (365 days) nonstop support for reservation, co-ordination and operations as per your time zone
6. We provide credit card payment with minimum % through Visa and MasterCard
7. We strive to be the fastest in industry in term of instantly replying to our client’s queries and feedback at any given point time
TripAdvisor
-
We just returned from a 5D/4N trip to Sumba. What a truly amazing experience it was! The guide Gilang Boban was very responsive during the planning stages which... read more
Well-chosen accommodations (we purposefully didn’t want to stay at Nihi at all)... Tasteful and variety of meals that were well planned in advance (food was ready when we arrived at the restaurants)... Breathtaking sights It was an overall fantastic and memorable trip!!
Thank you Explore Sumba. And thank you Boban!
Maura-SoeparjadiKwik
May 25, 2022Great experience in Sumba - Great place meets great service what a satisfying experience. Surely, recommend my business fellas to use this tour and travel whenever they want to visit Sumba. vanessyak
March 15, 2020Good Profesional Service - It was my first trip to Sumba and very satisfied with the service, especially the tour leader Gilang Boban, friendly, strong knowledge about all Sumba area and a good photographer.Recommended when you are planning a trip to Sumba
PoullyHB G
December 10, 2019
TripAdvisor
-
We just returned from a 5D/4N trip to Sumba. What a truly amazing experience it was!
The guide Gilang Boban was very responsive during the planning stages which... read more
Well-chosen accommodations (we purposefully didn’t want to stay at Nihi at all)... Tasteful and variety of meals that were well planned in advance (food was ready when we arrived at the restaurants)... Breathtaking sights It was an overall fantastic and memorable trip!!
Thank you Explore Sumba. And thank you Boban!
Maura-SoeparjadiKwik
May 25, 2022
