Cubadak Island : Another Paradise on Earth

I’ve been listing too many “must visit” places, even some of them are not too realistic to be true, like hiking in snowy K2. So when I read about this island I get so excited, its just located in neighbor province, Sumatera Barat / West Sumatera. The island can be reached by using the dedicated boat from the Village directly from Padang port in 1 hour 15 minutes or by car transfer (1.5 hours) to Simpang Tiga Pantai Carocok, and from there by boat to Cubadak in 10 minutes. I don’t know why this island somehow not too famous for domestic tourism, I just knew about this island from “The Naked Traveler” book. Most of visitors are come from Europe especially Italy. The island has been managed by Italian, Nanni Casalegno and his wife Federica and they have license for 30 years. Nanni and Federica came to the island 17 years ago, they left their job just to build their dream of owning a gorgeous resort which is now called as Paradiso Village.

The Paradiso Village has 13 bungalows, 10 water-front guest cottages, one suite above the water and one restaurant with annexed kitchen, boutique and reading area; plus a pier with a terrace and bar. All the buildings, except the kitchen and the personnel house, are made of wood and covered by roofs made from palm leaves. The furnishings, made of rattan, carpets, tablecloths and blankets, are hand made and the walls are decorated with antique Minangkabau wood carvings and clothes. . All cottages have a verandah, and except for the suite-cottage, all have an upper bedroom and a living room which can be transformed into an extra bedroom. All bathrooms are nice and big and offer a shower with hot and cold water. The management is fully Italian. In addition to English, Italian and Indonesian, the languages currently spoken here are French, Portuguese and Spanish. Maximum capacity of the village is 27 guests. So you can imagine this is a very private beautiful quiet island where we can run away from hectic of work, or……….for honeymooners.

The resort offers an all-inclusive package pick up service to/from international airport in Padang and meals (3 times per day). All meals are taken in the main pavilion and a bell is rung to announce the meal is being served. During meal time you can meet up with other guests because the dining table is designed to seat for 10 guests. The meals are a mixture of styles: Indonesian, Chinese and best of all, Italian. Of course the main choice of dishes comes from the sea, according to the daily catches of the fisherman: crabs, fishes, squids, octopus, lobsters, prawns etc. The food is light, delicious, tasty and mainly one of the winner choices of the management.

The sea in front of the Village is sheltered and completely free from waves so to facilitate the practice of water sports. Activities included free of charge are the following:
1. Snorkeling (equipment FOC)
2. Sailing - boats for every kind of experience
3. Windsurfing
4. Boat excursions to the islands in the vicinity with picnic, at least twice a week
5. Trekking in the forest with or without climbing, every day

Activities not included into the package:
1. Scuba diving: the Village operates a diving school SSI (Scuba Schools International) with the possibility to grant certificates up to the level of instructor helper (Divecon)

2. Water ski

Federica and Nanni are the consummate hosts and treat every guest as if they are a family member. Best time of year to visit is the dry season from March to October. It’s recommend to mail first and email will be answered promptly. I really hope one day I could arrange to visit this island.

Email: info@cubadak-paradisovillage.com
Telephone: 62-8126603766