An urgent message lit up phones around the island: it was baby sea turtle o'clock. Yes, at Bawah, a resort island in a remote stretch of Indonesia, the sea turtle protection program is so serious that guests are expected to abandon dinner and let their bathwater go cold. Three resident marine biologists collect sea turtle eggs before monitor lizards can snack on them, re-nest them in a protective hut, and monitor them for hatching. The babies then exit via a sort of bowling lane in the sand, with little walls to keep them on track. Because if you're going to witness a miracle, it should be well-choreographed.
Watching - and, of course, filming - this miracle is one of the reasons guests from around the world have ponied up tens of thousands of dollars. Indonesia has about 17,000 islands, scattered like jewels on a necklace, and Bawah Reserve owns six of them, creating its own private paradise in the South China Sea. Getting there is an adventure in itself: guests fly to Singapore, then take a black town car to a ferry port, glide across the Singapore Strait to Batam, then another luxury car to Hang Nadim Airport, where they board a private seaplane. Only 10 passengers fit, and luggage is strictly limited to 15 kilograms per person. The resort provides amenities like sunscreen, shampoo, bathrobes, and even caftans to help with the enforced minimalism.
Seventy-five minutes later, the plane lands on water, greeted by uniformed staff waving in unison and proffering cold towels. The Riau Islands are closer to Singapore than Jakarta, and while Batam is the best-known, many islands are uninhabited, home to spotted doves, fruit bats, and blacktip reef sharks. Arriving at Bawah, private butlers escort guests to suites with hand-carved wooden name boards. Wi-Fi is available for those who can't quit social media, but the hotel also provides basic phones programmed only to call concierges.
This luxury doesn't come cheap: rooms start at $1,980, with a three-night minimum. That includes three meals and one spa treatment per day, but guests can add private beach dinners ($1,000), alcoholic drinks, or upgrade spa treatments. The priciest suite, a four-bedroom with infinity pool, costs $12,300 in high season. For the truly extravagant, there's another island with accommodations that can be hired entirely, complete with staff.
Paul Robinson, chief of operations, says Bawah is for people 'bored with the Maldives.' While Maldives resorts excel at overwater bungalows and doing nothing, Bawah offers more activities: coffee tastings, perfume-making classes, snorkeling, wild swimming, and scuba diving. The spa, Aura, is an adult treehouse with Indonesian ingredients like coffee and honey scrubs, ginger and kaffir lime massages, and green tea facials. Guests get one treatment per day, and there's a dry sauna, wet sauna, and cold plunge pool. Daily yoga is held in an overwater bungalow with a small gym, but staff will ferry equipment to rooms via golf carts for those who prefer privacy.
Everything is curated to look un-curated: bathtubs carved from native wood, beds with silk clouds, no gold faucets. Before arrival, guests submit preferences on sleep and food allergies, and staff memorize them, offering white wine ('I know you don't like red') and fruit salad without grapefruit. At night, custom chocolate bark appears as a turndown gift. Meals are local and seafood-heavy, paired with house-made kombucha. Twice a week, the beachfront restaurant becomes an Indonesian market. A boutique sells swimsuits made of recycled ocean plastic and gelato with daily flavors on a chalkboard. The library offers books on Indonesian culture alongside thrillers.
It's all a bit White Lotus - but without the dread. 'Barefoot luxury' is a cliché Robinson hates, but he admits it describes the typical guest: someone who can afford the best but believes the ultimate luxury is escaping it all. In a way, Bawah is a larger version of the sea turtle nest - peaceful, coddled, and regularly checked on. Now, all that's left is to head to the sea and thrive.