Cap Karoso

On the eastern coast of Sumba Island in Indonesia above a sweeping stretch of Indian Ocean shoreline, Cap Karoso occupies a clifftop position in a landscape of savannah grassland, traditional Sumbanese villages, and the extraordinary beach culture of a coast that remains one of the least developed in the Indonesian archipelago. The 35 rooms and villas are designed with an aesthetic that draws on the Sumbanese traditional house architecture — the distinctive high-pitched thatched roof of the uma mbatangu — in a contemporary interpretation that maintains the visual character of the island’s building tradition without reproducing its materials or construction methods in a way that would compromise contemporary comfort standards. The hotel’s connection to the Sumbanese traditional textile tradition of ikat weaving, one of the most complex and culturally significant in Indonesia, is expressed through the collection of hand-woven fabrics that furnish the interiors and the craft workshops available through the cultural programme.

The beach below the cliff and the powerful Indian Ocean swell that reaches it make Cap Karoso’s immediate coastal environment particularly suited to the surfing culture that has drawn a small but devoted international community to Sumba’s eastern coast, and the resort’s surf programme — guided sessions at multiple breaks within reach of the hotel’s vehicle — gives experienced surfers access to some of the least crowded waves in the Indonesian surf landscape. The Sumbanese interior’s traditional villages, the ancestral megalithic tombs, and the Marapu animist ceremonial culture provide a cultural dimension of considerable depth for guests prepared to engage with one of Indonesia’s most intact traditional societies. The kitchen draws on Sumbanese culinary traditions and the extraordinary seafood of the Indian Ocean caught by the local fishing community.

Cap Karoso’s relationship with the Sumbanese community is expressed through its employment model, its sourcing commitments to local fishermen and food producers, and its support for the East Sumba community foundation’s educational and health programmes in the villages adjacent to the resort’s clifftop position.