Amanwana, a remote tented resort on Moyo Island in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province, is showcasing how a luxury accommodation model can be combined with access to protected marine and forest environments.
The resort is located off the coast of Sumbawa and is reached by a combination of road and boat transfers from Sultan Muhammad Kaharuddin Airport. Guests travel by road to a private harbor before continuing across the Flores Sea aboard Aman X, a two-level open-air cruiser. The resort provides transfers as part of its accommodation package, incorporating the journey into the overall guest experience.
Amanwana opened in 1993 and has been positioned by the operator as Asia’s first luxury tented resort. Its design combines permanent infrastructure with canvas accommodation, with 17 tents arranged along a grassy area near the shoreline. The property’s main pavilion uses traditional Indonesian architectural elements, including teak columns and an alang-alang grass roof.
The resort’s tents measure approximately 58 square meters and are divided into jungle, ocean-view, and ocean-front categories.
Although canvas is used for the roofs, the accommodations incorporate solid walls, teak window and door frames, hardwood floors, and furnished interiors. Ocean-front tents also provide outdoor spaces with hammocks and seating overlooking Amanwana Bay.
For outdoor hospitality operators, the property provides an example of how tented accommodations can be positioned as a premium lodging product without relying on a large number of individual units. Its relatively small inventory also allows the resort to focus on the surrounding natural environment as a central component of the guest experience.
The model combines accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, and recreational activities into a single resort offering.
Food and beverage operations are centered on an open-air pavilion where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served. Indonesian cuisine is a major part of the menu, including Sumbawanese bakela, a traditional sharing-style meal featuring yellow rice, curries, grilled meats, fish, and vegetable dishes. In-room refreshments and non-alcoholic beverages are also included in the resort’s all-inclusive package, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The surrounding destination is similarly central to the resort’s positioning. Moyo Island, neighboring Satonda Island, and surrounding waterways have had protected status since 1976, while the area was gazetted as a national and marine park in 2022. Activities available to guests include snorkeling, scuba diving, kayaking, hiking, and visits to Mata Jitu waterfall.
The combination of a limited number of tents, premium pricing, and nature-based activities illustrates one approach to developing outdoor accommodations in environmentally sensitive destinations. Rather than relying on high unit volumes, the resort uses location, privacy, access to nature, and bundled services as components of its accommodation proposition.
As of the source article, double tents start at $2,991 per night with a three-night minimum. The rate includes round-trip transportation from Sumbawa Airport, full board, in-room refreshments and non-alcoholic beverages, laundry, and non-motorized watersports equipment.
The resort is located on Moyo Island in West Sumbawa Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.
The source article also raises an animal-welfare concern regarding the resort’s whale shark experience, stating that whale sharks are hand-fed from a fishing boat.
This contrasts with the broader conservation-oriented setting and highlights an operational consideration for hospitality businesses offering wildlife encounters: guest activities can carry separate environmental and animal-welfare implications even when they take place within or near protected areas.
