Nihi Sumba

Sumba


Formerly Nihiwatu, few luxuries are excluded from this celebrity-favoured resort, where you might bump into the Beckhams. Hefty price tag aside (we've listed the low-season rate), you can understand the draw to this stunning accommodation, where every detail is considered and there's a virgin beach crashing with surf that folds into turquoise barrels on Sumba's ruggedly beautiful coast.

What is excluded are non-guests. There are questionable, self-imposed restrictions on who can access the (public) ocean in front of the resort.

Amenities are myriad – it even has its own free-diving pro. Accommodation is limited to 30 units and there is a multi-day minimum stay. Guests are hauled around West Sumba in African safari vehicles; as one local said to us, 'I guess we are the zebras'.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Sumba attractions

1. Pantai Watubela

3.55 MILES

You'll need your own wheels or a driver to access this slice of paradise, which is part of Patiala Bawa village, but the privacy and serenity is worth it…

2. Kampung Praigoli

6.1 MILES

Best known for its nearly 200-year-old Watu Kajiwa, the deeply traditional, sprawling village of Praigoli is notched in the dusty, leafy hills above Sumba…

3. Kampung Waigalli

6.23 MILES

Downhill from the riverside settlement of Taramanu, just after the sports field, you'll meet a good road that leads to a huddle of about 30 thatched, peak…

4. Kampung Tarung

10.26 MILES

Tarung is home to five tribes, each with their own small, thatched shrine where only the local ratu (priest) is allowed to pray and commune with the…

5. Kampung Prai Klembung

10.28 MILES

It’s only a short stroll from most hotels to Prai Klembung, a nearby village with hefty concrete-slab tombs in an overgrown but atmospheric setting…

6. Kampung Waitabar

10.35 MILES

It’s only a short stroll from most hotels to Prai Klembung and then up the hill that juts from the centre of town to Tarung and Waitabar. Kampung Waitabar…

7. Kampung Tambelar

10.46 MILES

Has very impressive tombs and stone graves, with rows of houses with thatched roofs. Leave a donation of 20,000Rp or 50,000Rp if there are a few of you.

8. Gallu Bakul

16.85 MILES

At Gallu Bakul, 2.5km down the road from the modernising village of Kabonduk, is Sumba’s heaviest tomb, weighing in at 70 tonnes. At its eastern end is a…