For more than a century, the Indonesian island of Belitung has been mined for its tin. But visitors to its boulder-strewn shores will soon discover a wealth of scenic splendor and just-caught seafood to bootânot to mention the comforts of a new five-star beach resort.
Photographs by Christopher P. Hill
Left to right: A view of the beach at Pulau Lengkuas from atop the islandâs 19th-century lighthouse; a covered pathway leading to Sheraton Belitungâs Island Restaurant.
âItâs as beautiful as the Seychelles, but a lot more affordable,â says Frenchman Thierry Bratic as I follow his gaze along the empty beach toward a headland piled with smooth granite boulders. Heâs not the first person to make the comparison with that distant Indian Ocean archipelago; Belitung, situated at the confluence of the South China and Java Seas, has worn the âSeychelles of Indonesiaâ epithet for a while now, especially since its starring role in the hit 2008 Indon