When Richard Kvech first set foot on Pinang four years ago, a dilapidated bungalow used by passing fishermen was the only sign of human life on the island.
Kvech and three friends, all from the Czech Republic, slept in hammocks and cooked on the beach while dreaming of creating an eco-retreat on the 50-acre Indonesian island off the west coast of Sumatra.
Tomas Ouhel, a member of the team, had encountered Pinang while doing maintenance work on the nearby island of Bangkaru a year before.
After a year of discussion – between them and the two families that own the island – the team, Kvech and Ouhel, along with photographer Stephan Kotas and fertility clinic co-owner Martin Mrazek, signed a 50-year contract to create a small ecological resort on the island, Kvech said.
Construction of an ecological resort
Using local wood, the foursome built a guest bungalow and dug wells to access the island’s underground freshwater, before installing solar panels for electricity, Kvech said. Supply and labor costs were funded out of the group’s pocket, he said.
Tomas Ouhel, second from right, was the first of the four friends to see the Indonesian island. Together with Stephan Kotas, Martin Mrazek and Richard Kvech, the team leased the small island from two families and built an eco-resort.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
They then built staff quarters, a beachside common area and four more guest bungalows, which together can accommodate 12 people. The main bungalows have bathrooms, while the smaller ones share facilities, all connected to an organic septic system, Kvech said.
The team also created a fruit and vegetable garden in keeping with the island’s natural vegetation – an approach known as permaculture – and introduced chickens so visitors could have fresh eggs. They compost organic food scraps and recycle glass and cans, he said.
There are five guest bungalows, as well as a shared beach area. The eco-resort “is not for people looking for a high-end vacation … It’s more for people who want to live with nature,” said operator Richard Kvech.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
The previously uninhabited island welcomed its first paying visitors two years ago, Kvech said. Kvech, a former medical travel coordinator, is now in charge of marketing and permaculture on Pinang Island.
“Before we got to Pinang, there was almost nothing on the island – a small path around, a collapsed bungalow and a small field. It was really unspoiled jungle that had not been interrupted by humans,” Kvech told CNBC Travel.
The eco-resort was constructed using local materials such as shells, driftwood and coconut wood. Accommodations are described as simple and minimalistic.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
“We try to disrupt it as little as possible. It’s such a beautiful island and we don’t want to destroy the pristine nature, so our place only takes up one or two percent of it. There are swamps, bamboo forests, coconut trees, hills. There are crabs, lizards and snakes. The jungle is very active.
The cost of accommodation
Since opening to the public two years ago, Penang Island has welcomed 100 visitors and has become an attractive destination for yoga and surfing, Kvech said. He got interest from other groups, too, he said — from writers to martial artists, DJs to gardeners.
Pinang Island is 50 hectares. The architecture built for the eco-resort takes up “one or two percent,” Richard Kvech said.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
The island costs $999 per night for eight people. Up to four additional guests can stay for $125 per person per night.
The price includes all meals, daily cleaning, weekly change of towels and linen, Starlink satellite reception and 4G Wi-Fi, as well as activities such as snorkelling, fishing, stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking.
For an extra $500 per night, guests can take guided surfing trips to places like the Bay of Plenty or Bangkaru and other nearby islands.
Getting there
Visitors, however, should be prepared for a long journey to Pinang Island with many stops, Kvech said.
This usually involves a long-haul flight from a major city in Singapore or the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. From there, it’s a short flight to Medan, the capital of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, where many visitors choose to spend the night. Early the next morning, the guests board another flight to the city of Singkil, in Aceh Province, Indonesia.
Visitors can dive, fish, farm and cook while visiting. Many enjoy the surfing, which the eco-resort managers describe as world-class.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
The last leg of the trip is a one and a half hour boat ride to Pinang Island. This may be a sneaky one – in August 2023, a boat en route to Pinang from the nearby surfing hot spot of Nias Island capsized during a storm. Seven people were missing at sea for two nights and one day, Kvech and the team confirmed statement. A large-scale search and rescue mission located six of the passengers, a group of Australian surfers. But the captain, a local Indonesian, was tragically missing.
“We express our deepest sympathy for the distress caused by this unfortunate event and recognize the importance of working with the wider Pulau Banyak community to improve maritime safety standards of ships and captain training in the area,” the statement said.
“This incident serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the sea and the importance of advanced safety measures. In light of this, we want to reassure our community that we are taking decisive action,” it said.
Since Pinang Island takes some effort to get to, its operators told CNBC Travel that a 10-night stay is recommended, but they also accept weekly bookings.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
The resort was temporarily closed, Kvets said, but reopened after the group, which previously relied on local boats, bought its own fiberglass boat. It is equipped with a VHF marine radio, Garmin Inreach satellite communicator, Ocean Signal GPS transmitter, smoke flares, flashlights, buoyancy rings, life jackets and whistles, he said.
The team also established the Fifan Foundation, named after the missing captain, to improve safety training for other local captains, Kvech said. They also changed the boat transfer point from Nias Island to Singil, which is a shorter, safer trip, he said.
“For adventurous souls”
The hope, going forward, is to keep Pinang Island niche and familiar, Kvech said.
“I can never imagine that we would operate a hotel for 50-plus people. It would be a logistical disaster, as well as an environmental disaster,” Kvech said.
The island employs 12 locals, including a kitchen crew that cooks a mix of Western and Indonesian dishes.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
He also said the island is not for travelers looking for a high-end vacation.
“It’s more for people who want to live with nature again and find their balance. It’s for adventurous souls — people who want to experience something very remote, but still want to have a certain level of quality and comfort.”
Kvech said he splits his time between Pinang Island and the Czech Republic and admitted that living on a desert island is not always the fantasy many people imagine.
The island employs 12 locals, including a kitchen crew that cooks a mix of Western and Indonesian dishes.
Source: Segara Bumi Indah
“It’s definitely not a fairy tale. It’s the most difficult project I’ve ever been a part of,” Kvech said. “We had to learn to understand the culture of the people and the island itself. Every day there are issues that we need to resolve.”
“But when I hear comments from visitors, that they were really happy that they made such a long journey and enjoyed their time in Pinang, that makes me happy.”