The acclaimed African safari operator launches the Amazon Explorer this September — and the Peruvian Amazon will never look quite the same again.
For decades, &Beyond has set the benchmark for luxury safari in Africa — the kind of operation where your guide knows the name of every lion in the pride and your tent somehow feels more comfortable than home. This September, the company launches an entirely new chapter: the &Beyond Amazon Explorer, a purpose-built river expedition yacht on the Peruvian Amazon, and one of the most anticipated vessel debuts in luxury travel this year.
The Amazon Explorer, which will be based out of Iquitos, the sprawling, road-inaccessible city that serves as the gateway to the upper Peruvian Amazon, has been created in collaboration with yacht architect Ken Freivokh with interiors by Adriana Hoyos. When it launches, the vessel will bring the visual language of ocean-going yacht design to a river that has, until now, been defined by more utilitarian aesthetics. The result promise to be striking: a sleek, elegant silhouette that sits in pointed contrast to the tangled green immensity of the rainforest around it.
A Yacht Built for 32 — And No More
The Amazon Explorer will carry a maximum of 32 guests across 15 suites — 12 Luxury Suites, two Superior Suites, and a single Deluxe Suite. Luxury Suites begin at 33-square metres, while the Deluxe Suite reaches over 80-square metres, placing it among the most generous accommodations available on any Amazonian vessel.
Interiors throughout draw on the artistic traditions of the Shipibo-Conibo people, the indigenous community whose ancestral territory encompasses much of the region the yacht will sail. Touchpoints of Kené art — the Shipibo-Conibo’s distinctive geometric visual language — appear across fabrics, surfaces, and decorative detailing, grounding the vessel’s design in genuine cultural context rather than generic tropical aesthetic.
Public spaces include spa and gym facilities, dining areas, an interactive cooking station, and an Explorer Centre — a dedicated briefing room where guides prepare guests for each day’s excursions with the naturalist depth that has long defined &Beyond’s land-based programmes. A River Retreat with pool deck and lounge completes the offering.
Into the Pacaya-Samiria
The Amazon Explorer‘s itineraries — three, four, and seven nights in duration — operate from Iquitos through the smaller river town of Nauta and into the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, a protected wetland of approximately 20,000 square kilometres that ranks among the most biodiverse and pristine ecosystems in the entire Amazon basin.
Often called the “Jungle of Mirrors” for its vast networks of reflective lagoons and flooded forest, Pacaya-Samiria is home to pink river dolphins, giant river otters, black caimans, manatees, and an extraordinary density of birdlife that draws ornithologists from around the world.
All excursions will be led by expert naturalist guides — the Amazon Explorer‘s equivalent of &Beyond’s legendary safari rangers — exploring tributaries, oxbow lakes, and community areas inaccessible to larger vessels. The smaller the boat, in the Amazon, the further in you go.
Conservation at the Core
True to &Beyond’s founding philosophy, the Amazon Explorer is being developed alongside a suite of community conservation initiatives. These include support for a community-led river turtle repopulation programme and a planned scholarship scheme for local students, embedding the vessel’s operation within the long-term ecological and social health of the region it explores.
What This Means for Amazon Luxury Cruising
The arrival of &Beyond on the Peruvian Amazon is a significant moment for the destination. Alongside established operators such as Aqua Expeditions and Delfin Cruises, the Amazon Explorer raises the competitive ceiling of the entire sector — and signals to the broader luxury travel market that the Peruvian Amazon has definitively arrived as a first-tier destination.
For guests, the prospect of experiencing one of earth’s last great wildernesses through &Beyond’s particular lens — intimate, expert-led, conservation-anchored, and unfailingly beautiful — is a compelling one. The Amazon has always deserved this level of attention. It has simply been waiting for the right vessel to deliver it.
If you’re contemplating an Amazon River cruise, before to check out our guide to the best luxury Amazon river cruises as well as our Amazon photography tips, our packing guide, and our adventures with Aqua Expedition on the Upper Amazon.
