The Sanubari
Beachfront villa resort, Laboya Barat
Photos: The Sanubari
The Sanubari sits on Pantai Dasang at Laboya Barat, on the south coast of west Sumba, inside a 100-hectare private reserve on ancestral Marapu land. Kilometres of white sand in front, jungle behind, and a handful of pool villas facing the water. It is about an hour by road from Tambolaka, which by Sumba standards is close.
There is no wedding brochure, and we would rather say that than pretend otherwise. What the resort does have is a small enough footprint that a group can take it over, a beach nobody else uses, a restaurant on the sand, and its own Sumbanese horses. That combination makes it one of the best elopement settings in Indonesia and a workable venue for a wedding of 20 or 30 people staying several nights.
We handle it the way we handle any unpublished venue: agree the dates and the villa block first, then build the day on top with styling, flowers, a celebrant and photography, usually flying our key vendors in from Bali. Villa types run from a 110 square metre garden pool villa to a 230 square metre two-bedroom on the beach, and the resort holds a two-night minimum on every booking. We reconfirm current figures and availability with the resort for your date.
Key details
Ceremony & reception spaces
Why we love it
Kilometres of beach with nobody on it
The resort sits inside a 100-hectare private reserve on ancestral Marapu land, and the sand in front of it runs empty in both directions. For a ceremony that needs no permit, no crowd control and no styling budget, this is close to the best setting on the island.
The horses are the signature
The Sanubari keeps Sumbanese horses and takes guests riding and swimming with them in the shallows. It is the image everyone associates with this island, and here it happens on the beach in front of your villa rather than as a paid excursion elsewhere.
No wedding brochure, and that is the honest answer
The resort does not publish packages or event prices. Weddings happen as private bookings where a group takes the villas and the team builds the day around them. It means more back-and-forth up front, and a result that is genuinely yours rather than a menu choice.
What the venue offers
- 100-hectare private reserve on kilometres of white sand
- Garden and beachfront pool villas from 110 to 230 square metres
- Beachfront restaurant and bar on the sand
- Sumbanese horses on site for beach rides and swims
- Surf breaks and megalithic villages within reach
- Two-night minimum stay
- About an hour by road from Tambolaka airport
Where it is
The Sanubari · Pantai Dasang, Harona Kala, Laboya Barat, West Sumba Regency, East Nusa Tenggara
Good to know
Common questions
Can you get married at The Sanubari?+
There is no published wedding programme, so a wedding here is arranged as a private group booking with the resort team. In practice that means the villas go to your group, the beach becomes the ceremony site and the restaurant handles dinner. We negotiate the details and bring in styling, flowers and photography ourselves.
How many guests can it hold?+
It is a small property built around garden and beachfront pool villas, so this is elopement and small-group territory rather than a venue for a long guest list. If your list runs past about 30 we would point you toward Cap Karoso instead, which is built for numbers.
How far is it from the airport?+
The resort puts the drive from Tambolaka at about an hour. The flight from Bali takes roughly 50 minutes, so the whole trip is manageable in a morning if the flight is on time.
What do guests do there?+
Surfing, riding and swimming with the resort horses, visits to nearby megalithic villages, and the artisan programmes the resort runs with local weavers and carvers. The two-night minimum is a floor rather than a suggestion here, and three or four nights suits a wedding group better.
