External Reviews

• CONDE NAST TRAVELER - September 2006, by Brook Wilkinson

  "Surf slums" is what Claude Graves calls them. Places where an outsider discovers the perfect wave, builds shoddy accommodations, disregards the natural surroundings, and shares the wealth from the venture with foreign investors and workers. The first part of that scenario-the perfect wave-applies to Graves himself, but after that his story veers off in a different direction.

  In the 1990s, Graves built Nihiwatu on the remote island of Sumba-among the poorest in Indonesia, and one where the people only recently gave up head-hunting. The resort is famous among surfers for the fat left-hander that breaks off its beach. But Graves's proudest success is the Sumba Foundation. Helping his neighbors was always part of Graves's plan, but this nonprofit organization became possible only when Sean Downs arrived at Nihiwatu for a two-week stay. Transformed by his experience and by the people he met-147 of the resort's 150 employees are Sumbanese-Downs left a lucrative software job to establish the foundation in 2001.

  Visiting Nihiwatu, I get an idea of the powerful forces that drove Downs to reprioritize. After a flight from Bali and a 90-minute drive, my first view is of a mile-and-a-half-long crescent of sparkling sand, bordered by dense forest on one side and a curl of foamy sea on the other. I'm led past the yoga studio, the infinity pool, and the spa villa to my air-conditioned bungalow-one of just ten on 440 acres. Soon after, I meet my fellow guests over lunch in the sandy-floored open-air dining area. Most are here primarily to surf but also to experience the local culture (several attended a funeral-complete with a water buffalo sacrifice-the day before I arrived), to work on foundation projects, and also to disconnect from the twenty-first century. Indeed, no one here seems to mind being cut off from world events, but the South Pacific surf reports that come with every new batch of guests are eagerly anticipated.

  When the waves aren't up to snuff, there are plenty of other things to do: horseback rides along the beach, rain forest treks to a stunning waterfall, massages, fishing, diving and snorkeling right off the beach, and visits to local villages and markets. Nihiwatu bills itself as a luxury surfing enclave-although the staff are notable more for their constant smiles than for white-glove service. Still, the raw, undeveloped beauty here easily makes up for the fact that the bartender serves my cosmopolitan in a highball glass-and it's the color of a Long Island iced tea.

  Health, education, and clean water are the Sumba Foundation's current initiatives, and to date it has raised $1.4 million-more than a third of that donated by Nihiwatu guests. In five years, those funds have produced several achievements: lowering the malaria rate in children under five, from 62 percent to 10 percent, by distributing mosquito netting; saving 34 children who would likely have died without the medication that the foundation provided; performing structural repairs and distributing supplies and uniforms to seven nearby schools; and constructing 13 wells that supply potable water for 5,200 Sumbanese.

  Downs ascribes many of the foundation's accomplishments to the groundwork laid by Graves during the seven years he and his wife, Petra, lived in a grass-roofed bamboo hut on what is now the site of Nihiwatu, slowly winning the local villagers' confidence. When Chinese developers proposed building on the land, Graves flew several tribal elders to Bali to show them the results of rampant growth. They quickly agreed to Nihiwatu, his eco-friendly alternative. Downs told me, "You could throw millions of dollars at a place like Indonesia and have very little to show for it-unless you have somebody who, like Claude, knows the culture and has the respect of the people.

  "If we were outsiders," he continued, "the money would be squandered just in transit. Our success is the result of the goodwill Claude built up by being part of this culture, participating in its rituals."

  Graves's next step is to hand over Nihiwatu's ownership to the Sumba Foundation, with profits from tourism earmarked for long-term humanitarian aid. Once that is complete, he plans to bring this model to other parts of the developing world. Transforming the living conditions of an entire island may seem a mammoth undertaking, but to Claude Graves it is just the beginning