World Voyage 2026

The 2026 season is the opening chapter of the NEPTUN world voyage. Brigantine NEPTUN leaves Bali on 1 May 2026 and reaches Cape Town by 20 December. Leg 1 crosses the Indian Ocean from Bali to Réunion via Komodo, Cocos (Keeling), Rodrigues and Mauritius. Leg 4 then makes the long offshore passage from Réunion to the tip of Africa, standing clear of the Agulhas before rounding the Cape of Good Hope into Cape Town.

Start with the calendar window you have, then look at the character of each leg. Leg 1 (May–Aug, 4,078 nm) is the longest and most remote, three months of trade-wind ocean sailing with island landfalls from Bali to Réunion. Leg 4 (Nov–Dec, 2,360 nm) is the Cape leg, an offshore passage from Réunion to the tip of Africa, the most demanding seamanship of the season, the Agulhas current and the Cape of Good Hope. Read each leg page for full itineraries before you decide.

Yes. Each leg is sold as a stand-alone berth, and most trainees join for one leg only. Leg 1 runs May to August and Leg 4 November to December, so you pick the single window that fits your calendar. The 2026 leg pricing table shows day counts, dates, totals and current spot status.

2026 legs are priced on a shared-cost basis, roughly €70 to €80 per day, that's how the nonprofit covers food, fuel, harbour fees and maintenance, not a profit margin. Total cost depends on length: the 50-day ocean leg from Réunion to Cape Town is €3,499, while the 92-day Indian Ocean opener is closer to €7,300. Membership in Foreningen Neptun (€37 per year) is a separate one-off requirement. Exact totals per leg are in the pricing table on this page.

No. NEPTUN is a sail training ship, and most trainees who join the 2026 legs have never sailed offshore. You start the Greenhand syllabus from day one, basic line handling, harness and safety gear, the watch system, steering a course, reading a chart, and progress on the job, on watch, with patient teaching from professional crew. What matters is reasonable health, willingness to work as part of a watch, and acceptance that you'll be learning fast in your first week.

After rounding the Cape of Good Hope, NEPTUN rests at anchor in Cape Town for thirteen days over Christmas and New Year (20 December 2026 → 2 January 2027). No berths are sold during this window, the ship lies quiet while crew visits family, walks Table Mountain, and prepares for the South Atlantic crossing that opens the 2027 season. The 2027 season then starts from Saldanha Bay, just north of Cape Town, on 2 January.

Weather routing decides departure and arrival dates, not the calendar. The captain may sit in port an extra day or two to let a front pass, or shorten a stay to catch a better window, the priority is always a safe passage over a tidy schedule. Build a small buffer into your travel plans on either end of a leg, especially the Cape leg where the Agulhas current and Southern Ocean fronts make the timing less predictable than the trade-wind passages.

Yes, but they're remote. Within the 2026 season, the most accessible meeting points are Bali (international flights), Réunion (direct flights from Paris) and Cape Town (international flights into a major hub). The Indian Ocean atolls and island stops on Leg 1 are far harder to reach. If a partner or friend wants to come and see the ship, plan around Bali, Réunion or Cape Town.