The untouched Indonesian island famous for its ‘sea horses’
By Julie Miller
The sea horses of NIHI Sumba know the drill: at low tide each day, they wander along the shoreline from their stables to a rocky cove where some will carry selfie stick-wielding guests into the surf, clinging like limpets to their bare backs as they duck and weave under the rolling breakers.
Sumba’s “sea horses”.Credit: Tania Araujo
Later, the herd gather on the beach, wet and shiny from their saltwater dip. A chestnut with a bold white blaze rolls away an itch in the sand; nearby, a pair of feisty youngsters mock-battle like wild stallions, teeth bared and heels flaying in mutual provocation. Others stand passively in the turquoise shallows, allowing human admirers to approach and pat them, lapping up the attention with a Fabio toss of lustrous manes.
But when the signal is given, they’re off – workday over, the herd gallops hell-bent down Nihiwatu Beach towards their grazing grounds, thunderous hoofbeats muffled by the hard-packed sand. On the sidelines, cameras click and drones whine from above as guests capture this salt-sprayed “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” moment, a symbol of freedom that’s become synonymous with this luxury Indonesian resort.
Warrior steeds
Although just an hour’s flight south-east of Bali, the island of Sumba is relatively untouched by mainstream tourism, with just a handful of hotels and a smattering of homestays scattered across it. The island’s largely rural population retains strong ties to ancient tribal traditions, its culture based on ancestor worship, most visibly illustrated by megalithic tombs and distinctive houses with top hat-shaped thatched roofs.
Sunset ride.Credit: Tania Araujo
It’s also very much a horse culture: the Sumbanese, or Sandalwood pony – a small, wiry and spirited breed bearing ancient Arabian and Mongolian bloodlines - is a common sight on the island: tethered outside homes, trotting down streets carrying men wielding machetes, or ridden headlong down the beach by boys preparing for the Pasola festival, a mounted warrior contest held annually to celebrate the rice harvest.
In traditional culture, the horse is both a symbol of wealth and honour. Horses (along with buffalo) are an essential part of a husband’s dowry – the more livestock on offer, the greater the catch a man is.
And while the Sandalwood Stables at NIHI, with its herd of 22 Sumbanese and crossbreed horses, has become an integral part of the resort’s Insta-narrative, their presence is a happy coincidence, rather than a consequence of the island’s heritage.
From surf to saddle
Founded in 1988 as a humble surfing lodge celebrating a legendary reef break known as Occy’s Left, the former Nihiwatu Resort entered its luxury phase after being taken over by entrepreneur Chris Burch and veteran hotelier James McBride in 2012.
And while its 27 uniquely-designed one to four-bedroom villas – each with a private plunge pool, king-sized beds draped in flowing muslin, outdoor showers, and local artefacts and jewellery as decor – are award-worthy in themselves, it’s the finer details that resonate: the personal butlers, who communicate diligently with guests via WhatsApp; lush, organic gardens that produce herbs, fruit and vegetables in the all-inclusive menu; and a focus on wellness, epitomised by the most beautiful hilltop yoga studio on the planet.
Guest room.Credit: Tania Araujo
And then there are its equine superstars. As we sip French rose on the deck of the palatial four-bedroom Puncak villa, NIHI co-founding partner McBride tells me how he bought the resort’s first horse during a hike to Nihioka, the spa site on a remote clifftop several kilometres from the main resort.
“Coming up from there, there was a little piebald foal - it was beautiful, and I asked if I could buy this horse,” McBride says. “I bought it for $200, and walked back with it. I made a stable for it, and the guests would come and give it a carrot … and it’s called Nihioka, he’s still here.”
Sensing an opportunity – and the perfect tie-in with the local culture – McBride and his friend, Australian horse-whisperer Carol Sharpe, established Sandalwood Stables and developed an equestrian program offering beach rides, village rides to the spa and of course, the iconic swimming with horses. Local horsemen are employed in the stables to care for the ponies, who, with supplemented feed, regular water and natural horsemanship training methods (the NIHI horses are all ridden bitless), bulked up to be sturdy riding horses; while they also cross-bred with rescued local racehorses to create a more suitable-sized mount for Western tourists.
“During COVID, the horses became even more popular because we only had Indonesian guests who largely don’t surf. Suddenly, more people were coming to see the horses than the wave – and we are now way more famous for the horses than the surf,” McBride says.
Spa safari
So far, however, my efforts to ride these feted unicorns have been thwarted by the gods; it’s the “green” season, and a low weather system is pummelling the Sumba coastline, with driving rains and winds so blustery, the mattress from the daybed on the upper deck of my villa is scooped up and deposited in the garden below.
Rough seas and high tides postpone my session swimming with the horses; then my planned Spa Safari ride through rice paddies and villages is cancelled due to slippery, dangerous conditions.
Instead, I load into an air-conditioned vehicle with my six-months-pregnant daughter and are driven 15 minutes to the resort’s spa and to a treehouse perched on the cliff’s edge, surf exploding with fury beneath us.
Spa treatment.Credit: Tania Araujo
After a light breakfast and coffee, we are then whisked to a thatched bure boasting an uninterrupted view of the Indian Ocean. “Shame I won’t be able to look at the water,” I think as I climb onto the massage table and place my face in the hole. Ah, but they’ve got that dilemma sorted - a mirror placed strategically beneath the table reflects the ocean, so I am able to watch the curling waves during what is arguably the most delicious 2.5 hour spa treatment of my life, crashing surf and howling wind a far more evocative soundtrack than recorded pan pipes.
The golden hour
Later that afternoon, the storm takes a breather; and as the clouds part to reveal a glimmer of gold, I dash to the Sandalwood Stables to meet Raja, a sleek, dark brown Sumbanese pony with a sun-bleached mane who will carry me on a sunset ride along the beach.
Even for experienced equestrians, there’s something magical about cantering along the seashore, salt and spray flicking from hooves, cushioned by the spongey sand. With no fences in sight, and just a misty sweep of land where it meets the horizon, there’s an indescribable sense of freedom that makes the resort’s tagline, “The Edge of Wildness”, seem particularly felicitous.
But it’s in the water that the Sandalwood ponies seem most in their element. As the sun finally makes an appearance, punching the tropical greens and blues of Sumba to heightened, iridescent intensity, I clamber back onboard Raja, now stripped of his saddle, with just a cloth pad for my bare legs to cling to.
The balmy water laps at my toes, my knees, my thighs, my waist as both our bodies are submerged; then suddenly, Raja is swimming, legs paddling furiously as he rides the wave like Occy himself. Laughing, I cling to Raja’s tufty mane as weightlessness takes over, a lightness of being more bearable than anything I’ve ever experienced. This is joy, pure and simple.
Julie Miller travelled as a guest of NIHI Sumba and Jetstar.
THE DETAILS
Villas at NIHI Sumba from $US895 a night ($1345) based on double occupancy, including all meals, accommodation, non-alcoholic drinks, local excursions and many sea activities. See nihi.com
FLY
Jetstar flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. See jetstar.com.au From there, fly with Lion Air domestically to Sumba’s Tambolaka Airport. See lionair.co.id From the airport, it’s a 1.5 hour to NIHI, with transfers included.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.