Luxury safari company andBeyond is taking its conservation-first formula to the water. Its first river expedition yacht, the Amazon Explorer, launches in the Peruvian Amazon this December, and an early-bird offer is live until the end of October.
Book by 31 October 2026 and you'll get 20% off departures between 15 December 2026 and 30 June 2027. Entry pricing is from $5,190 per person for the shortest sailing, so the discount is a meaningful saving on what is firmly a high-end product.
The yacht carries just 15 cabins across three tiers: 12 luxury suites, two superior suites and one deluxe suite, capped at 32 guests. Luxury suites run from 33 square metres, while the deluxe stretches past 80 square metres. Design is a collaborative effort between yacht architect Ken Freivokh and Adriana Hoyos Interior Design, with interiors drawing on Shipibo-Conibo culture and local Kené art — a nice change from the generic polish you get on big-ship cruises.
Itineraries come in three-, four- and seven-night options, with the ship doubling as a floating base for daily forays. Smaller skiffs take guests deep into the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, a five-million-acre conservation area widely regarded as one of the richest wildlife habitats in the Amazon. Expect the chance to spot pink river dolphins, macaws, monkeys and caiman rather than waterslides and buffets.
For travellers who like the idea of an Amazon river cruise but want something more intimate and design-led than the standard vessels plying the route, this is a genuinely new option. The small guest count and skiff-based excursions put the emphasis on wildlife and guide-led exploration — much closer to a safari experience than a cruise-ship holiday. The catch, as with most small luxury ships, is that cabins are few, so the discount window is a smart time to lock in a spot, especially over the December-to-June period when high-season dates tend to fill first.