Hotels & Resorts

On the Indonesian island of Flores, where dragons patrol rugged shores and sea turtles drift through crystal-clear waters, Ta’aktana, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, offers far more than a place to sleep.

By Aleney de Winter 

The first sea turtle appears from nowhere, utterly indifferent to our presence, drifting below us like it has nowhere to be and nothing to prove. Another rises to the surface in the same slow, balletic arc. Then another. You will lose count. You will lose time. You will, if you are anything like me, lose several layers of skin because you’re so mesmerised you completely forget about sunscreen, a mistake that is embarrassingly and lobster-redly regrettable. Especially for someone who insists on coating her kids so thoroughly in SPF50 that they emerge from the application process looking vaguely lacquered. 

But none of that matters in the moment because I am weightless above one of the most extraordinary creatures on earth, in the crystalline waters of the Flores Sea, one of the most extraordinary stretches of ocean I have ever had the privilege of floating through. And in spite of the wonder of that water and those turtles, it is Ta’aktana, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa in Labuan Bajo, that made me fall hardest for this special part of Indonesia, and a resort I’d recommend to every thoroughly SPF50-coated family I know without a moment’s hesitation. 

Getting to Labuan Bajo

Labuan Bajo sits on the western tip of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, a small harbour town that has become the gateway to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Komodo National Park, home to the world’s largest living lizard and surrounded by some of the most biodiverse marine waters on the planet. It requires a connecting flight through Bali, Jakarta or Singapore, which is worth factoring in if you’re travelling with children. But the journey is part of the point. Arriving somewhere that takes a little effort to reach changes the way you experience it, and this island rewards that effort like few places I’ve visited. 

Much of that reward is thanks to Ta’aktana, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa. Just minutes from the airport, it cascades across 16 lush clifftop hectares above the harbour, with 70 villas and suites, an Olympic-sized pool, a kids’ pool, a Kids’ Club and a level of space and calm that makes travelling with children feel genuinely manageable rather than merely survivable. But what sets Ta’aktana apart from any other well-appointed resort is how sincerely it is rooted in the local culture, people and extraordinary natural world surrounding it, and how it draws families into all of it. 

Family accommodation at Ta’aktana

The accommodation at Ta’aktana scales genuinely well for families. The Two Bedroom Family Villa is the obvious starting point, with a second bedroom designed specifically for kids, complete with kid-friendly wallpaper and a built-in bunk loft setup that will have small people immediately arguing over who gets the top. There’s a separate living area, a private pool and the kind of space that makes a family holiday feel like an actual holiday rather than a logistical exercise. 

All villas come with 24-hour butler service to help with unpacking, dinner reservations, tour bookings, summoning buggies to navigate the sprawling resort and organising emergency drinking coconuts for the kids, all delivered with speed and a smile. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without one. 

For families with older children who can be trusted near open water, the overwater sea villas are breathtaking, floating above the bay with floor-to-ceiling glass, private decks and uninterrupted views of the Flores Sea. Spectacular for teenagers, perhaps less ideal for toddlers. For larger groups or multi-family trips, The Mansion sleeps six across three bedrooms and comes with its own private infinity pool. 

Ta’aktana Kids’ Club

Ta’aktana’s Kids’ Club is no mere afterthought. With supervised daily programs for children aged three to 11, it draws inspiration from the land dwellers and sea nomad traditions of Flores rather than the standard colouring-in-and-movies approach. Kids can try Bajo canvas painting, take part in Manggarai storytelling sessions, learn the rhythmic footwork of the traditional Rangku Alu bamboo pole dance and join the Seed for Tomorrow program, a hands-on introduction to conservation and sustainable farming. 

These are not token activities. They are small, genuine encounters with a culture that is genuinely extraordinary, and they tend to land with children in ways that no museum exhibit can replicate. 

Di’a Spa at Ta’aktana

For parents, the Kids’ Club means time to escape to the exceptional Di’a Spa. Designed to channel the atmosphere of Labuan Bajo’s mystical Rangko and Batu Cermin caves, the space is all high ceilings, natural light and extraordinary calm, with design details drawn from coral, rock formations and fossils that make it feel genuinely of Flores rather than transplanted from a generic wellness catalogue. 

Abstract tapestries depicting Flores’ natural environment, handcrafted by women artisans of the Du Anyam collective, line the walls, and the six private treatment rooms specialise in traditional Bajo massages with herbal poultices. There is also a steam room and plunge pool. I speak from direct, blistering experience when I say it also offers one of the best after-sun treatments in the known universe. Requisite after any afternoon on the Flores Sea. 

Komodo National Park with kids

You cannot bring your family to Flores and not visit its dragons. Ta’aktana organises full-day private luxury boat expeditions into Komodo National Park, and they are spectacular from start to finish. 

It’s worth preparing little ones that these dragons are not of the storybook flying or fire-breathing variety. Instead, they will encounter the world’s largest living lizard, reaching up to three metres long. All lumbering walk, venomous drool and claws roughly the size of your hand, this muscly, musky creature has never in its entire evolutionary history had cause to reconsider its position in the food chain. Huge, ancient and just a little bit smelly, an encounter via guided tour only is a safe introduction to one of the planet’s most curious creatures. 

Our boat day also takes in Padar Island, where a hike to the summit rewards with a panoramic sweep of three-coloured beaches worth every step of the climb. Then there’s Pink Beach, its blush-coloured sand the result of crushed red coral mixed into the white shoreline, the kind of detail that sends naturally curious kids into a spin of questions. 

The snorkelling throughout the Flores Sea is extraordinary, with clarity unlike almost anywhere else, coral in riotous health and manta rays of improbable size gliding past in lazy arcs. Ta’aktana’s coral conservation program also offers families the chance to participate in active reef planting, a genuinely powerful experience for children old enough to understand what they’re helping to protect and why it matters. 

Cultural experiences in Labuan Bajo

The excursions beyond the resort are where Ta’aktana really distinguishes itself. This is not a resort that keeps you comfortable at a safe remove from the place you’ve travelled to. It actively invites you into it. 

At Melo Village, a short journey into the hills, the caci unfolds. This sacred Manggarai whip dance is a ritual of strength and unity in which two men face each other, one wielding a whip and the other a rattan shield, bells jangling at their hips. It is visceral, ancient and surprisingly gripping. For children accustomed to curated, mediated experiences, there is something genuinely arresting about watching something this real. 

Nearby, a feast is served at a secret hillside spot, made from produce grown on local organic farms and in community gardens and prepared by women who carry the food traditions of Flores with quiet authority. The experience is led by Kak Liz, a former midwife, traditional dance teacher and self-taught custodian of the island’s almost-forgotten recipes. 

When her eyes find yours, it feels as though she is looking directly into your soul, but her presence is so disarmingly warm and gentle you’ll welcome her in. Seeing children encounter someone like her, someone who carries an entire culture’s knowledge in her hands, is precisely the kind of travel moment no classroom can manufacture. 

Dining at Ta’aktana

At Ta’aktana, food is part of the family adventure, with enough variety to keep children happy and enough flavour and finesse to keep parents more than satisfied. 

At Leros, the all-day dining restaurant, breakfast is a generous spread of fresh tropical fruit, pastries and eggs cooked to order for the children, while parents work their way through a selection of Indonesian dishes. Nasi goreng and mie goreng are easy wins for kids, the satay skewers disappear fast and, for parents, there’s a sizeable selection of sambals to stir things up. 

Lunch and dinner showcase both international and Indonesian flavours alongside a well-curated junior menu covering local and familiar favourites. 

Umasa, the resort’s Indonesian restaurant, is built for sharing. Relaxed and unhurried, large platters of fresh grilled fish, vegetables and rice sit at the centre of the table, allowing kids to pick and choose while parents reach for dishes with bolder flavours or try something new. The Dojang Nakeng, a Nusa Tenggara Timur dish combining prawn, squid and local Bajawa vegetables with a zesty dressing, is sublime, as is the Tajima Black Angus Rendang, a luxurious slow-cooked take on the Indonesian classic. 

Taba, the rooftop robata grill, is more deliberate and refined, and best suited to older children or teens who can sit through a longer dinner and appreciate both the precise Japanese-influenced flavours and the views across Labuan Bajo as the sun dips into the harbour. 

For casual moments between activities, Nera Lounge and the Pool Bar provide light tapas-style snacks to keep everyone fuelled without requiring a formal sit-down meal. And after a long day in Komodo National Park or a full morning of snorkelling, in-room dining is an entirely reasonable and deeply civilised option. 

Is Ta’aktana good for families?

Yes. 

Travel that connects children to a living culture, to a natural world they haven’t seen on a screen and to the people who tend and carry it is harder to find than it should be. Ta’aktana offers all of it without sacrificing a thread of comfort in the process. 

The sustainability credentials are genuine rather than performative, from cassava straws, an on-site glass water bottling plant and zero-plastic amenities throughout to regular Flores Sea clean-ups by staff and local sourcing woven through every menu. Children who travel here don’t just have an extraordinary time. They encounter a resort that shows them what caring about a place really looks like. 

Add sea turtles, dragons, pink sand, an epic Kids’ Club, private-pool family villas, private butler service and the after-sun treatment I will be thinking about for the rest of my life, and Ta’aktana is close to perfection for families. 

So go. Introduce your kids to dragons and sea turtles, to whip dances and women who carry entire cultures in their hands, to food grown in the hills and coral they helped to plant. Just slather them, and yourself, in SPF50 before they get in the water. 

This article is a Holidays with Kids digital exclusive.

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