Retreat Venue Meets Eco-consciousness in Thailand
Trace the evolution and inner workings of Thailand’s earliest eco-conscious retreat venue.
“I lift up the quality of life of my staff and the people who come here. That is what I stand for.”
— Bovy, Founder of Ocean Experience
Ocean Experience began with a clear mission from day one.
This was twenty two years ago, back when the island of Koh Phangan was a different place altogether. Roads were practically nonexistent and palm trees reigned the island in fifty shades of green. Nature danced in carefree abandon. The waves lapped against unspoiled sandy shores.
When the doors opened in 1999, the word “ecotourism” had just taken baby steps into the country of Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand had just released a national ecotourism policy a few years back, so the concept of sustainable tourism was still in its social and cultural infancy. Since then, the movement has taken off to new heights. Last year alone, the Land of Smiles saw 39 million tourists come through — and 30% engaged in ecology-related activities during their travel. With 104 National Parks and over 1400 beautiful islands, Thailand’s organic growth shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. While Thailand’s universal appeal continues to expand far and wide, the origins and early days of ecotourism deserve our attention, particularly on the island of Koh Phangan. Home to about 12,000 people, this island still holds a few pearls of paradise if you look in the right places. And look no further than our favorite coast, on the north shore of Haad Khom.
Origins of Ocean
Ocean Experience was born out of the early days of ecotourism, thanks to our fearless leader Bovy. Just like her sea-faring ancestors who discovered the island 150 years ago, Bovy followed a similar path in life. For 11 years, she lived and studied in Bangkok, eventually becoming one of the first in Thailand to study ecotourism hospitality and management. She was excited to do something with this one day.
Like most wanderlusters after graduating, she decided to venture off and see the lands and waters beyond Bangkok. All roads eventually led her onto a ferry over to Koh Phangan. That starry night on the ferry changed everything.
Gazing up at the stars, she stood in awe of what she saw — the simplicity and serenity of stars against a clear nighttime sky. Nothing separating her from Nature. At that moment, she looked down and saw the irony of her city outfit, as she straddled the worlds of concrete jungle and pure nature, past and future. Her path illuminated as brightly as the stars — she was destined to move beyond the confines of the city. Koh Phangan was calling her home.
In a stroke of magical synchronicity soon afterwards, Bovy’s father revealed Ocean Experience to her. He had been building this resort in secret for the past two years to gift her the project of her dreams. Her calling for Nature and eco-conscious tourism collided like the perfect starry night constellation, and the rest is history.
What is Ecotourism?
Twenty two years later, Bovy continues to carry the torch of ecotourism in this cozy corner of Koh Phangan, planting seeds of conservation of local culture, beautiful flora and fauna. Ocean Experience allows more space for Nature to come through, designing and doing business with the highest respect for her infinite abundance.
“Ecotourism means travelling responsibly in natural surroundings, respecting the environment and the sake of local people.” — Bovy
“As I’m the local here, I feel responsible for the island. For the tourists of the island. I’m concerned that more and more tourists come to Koh Phangan so I would like to serve something good for these people,” Bovy adds.
“Bovy is the woman on the island that knows what foreigners need and want.”
Selina Clément, Yoga Teacher
In 2018, Ocean built a beautiful wooden yoga shala to elevate the guest experience, looking to gather retreats and events of all shapes and sizes with a particular focus on yoga, meditation and corporate wellness. Always striving for betterment, Bovy makes it her mission to lift the quality of life of her staff, guests and locals who enter the Ocean Experience.
In the spirit of education and accessibility to widen the lens of what ecotourism actually is, we found a few definitions to shed some color.
“Ecotourism means traveling with environmental awareness and visiting natural areas almost pure in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (such as the cultural attraction of past and present). This encourages the preservation, it has a few negative consequences and promotes an active and beneficial socioeconomic participation of local people.” — Bovy
Finding balance between simple luxury and natural living is a constant and joyful dance for us. We provide an authentic experience in Nature without ever sacrificing comfort. “Bovy is the woman on the island that knows what foreigners need and want.” shares a longtime resident of Koh Phangan and recent yoga retreat host, Selina Clement. Here at Ocean, we practice a few core tenets of ecotourism that will continue to evolve as we grow our conscious business.
Five Core Tenets of Ecotourism in a Retreat Venue
1. Treat Animals with Respect
Community is something we treasure at Ocean, and not just the human kind.
In every moment, we are living in relationship to the local flora and fauna around us. We’ve even named our six bungalows after the local birds of the island (they were here first, after all). One other neighbor likes to come around from time to time. Have you spotted the macaque monkeys? Thailand is home to 6 unique species. Considered highly intelligent and curious beings, they live in troops of varying sizes and enjoy a colorful diet of seeds, leaves, flowers, roots and some animals. Ecotourism principles teach us to educate our staff and guests alike on how to coexist with our friends. As much as we wish to engage and feed them, this actually has the opposite effect — changing their habits and conditioning codependency. All that to say, we have fun sharing space and channeling our inner macaque when they greet us from the palms above.
2. Build with Natural Materials (and Highest Respect for Nature)
We are intimate by design, hosting only six bungalows with their own unique personality. While there’s space to build more, we intentionally took the other route to allow more space for Nature to come through. Tucked away in the privacy of shady palm trees, each bungalow comes with their own beachfront flair and dreamy interior design, infusing Thai architecture with a modern twist.
We chose wood over concrete to build our restaurant, bungalows and yoga shala even though concrete is cheaper to maintain and more commonly used across the island. For us, quality and alignment with nature matters most. A few longtime friends of Bovy brought their creativity into the mix, helping us design custom furniture and signature scents for the toiletries and diffusers. Custom and care are at the heart of our design ethos, along with a consideration for natural sourcing.
We hope to inspire and exchange with local designers of villas, houses, retreats and hotels on the island. When you invest in nature, nature reciprocates. Let’s preserve her together.
3. Minimize Carbon Footprint
To keep our carbon footprint as low as possible, we outfitted our bungalows with fans and high ceilings. It’s also no coincidence that we positioned each bungalow under the shady protection of palm trees, to act as natural air conditioners. Not to mention, the nearby seabreeze creates natural air flow to ensure the highest comfort and cooling experience.
4. Support the Locals
In the days before tourism took off, the island industry was simple — local coconut farming and fishing. Once tourism hit, well — we all know how the story goes.
Without a solid understanding of how to balance tourism with ecological awareness and preservation, we witnessed businesses driven by profit without much attention to planet. Bungalows with ACs ballooned and nature slowly retreated into the background.
For us, what matters most is balancing business with profit, people and planet. Our love for Haad Khom beach and beyond inspires us to think bigger than just Ocean Experience. Abundance goes both ways — when you give, you receive twofold. The reciprocity underlying sustainable tourism brings a spirit of win-win to the entire community.
To that end, we want to keep it simple. How can we help the entire community of this beach thrive? When we book retreats, we want our guests to enjoy the full spectrum of Haad Khom and support local all the way. Sharing is caring.
5. Build a Strong Culture
“For me, what is so impressive is she remembers every single name. She remembers the name of foreigners, which is not her language or common names for her.”
Last but not least for now, we are a people-first family-run business. We are so lucky to have a staff of six, four of them Burmese and two of them Thai. We treat our staff with the same care as we would our family, which has been at the core of who we are since our doors opened. We carry this same spirit of hospitality and presence to our guests thanks to the wonderful example Bovy embodies. No detail is overlooked and every guest feels right at home when they retreat with Ocean.
“She is super attentive and present with everyone. And an incredible host. So easy and friendly to work with. What I love so much about her is the way she loves this place and nature. She wants to create something with awareness like yoga and meditation. She doesn’t want parties here. She wants this to stay a magical tranquil place, like a mother looking over this little piece of land.” — Selina Clément
If you enjoyed this article, check out the interview with the Chakra Twins.
We can’t wait to host your dream retreat and welcome you when the time is ripe.
