Private expedition | Fully tailored

Private Expedition

Your Socotra, designed around you

A completely customizable expedition built around your dates, your pace and the places you most want to reach. Same Socotri team, same camps and same standard of care - only the route is yours.

Request this expedition How it works

At a glance

Starting price: Quoted per itinerary
Duration: From 5 days upwards
Expedition style: Private 4x4, boat and trekking in any combination
Activity: Set by you - from gentle coastal days to hard mountain terrain
Accommodation: Full-service expedition camping, with luxury tents on request
Best for: Couples, families, friends, photographers and researchers
Route: Any combination of the island's coasts, plateaus and mountains

The journey

Some travellers arrive with a single image in mind: a night under the dragon blood trees, a week photographing the light on Detwah, a research window in Firmihin, a family trip that keeps the walking short and the swimming long. A fixed departure cannot always hold that.

A private expedition starts from a blank map. You tell us what matters - the dates, the people travelling, the pace, the pictures you want to come home with - and we design the route around it. We know every track, camp, boatman and ranger on the island, which is precisely why we can promise a dream expedition and then actually deliver it.

Why travel this route

Choose your own dates, including outside our standard departure windows.
Travel only with your own group - no shared vehicles, no shared camps.
Set the daily rhythm: long drives and summits, or two nights in one place.
Combine any part of our classic, active and trekking routes.
Add specialists: photography guides, botanists, birding guides, ranger-led caving.
Adapt everything to families, dietary needs, accessibility or filming permits.

How it works

From an idea to an expedition

Step 1

Tell us what you have in mind

Send us your dates, group size and the shape of the trip you are imagining - even if it is only a feeling or a photograph. Nothing needs to be decided yet.

Step 2

We design the route

Within a few days you receive a draft itinerary with camps, distances, walking times and a clear price. It is built by the same Socotri team that will travel with you.

Step 3

We refine it together

Swap a canyon for a beach, add a rest day, upgrade the tents, extend the trek. We keep revising until the plan is genuinely yours.

Step 4

We run it on the island

Flights, visa support, permits, rangers, boats, food and camp are all handled by us. On the ground the plan stays flexible around weather, tide and how the group feels.

Our way of travelling

A private expedition is not a fixed route with your name on it. Every camp position, walking day and boat crossing is chosen for your group, and the same crew - driver, guide, cook - stays with you from arrival to departure. Local knowledge still decides what is safe and what is possible; everything else is open.

Good to know

Tailored routes are quoted individually, based on days, group size, vehicles, boats and any specialist guiding. Socotra has one weekly flight window, so we recommend enquiring several months ahead, especially between October and April. Some areas require permits or rangers that must be arranged in advance.

Is this expedition yours?

Choose this if the fixed departures nearly work but not quite, if you are travelling as a family or a small group of friends, or if you have a specific project - photography, film, research, a celebration - that deserves its own itinerary.

What the price includes

Price on request

Meet-and-greet at Socotra Airport, with transfers at the beginning and end of the expedition.
A dedicated 4x4 vehicle and Socotri driver throughout the route.
A maximum of three guests per vehicle, so every traveller has a window seat.
Three freshly cooked meals each day, together with snacks and drinks.
Every night of fully supported expedition camping, including our three private Socotra Unseen camps reserved for our guests and set away from the island's busiest shared camping areas.
Your own standard tent, mattress, pillow and blanket; a luxury tent upgrade can be added on request.
All camp setup and packing handled by our crew, with a comfortable communal seating area plus portable shower and toilet facilities.
An English-speaking Socotri expedition guide from arrival to departure.
Specialist local guides or protected-area rangers for caves, canyons and forests whenever the route requires them.
Entrance fees for every protected nature reserve included in the programme.
Shared meals, nights under the stars and, very often, friendships that travel home with you.