Cempedak Private Island review: fall in love with this sustainable slice of paradise in Indonesia

With everything from smart boutique properties and heritage hotels and, of course, the Grand Dame: Raffles, Singapore’s hotel scene gets plenty of buzz. But for something different, there are numerous places within two hours of the Lion City, from Malaysia’s Desaru Coast to Indonesia’s Bintan Island. There’s also a crop of private islands well worth visiting. We checked into Cempedak Private Island to discover the perfect restorative retreat after a busy weekend at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix.

While this stay was complimentary, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Review of Cempedak Private Island

Hotel snapshot

Hotel: Cempedak Private Island
Location: Cempedak Island, 9km off the east coast of Bintan, Indonesia
Neighbourhood: Cempedak Island / Bintan Regency
Villas: 20 private bamboo villas
Style: Barefoot, eco-luxury and wonderfully secluded
Family-friendly: No. Adults only, welcoming guests aged 15+.
Wellness: Rock Spa, open-air massages and yoga
Pool: Private plunge pool in every villa
Dining: Island restaurant serving fresh, locally sourced Indonesian and international dishes
Best for: Couples, honeymoons, digital detoxes, nature lovers and travellers looking for an off-grid luxury escape
Approximate price: Two-night stays for two, including daily board and return Bintan transfers, start from around SGD$1,676 midweek; weekends start around SGD$1,986.

The arrival

Most visitors take a 1.5-hour ferry from Singapore to Bintan, drive an hour across the island to Cempedak’s private ferry pier, then take a 30-minute speedboat to arrive. We nipped over from sister property Nikoi Island, so it’s a much shorter journey by boat.

The first glimpse of Cempedak – which opened in 2017 reveals beautifully designed bamboo architecture that blends seamlessly into the island’s pristine greenery. On disembarkation, it’s immediately clear that this is a Robinson Crusoe experience – albeit one that involves colourful resortwear and a team of friendly staff ready to meet every request.

This is an adults-only island, so a calm tranquillity was apparent as soon as we stepped off the boat. It remained throughout our stay, ensuring total relaxation. We arrived in time for a late lunch, so we were quickly swept up to Cempedak’s main restaurant and completed check-in formalities comfortably ensconced at a table with a view – and a wine in hand.

Sustainability central

In 2013, Bali-based Kiwi architect Miles Humphries was brought in to turn this uninhabited, 17-hectare island into Cempedak. His hospitality experience, combined with expertise in bamboo construction, including that of Indonesia’s Pak Indra, created the bamboo structures that form Cempedak’s guest areas, from the spa and villas to the restaurant and bar.

Sustainability was a key consideration in building the resort. Facilities were built with local materials and labour, and many of these skills have been passed on to the local communities. More importantly, the island uses natural ventilation over air-con, has solar panels and battery banks, and is almost entirely zero waste.

Additionally, the team worked with the island’s natural topography so that only one-third of the island was developed for hotel facilities. The rest remains untouched, allowing guests the chance to enjoy pristine mangroves, towering rock formations, and encounters with rare animal species like pangolins, silver leaf monkeys, and Nicobar pigeons.

But sustainability here goes beyond construction considerations. Staff at Cempedak are mostly local to the neighbouring islands, and as far as possible, the island’s supplies are sourced locally. There’s a small permaculture garden which guests can explore with staff, as well as a seven-hectare farm on Bintan; together, they produce free-range chickens (and eggs), quails, ducks, chillies, salad greens, corn, tomatoes, herbs and spices, as well as fruit like papaya.

Villa life

There are just 20 villas across Cempedak, each one a bamboo masterpiece topped with “alang alang” grass roofs and offering total privacy and immersion in nature. The only difference between each villa is its setting – some are orientated for sunrise, others for sunset, while some offer mesmeric ocean panoramas and the rest, tranquil beach views.

Entering our 150 sq m Seaview villa, I let out an audible gasp. I may have been here before, years ago, but looking across the expansive lounge, through folding glass doors, and over the private infinity pool to see turquoise waves lazily lap at the horizon made me pause to drink it all in.

The duplex villa is simple yet sophisticated, and thoughtfully laid out. We spent hours downstairs, lounging on the centrepiece day bed and drinking Champagne between dips by the pool. Upstairs, the bedroom features a king-size bed dressed in crisp organic white cotton sheets and draped in mosquito nets – all under a vaulted ceiling that adds to the airiness. The ensuite, which also looks out to the ocean, maintains the focus on sustainable elements with natural stone and recycled teak.

The idea here is to create a back-to-nature experience, so the front side of the villa is entirely exposed to the elements. During the day, the folding glass doors are pushed back to let in the tropical breeze; by night, they’re shut to offer a little soundproofing and keep insects at bay. There are ceiling fans, in case it gets a little warm.

To encourage a digital detox, there’s almost no technology in the villa – certainly not a TV. There’s just one iPad so guests can communicate with the Cempedak team to coordinate room service orders or buggy pick-ups. There is wifi, though, which is how I ended up sobbing inconsolably on our last night when I found out – through Instagram – that F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has been dropped from the VCARB team.

Dining

Since Cempedak is a private island, guests don’t have the hassle of trying to find restaurants and reservations for meals. Instead, there’s a mandatory board charge of S$121 that covers three plentiful meals a day in the main restaurant.

The space is simple and elegant, made of bamboo and built in the same style as the island’s other buildings and villas. Tables of two are generously spaced, but the best seats in the house are the hidden dining pods that are wholly al-fresco and offer uninterrupted views of the sea.

You certainly won’t go hungry here. Each meal features multiple courses, and dishes are made of the freshest locally grown ingredients. There’s no buffet in sight – the food waste makes them strictly verboten here. For breakfast, there are barista-made coffees, fresh fruit and bread, and a choice of Western and Indonesian mains.

The cuisine here is largely Indonesian, though there are occasional inflexions from Western traditions. For one dinner, there was a beef salad, a risotto of crayfish and vegetables, and a decadent strawberry cheesecake; for lunch the next day, there was a shared feast of Indonesian dishes, all of which featured well-balanced flavours and just a touch of spice.

Each evening, we caught the sunset from the Dodo Bar. A towering bamboo structure with a spacious terrace perched over the sea, the bar is the perfect place to watch the sky turn shades of fiery orange and deep purple while sipping a well-made Negroni.

Extras

It’s all too easy to spend the days at Cempedak in your villa, but in the name of good journalism, we ventured out several times. We sipped coconuts from the Boathouse bar while taking dips in the main pool, which looks over cabanas on the beach, and took a few lazy strolls through the island’s pristine nature trails, at one point discovering a lagoon-like area with – inexplicably – a red London telephone box.

Even more impressive is The Rock Spa, Cempedak’s haven of wellness. From its perch above a mangrove bay, the spa’s treatment rooms offer blissful views of sand, surf, sun and trees. The Ocean Breeze Massage was so restful that I was still half asleep as I stumbled off the table – reality intrudes rather rudely when I realised there were two paddleboarders in the distance, and I frantically gauged just how much they could see! It’s not enough to deter me from another visit the next day for an equally indulgent Cleopatra’s Rose Facial.

In addition, Cempedak’s owners have helped establish and fund three foundations to address local environmental and social concerns. The Island Foundation focuses on exploring the region’s ecosystem, while a second aims to safeguard the local Marine Protected Area; a third is dedicated to eliminating plastic from the local communities and sea.

Getting there and around

The easiest way to reach Cempedak is from Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal. From here, a high-speed catamaran takes approximately one hour to reach Bintan’s Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Terminal. Cempedak’s team then meets guests at the terminal and arranges a private car transfer across Bintan to Kawal, which takes around an hour, followed by a 30-minute speedboat ride to the island. The total journey is approximately 2.5 hours.

Cempedak organises the car and boat transfers, with the current return transfer fee at SGD$121 per adult, including tax and use of the VIP arrival lounge at Bintan’s ferry terminal. Ferry tickets from Singapore are purchased separately, and guests should make sure they book a ferry that connects with Cempedak’s designated transfer schedule.

Once you’re on Cempedak, you don’t need any transport. The island is small enough to explore on foot, with activities, the restaurant, bar, beach and spa all part of the resort experience. For guests arriving from further afield, there are also flights from Jakarta to Bintan’s Tanjung Pinang Airport, followed by a roughly 30-minute car journey and a 30-minute boat transfer to Cempedak. Ferries to Bintan are also available from Malaysia and Batam.

Frequently asked questions: Cempedak Private Island