AT A GLANCE

Why go?

Pulau Kepala — literally "Head Island," in English often called Kepala Island — is one of Indonesia's outermost frontier islands, a sliver of land in the Natuna Sea that forms part of the South China Sea and lies off Serasan, near Sarawak in East Malaysia. Administratively it belongs to Nusa village, Serasan district, Natuna Regency in the Riau Islands province, marking the eastern edge of that province and sitting northwest of West Kalimantan. Tiny, low and uninhabited, it draws visitors less for facilities than for the rare feeling of standing on a far-out line of the Indonesian archipelago.↗↗↗

The island reads as a hump of white sand and reef rock crowned with coconut palms, and at its centre rises a 30-metre lighthouse that doubles as a statement of sovereignty. Its clear, shallow waters hide coral reefs and abundant fish, and the simple wooden jetty and passing fishing boats give it an unpolished, working-sea charm. There is no resort here and no regular ferry — reaching Pulau Kepala is a deliberate charter expedition by boat, best suited to anglers, island-hoppers and travellers chasing Indonesia's edge rather than a beach holiday.↗