Nongkat Island

The first reason for staying here is the stunningly beautiful location with the changing hues of the lagoon, interesting rock formations encircling it and green, palm-fringed backdrop. It is one of the most calming views I've ever experienced. The second reason is to get away from the business of everyday life to a place where, apart from meal times, time doesn't matter. Although only 160 miles from Singapore, it is, in many ways, a world away and has a feeling of remoteness. Even the nearest village is 30 minutes by local boat. A third reason is the utterly delicious food, Dhanny is the most amazing cook and produces a wonderful variety of well-presented dishes with often the simplest ingredients. The barbequed fish was particularly memorable as was a fish dish with his secret recipe sauce. A fourth reason is the superb coral and sea life a stone's throw from the beach. Highlights were the blue star fish and colours of the coral - yellow, pink, purple. We also saw stunning blue corals on a short boat trip around the island. Another reason has to be the warmth and clarity of the water. When the tide is low, it is largely too shallow for swimming until you get out over the reef. As the tide comes in, swimming becomes very pleasurable with bath temperature water. The final reason has to be the King himself, Dhanny. This is a man with a dream to share his paradise and he has the generous heart and wonderful hospitality to achieve this. He also has lovely, courteous, hard-working staff who contribute to the experience. We stayed in an overwater villa and loved this for the views on every side. We enjoyed being able to stand on the balcony and watch a great variety of fish coming and going. Care and thought as well as an eye-watering amount of hard work have gone into creating the accommodation, which is kept spotlessly clean. In many ways life on Nongkat Island is simple and basic but this only heightens the very great pleasures of location, friendly hospitality, delicious food, relaxation. We also found the journey there interesting with glimpses of a very different way of life in Tanjung Pinang and on the island of Matak. Definitely an experience we will never forget. Thank you King Dhanny for the opportunity.

How can I put this place into words?! This is not a resort, this is a home away from home. You will relax and refill your energy, you will swim, because how can you not?! You will watch sunrises and sunsets, and forget the rest of the world. You will laugh and be happy, a smile wont leave your face. You will eat worth a 5 star hotel only better and more of it ;) This Place and its King will go into your heart and soul and never leave again. If you are up to a little adventure off the beaten tracks, where the mother earth is resepected and every single person and animal are taken care of, if you will fall in love with our planet again, take that plane and off you are! It was a pleasure staying with you and you staff, dear king of nongkat! Love from Claudia and Roger ;)

We stayed at Nongkat for our honeymoon at the end of September and we could not have wished for a better place! The island, its beach, and the reef are just stunning. The villas and the sand bar have been designed with great attention to detail. What makes Nongkat extra special though is Dhany and his local crew who make you feel right at home and get you to relax as soon as you arrive. It was also probably the best food we had on our trip (we were pretty spoiled for the rest of our trip...)! We spent a total of 5 nights on the island and went for some island hopping, speer fishing, camping, and visiting a local village, which were all amazing experiences. If you have the time, make sure to stay at least 5 nights and it will still feel too short! We really hope we can come back next year!

This place is pure magic. A beautiful island, with perfect beach and its own lagoon. It is paradise on earth. And what makes it even more special is the host (Dhany) and his (local) crew. You feel very welcome, they look after you, great food and nice activities : boat trip to different island, fishing, turtles, snorkeling, etc. We are a family of 6, with teenage kids, and stayed for 5 days. It was just a fantastic experience, and we are 100% sure we will go back one day. Highly highly recommended ! We just hope that the place will stay just as it is today.

Nongkat is by far the most beautiful and most relaxed topical place we have ever visited. The beach, villas, “the sand bar”, lagoon, coral surrounding the island, corals and snorkelling to be found on the daily trips Dhany took us on, turtles we checked on, sunrises and sunsets are all amazing. Our photos from the trip are brilliant but they don’t do it justice. All Nongkat’s physical beauty make for a wonderful holiday but it is Dhany’s love of his island and care for his guests that makes your stay an incredible experience. Each meal was an occasion and although on an island far from supplies we ate like kings. We will be back as soon as we can for as long as we can. Details: Two adults and two kids (11 and 8), stayed for 5 nights in early July 2019. Stayed in the recently built overwater villa for 2 nights then a beach villa (right on the beach) for 3 nights, both were great. It can be warm at night if there is no breeze but we used fans to keep cool. Being right on the beach and the island being makes the stay so easy, no packing or unpacking gear to go to the beach as you are 5 steps to the sand. Lunch and dinner was excellent seafood (fish we caught or sourced locally) but we had some chicken and beef by request for the kids. Lovely tropical fruits and excellent breakfasts each morning. Can’t recommend it highly enough.