How Bawah Reserve, one of Southeast Asia’s most luxurious properties, is healing the planet, one sea turtle at a time

It’s 7am on this secluded island, and the soft lap of waves breaks its silence. I leap off the boat and onto the cool sand, following Corina, a marine biologist with sun-bleached hair and a confident stride.

“We combed this beach four times last week, and we didn’t find anything,” she explains. 

Today, we’re on turtle patrol, scanning the beach for tracks and nests where turtles lay eggs deep in the sand. After 30 minutes, Corina suddenly stops and exclaims, pointing ahead, “It’s a nest!”

We dart forward, scaring off two monitor lizards — fat from feeding on turtle eggs — as Corina and her teammate lay face down, scooping fistfuls of sand.

Many of the eggs were already eaten, but the duo managed to salvage six, each resembling a ping-pong ball. These are carefully brought back to a hatchery on the main island, home to overwater bungalows and sea-facing villas. If these six eggs hatch, they will join the nearly 4,000 turtle hatchlings released since 2020.

Paradise, preserved

Welcome to Bawah Reserve, a remote resort in Indonesia’s Anambas Archipelago. Here, luxury tourism is intertwined with the island’s mission: healing the planet, one small act of stewardship at a time. The journey from Singapore takes four hours, and door-to-door service is provided via ferry, car, and seaplane.

This is paradise, preserved as a luxury private island with just 36 keys amidst a fragile ecosystem. The island’s beauty is breathtaking — transparent turquoise waters gently lap against pristine white sands, framed by the lush green of the surrounding forest. Above, the sky is a vast, uninterrupted expanse of blue, creating a sense of serene, infinite isolation.

“Bawah Reserve is founded on the principles of sustainability and conservation,” says Paul Robinson, chief operating officer at Bawah Reserve. “This ethos not only protects the island’s biodiversity but also creates an authentic, immersive experience for our guests — one that allows them to connect deeply with nature.”

It’s part of a critical effort to undo centuries of damage we’ve inflicted on the planet with pollution, overfishing, and climate change. Sea turtle conservation plays a considerable part; these creatures have roamed the seas for millions of years and are among the hardest hit — poached for their eggs and entangled in fishing nets — all while their nesting beaches disappear.

Without them, delicate marine ecosystems unravel, for they graze on seagrass beds, control jellyfish populations and feed on sea sponges that could overwhelm coral reefs.

One with the earth

Existing in harmony with the earth is no easy feat. The resort runs on clean energy, thanks to floating solar panels in the lagoon. A state-of-the-art desalination plant provides fresh drinking water, and waste management is meticulous. Plastic is banned, and everything from food scraps to wastewater is sorted, recycled, or composted.

Doing so is only possible as the resort was built from scratch with sustainability laid into its foundations and without heavy machinery. “We had to rely on skilled craftsmen and manual labour to build everything,” explains Robinson. “Transporting materials to the island and constructing structures by hand required careful planning, but it allowed us to preserve the integrity of the island’s ecosystem, which was a top priority.”

The construction process started in 2012 and was completed in 2017. Everything, from the jetty to the villas, was crafted with traditional techniques — many came to life as beautiful, intricately laid bamboo structures. The jetty alone took a full year to construct, with divers painstakingly moving coral colonies one at a time to protect delicate marine life.

The result is a resort that blooms as part of the landscape, seamlessly blending into the natural beauty of the Anambas Archipelago without sacrificing modern-day creature comforts. 

Room-wise, guests can choose from beachside suites, overwater bungalows, or private villas tucked into the jungle. Expect bathroom fixtures like sinks, soaking tubs and standing showers fashioned out of hammered copper. At the same time, comfortable beds reward guests with a restful night’s sleep after a day of island exploration.

A gentle footprint

The island offers everything from paddleboarding and kayaking across its turquoise waters to guided hikes through dense, untouched jungles. If unwinding is more your speed, the daily spa treatments in the room rate deliver quiet, restorative moments. Otherwise, spend your days tanning by the beach or plunge into the lagoon, snorkelling amongst the vibrant coral reefs teeming with life.

But the island’s true heart beats within its conservation efforts, and guests searching for meaning can relish in the resort’s mission, participate in educational talks, or adopt a turtle nest for US$100 ($133.85). The funds go directly to the Anambas Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the ecosystem.

Having found the nest of six eggs, I decided to adopt one as it serves a wider purpose.

“When will the eggs hatch?” I ask Corina.

“In three months,” she replies, covering the nest with sand. “Only one in a thousand eggs will survive to adulthood, so every egg matters.”

“Do you think all six eggs have a chance of survival?” I ask.

She smiles sadly at me, “Even if one hatches, it’s completely worth the effort.”