I Rented A Private Island In Indonesia For My Birthday
18th March 2018
Yep. You read the title correctly. I lived my best Kardashian life and rented a private island with 18 of my friends for my 30th birthday.
Pulau Joyo is a stunning self sufficient island in Indonesia, near Bintan, surrounded by white sand beaches and clear blue sea. Our journey there started with a 1 hour ferry ride from Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal near Changi in Singapore to Bintan, where we were met by the Joyo team and taken on a private bus to the small jetty on the other side of the island. It’s another 1.5 hours of travel time, but it went quickly with many beers and snacks! The final leg of the journey is a 20-30 minute speedboat ride to the island. It didn’t take long before we could see a pristine white beach in the distance, and staff waiting. We were transferred to smaller boats for the final leg to the shore.
Once we arrived, we knew we’d be well looked after. Don’t even look around for your luggage, just kick off your flip flops, take their welcome drink and walk to the main living and pool area.
The island is deceptively large, with 4 Beach Palaces, 2 Java Palaces, 1 Driftwood Palace and 2 smaller Balé Houses spread out across at least a 600m walk. The palaces are gorgeous, all constructed completely from driftwood salvaged from the sea which sounds basic, but they were very luxurious and spacious. They all have an en-suite, mosquito nets, drinking water but it’s important to note there is no aircon. Not a problem for us tropical dwellers and there is a very nice breeze on the island. The larger accommodation is HUGE and although wonderful, you’ll hardly spend any time there.
The main living area is a two floor open plan house, with a massive swimming pool in front and lots of grass and lounging areas. It’s where we spent most of our time on the island.
If you have a single care in the world, it can probably be taken care of by the team. There are about 25 amazing staff who stay on the island, but you’d never notice! Meals are included in the rate and served 3 times a day, they’ll normally ask you what kind of food you like to eat but the local food is the best! They do an AMAZING beef rendang. You can bring your own alcohol from Singapore or duty free, and they’ll normally waive corkage. Anything else like beers and soft drinks, you can help yourself from the fridge and they simply tally up the empties and bill you at the end.
There are activities like snorkelling, paddle boarding, massages and they can even organise a tour of another island for you. As we were only there for 3D2N, it wasn’t something we chose to do but I’d definitely do it again if I’m there for longer.
As there are no other guests on the island, it is yours to do as you please. Play whatever music you like until whatever time you like, you can just have the best time without disturbing anyone, after all - you’ve paid for this privilege!
They can also arrange beach barbeques and private bonfire and fireworks shows too, which of course I said yes to!
The sunsets from Joyo are amazing too, and the weather is normally clear enough to have an amazing view of the stars in the evening. It is honestly a very special place.
When the boat comes and it’s time to say goodbye, you won’t want to leave. It’s been your home for a few days, and you’ll be so sad it’s all over! It also feels like a longer trip on the way back, and you could be rather hungover like we were.
The island is available to visit as an individual couple or family, but for special occasions you can’t get much better than booking the whole thing. I think most people will find the rates for the whole island rather surprising, given what you actually get for your money and if you think about what you’d normally spend on a regular weekend getaway. It is worth every penny.
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