A foreign-owned resort’s decision to alter the access to a popular surf break has sparked controversy on the island of Rote in Indonesia. Photo: @_indolines
A local surfer was arrested on the Indonesian island of Rote, where tensions have been building over access to Bo’a Beach. The contention centers around the NIHI Rote resort development, which has moved the access point to the renowned right-hand wave.
Developers accuse a contingent of locals of spreading false information for personal gain, and spurning attempts at mediation. Erasmus Frans, the local who was arrested, worries the public could one day be kept out completely, and is wary of the developer’s partnership with NIHI Holdings, a U.S.-based luxury resort company that also built a resort known for privatizing a wave on the neighboring island of Sumba.
Frans, 47, a homestay owner and former politician, was arrested in September 2025 on suspicion of spreading false allegations in a Facebook post. He claimed the developers were denying beach access and accused the local government of being under external influence in favor of the foreign company. The resort said these claims are false, and the beach access had only been relocated.
The arrest stemmed from a legal complaint that the resort filed after an alleged physical altercation between a group of locals and resort employees. At hearings this year, prosecutors revealed that they were pursuing 3.5 years of jail time for the crime. Frans, who made a petition that garnered 17,000 signatures, has been released, but his case is ongoing in Indonesian courts.
According to an Indonesia surf industry insider, speaking out against the government can have serious consequences.
“Indonesia is f#%ked for libel, slander, and defamation,” the Bali resident, who requested anonymity for their protection, said. “Nowadays, you can’t really risk publishing anything on social media or you can get screwed even if you are 100 percent in the right.”
The Bo’a Beach discourse gained international attention last month when Michael Schwab, son of the finance billionaire Charles Schwab and co-founder of the resort, posted about the development on Instagram, turning off the comments section. Schwab, a shareholder in the World Surf League who is simultaneously developing a community with an Endless Surf wave pool in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, vehemently denies the claims that Frans has levied.
“Bottom line is, we are bringing so much to the Bo’a community. If they didn’t love us and support us, that would be a failure, and I am not here to fail,” Schwab wrote to The Inertia. “(Eramus) is a local warlord who has harassed so many in that town, and we are not going to let his lies hurt us. We have never and would never block people from accessing the beach or the waves. I welcome anyone to come down and visit and witness for themselves the truth.”
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The resort was launched by Schwab and co-founder Greg Sarkissian, a friend of Schwab who has lived in Indonesia for two decades. In 2011, they entered into an agreement with the government, which owned the land, to develop it, and construction began in 2019. When completed, there will be 37 residences and villas — each on lots between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet. Currently, 21 villas operate as a hotel, and the next residences built will be sold as vacation homes.
Before the resort, the public reached the beach via a path through government-owned land. Frans claimed it was built in 1997 with public funding, while developers say the portion nearest the beach was never formally public — only worn down by informal use over time. That road was absorbed into the development, and a new informal access point across company land was used roughly 300 meters to the west. Then, in 2024, that access was closed off as well, and a new, formal footpath was rerouted to the west end of the beach, adding roughly a kilometer of walking for surfers, fishermen, and seaweed farmers who once parked directly in front of the wave.
Though the new access point is on the resort’s land, Sarkissian told The Inertia that agreements with local and regional government guarantee public beach access will remain — and that only the village, in conjunction with regional government, could ever change that.
“There’s never been one single day that any surfer was asked not to surf or not to enter the beach,” Sarkissian asserted.
Frans claimed that there was a brief period when he could not access the beach. He believes that the access should be solidified as public property instead of relying on the resort. He proposed two possible changes to the beach access: restore an access point closer to the wave, or keep the current pathway on the west end of the beach, but extend the path parallel to the beach above the high tide line.
“The problem is, the road belongs to (the resort),” Frans said. “They’re just giving permission to access the beach.”
“If the people didn’t stand up for it, they would have already closed the beach,” he added.
The new beach access point through the resort property. Photo: Greg Sarkissian
Frans argued that, given NIHI’s troubled reputation on Sumba, developers should have anticipated the backlash when they closed the previous beach access points — a view echoed by Piter Panjaitan, a Bali-based environmental and social activist with a large social media following.
Panjaitan criticizes NIHI’s beach management at Nihiwatu, known as Occy’s left, in Sumba.
“They will come to you with their security on a boat and kick you out,” said Panjaitan. “There’s nothing legal about it, but there’s no one enforcing them doing that.”
Sarkissian said despite attempts to reconcile the situation, Frans continued to attack the development. He questioned Frans’ motives, suggesting he might have commercial interests, or view it as a way to relaunch his political career.
“He’s got a group of people that aren’t afraid to do violence and do scary things,” said Sarkissian. “I’m sorry to say, but he’s just repeating the same lies over and over again.”
“His people rushed the courthouse and knocked down the gate, and intimidated police,” Sarkissian added. “But he is a very smart guy. He’s a very good communicator, so he frames these stories. Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do in this situation, because we’ve done everything right. We have great community outreach.”
Sarkissian is aware of the optics of wealthy developers moving into a poor region, but argued that a high-end luxury resort ultimately does more for a community than budget accommodation. He speaks the language, is married into the culture, and has lived in the country for two decades.
“It increases the amount of revenue (for the local community),” Sarkissian said. “It increases their salaries. It increases the tax paid to the local government.”
Frans said he is not against foreign investment, acknowledging its economic and social benefits to the community. But he believes that closing a beach access point should go through proper legal and community channels. He also questions the developers’ motives — a suspicion reinforced by his brother Adit, a former resort surf photographer who quit over the dispute. Adit claimed to have overheard Schwab say he wanted to make the beach private. No evidence has been offered to support the claim.
For now, development continues at Bo’a Beach, and the public can access the wave through the west end footpath. According to Erasmus Frans, he’ll know the outcome of the case in a few weeks.
“If they put me in jail, it’s not going to solve the problem, because my people realize it,” Frans said. “They know their rights have been taken.”
“I’m also a surfer,” he added. “I have a small business. I’m going to die here. Maybe their business (will fail) and they’ll go away, back to their nation. I’m going to be here. My kids are here. My people are here. I’m looking at, not only now, but 20 years, 50 years, even when I’m no longer here.”
Sarkissian hopes that, with time, they can prove they are true to their promise to keep beach access open.
“My hope is that once we’re open and the surf community realizes that we’re not bothering anyone,” he said, “and we haven’t closed it off for the guests, they’ll start to understand that they may have been misled in this situation.”
