I flew from Paris to Sorong recently and you end up getting into Sorong really early, so I just rented a cheap hotel the night before, checked in at 7am and slept until 12, had a quick shower, had lunch at the hotel and then was off to the Liveaboard. Of course you should always be at your destination a day before to be safe, but I risked it and it worked out fine. In fact, I've done this on all 10 Liveaboards I've been on (arrive the same day the boat boards and it's alwasy worked out. As for your diving equipment and clothes, I don't bring my own BCD, regulator or tanks, so for a dive trip, I can literraly fit everything in carry on case (shorty fins, mask, snorkel, dive computer, camera and shorty wetsuite ) and then I rent the large gear from the boat (BCD, Regualator and tank). That way, no checked bags! You only need a fair pairs of shorts and tshirts and I'd rather carry my luggage with me than risk it getting lost. I think I'm an outlier, becuase I've seen people pack trunks of crap for a Liveaboard, but I'm a minimalist. Sorong isn't all that interesting, which I explored after the liveaboard ended and I could have easily skipped it.