Nikolai Island is an Indonesian ecotourism haven with unique origins. The island was purchased in 2004 by a small group of Indonesian expatriates residing in Singapore who wanted conservation of the natural environment to be a key priority during the resort’s construction. As a result, the fragile reefs in this section of the South China Sea are healthy and regenerating which makes it a scuba diving paradise. Additionally, the resort’s marketing budget is channeled into a charitable foundation to spread environmental awareness which includes an organic farm used to teach villagers organic farming techniques and programs designed to shift the local population away from poaching and towards ecotourism and sustainable fishing.
The two-story beach houses are handcrafted with driftwood and generously spread out along Nikolai Island’s western shoreline allowing for perfect sunset views. Furthermore, the limited lighting on the island makes for beautiful nighttime skies. Each of the fifteen beach houses comes with an open-air living room, mosquito netting, thatched gazebo.
The hotel is designed to be a respite from modernity as two thirds of the island is undeveloped. The hotel offers a wide variety of culinary options including four bars and an excellent restaurant. For kids, there are movie nights, treasure hunts, and baby sitting services. The resort also has a boat house which offers kayaking, paddle boarding, wind surfing, snorkeling, and plain-old swimming. Other amenities include rock climing and hiking trails, three swimming pools and all-weather tennis courts.