The Breaker Times

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-hectare Indonesian island off the western coast of Sumatra.

Tomas Ouhel, a member of the group, had come across Pinang while doing conservation work on the nearby island of Bangkaru a year before.

After a year of discussion — among themselves and the two families that own the island — the group, Kvech and Ouhel, along with photographer Stephan Kotas and fertility clinic co-owner Martin Mrazek, signed a 50-year lease to create a small eco-resort on the island, said Kvech.

Using locally sourced wood, the foursome built a guest bungalow and dug wells to access the island’s underground fresh water, before putting up solar panels for electricity, said Kvech. Supply and labor costs were funded by the group’s own pocket, he said.

They then built staff quarters, a beachfront communal space and four more guest bungalows, which together can fit 12 people. The main bungalows have bathrooms while the smaller ones share facilities, all of which are connected to an organic septic waste system, said Kvech.

The group also established a fruit and vegetable garden in line with the island’s natural vegetation — an approach known as permaculture — and introduced chickens so guests can have fresh eggs. They compost organic food waste and recycle glass and cans, he said.

The previously uninhabited island received its first paying guests two years ago, said Kvech. Kvech, a former medical travel coordinator, is now in charge of marketing and permaculture at Pinang Island.

“Before we came to Pinang, there was hardly anything on the island — a small pathway around, a collapsed bungalow and a small field. It was really pristine jungle which had not been interrupted by human beings,” Kvech told CNBC Travel.

“We are trying to interrupt it as little as possible. It’s such a beautiful island and we don’t want to ruin 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 hermit crabs, lizards and gumtree snakes. The jungle is very active.”

Since it opened to the public two years ago, Pinang Island has welcomed 100 guests and has become an appealing destination for yoga and surf retreats, Kvech said. He’s received interest from other groups as well, he said — from writers to martial artists, DJs to gardeners.

The island costs $999 per night for eight people. Up to four additional guests can stay for  $125 per person per night.

The rate includes all meals, daily cleaning, a weekly change of towels and linen, Starlink satellite reception and 4G Wi-Fi, as well as activities like snorkeling, fishing, stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking.

For $500 more per night, guests can take guided surf trips to places like the Bay of Plenty, or to Bangkaru and other nearby islands.

Guests, however, should be prepared for a long journey to Pinang Island with multiple stops, Kvech said.

That typically involves a long-haul flight from a major city to Singapore or the Malaysian capital of 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, guests board another flight to the town of Singkil, in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The final leg of the journey is an hour and a half boat ride to Pinang Island. This can be a treacherous 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, as Kvech and the group confirmed in a statement. A large-scale search and rescue mission recovered six of the passengers, a group of Australian surfers. But the captain, a local Indonesian, was tragically not found.

“We express our deepest sympathy for the distress caused by this unfortunate event and we acknowledge the importance of working with the broader Pulau Banyak community to improve marine safety standards of vessels and captain training in the region,” the statement read.

“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 assure our community that we are taking decisive action,” it stated.

The resort closed temporarily, Kvech said, but reopened after the group, who had previously relied on local vessels, purchased their own fiberglass boat. It’s equipped with a marine VHF radio, a Garmin Inreach satellite communications device, an Ocean Signal GPS transmitter, smoke flares, flashlights, floating rings, life jackets and whistles, he said.

The group also set up the Fifan Foundation, in the name of the missing captain, to improve safety training for other local sea captains, Kvech said. They also changed the boat transfer point from Nias Island to Singkil, which is a shorter, safer journey, he said.

The hope, going forward, is to keep Pinang Island niche and intimate, said Kvech.

“I can never imagine that we will be running a hotel for 50 plus people. It would be a logistical disaster, and an environmental one as well,” said Kvech.

He also said the island isn’t 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 divides his time between Pinang Island and the Czech Republic, and admitted that life on a desert island is not always the fantasy many people imagine.

“It’s definitely not a fairy tale. It’s the hardest project I have ever been involved in,” said Kvech. “We’ve had to learn to understand the culture of the people, and the island itself. Issues come up every day that we need to resolve.” 

“But when I hear feedback from guests, that they were really happy that they went such a long journey and enjoyed their time on Pinang, that makes me happy.”