WHEN, after two days of flying, one reaches the island of Bali only to realize that more days of travel lie ahead — from Denpasar to Makassar, then to Sorong in West Papua on one dodgy Indonesian airline after another, and finally a five-hour boat trip — a traveler begins to wonder whether a stay at an eco-resort on a remote Pacific Island will make all the jet lag, chaotic airports and carbon dioxide emissions seem worth it.

That was certainly my frame of mind when, after skipping over the Ceram Sea into a tropical sunset, the bow of our launch at last bumped against the sandy bottom of a lagoon. Under a darkened sky sparkling with stars like so much crushed glass, I stepped into the soothingly tropical ocean. As bioluminescence roiled around my ankles, I waded toward a white sand shore fringed with palms to where several thatched villas set in foliage awaited, and the travails of the long odyssey effortlessly evanesced.

Batbitim Island is one of the hundreds of islands that make up the Raja Ampat chain off the Bird’s Head region of West Papua, in the far eastern reaches of the Indonesian archipelago. My weeklong stay there was precipitated by a writer friend of mine who wanted to go to a “once-in-a-lifetime place” to celebrate her birthday with friends. And the Misool Eco Resort, the sole human settlement anywhere nearby, fit the bill. Waking in the morning to the sound of waves lapping on the shore, I did have the singular feeling of, at last, having escaped from whatever it is we are all endlessly trying to flee with our travels.

Except for a few outlying buildings on the west side of the island, the resort is arrayed around a breathtaking lagoon that boasts a sumptuously alive reef just outside the individual guest villas that are built out over the aquamarine water. There are five thatch-roofed beachfront villas on the west side of the island and nine “water cottages” stilted out over the lagoon and “house reef” on the east. One can enjoy open-air baths, hammocks suspended over the water and magnificent vistas, but all in the context of sustainable luxury.