Dream Isle offers refreshment for those who venture beyond the beach at Ngapali.

SIX months ago Dream Isle was, well, just a dream. But at the insistence of his brother, local lad Mg Mg Myat Thu made it a reality, enticing tourists from nearby Ngapali Beach to make the short journey to his island paradise.

Dream Isle, known by most locals as White Sand Island, is situated on a rocky outcrop off the point that divides the fishing villages of Jade Taw and Lontha. Most visitors come by boat but the thin, shallow stretch of water that divides the point and Dream Isle can be easily waded across.

It is more than comfortable. A small sandy patch, about 30 metres wide, is enough to fit Mg Mg Myat Thu’s modest-sized business: one shack to house the food and drink and a couple of large, thatched umbrellas and chairs.

The food is fresh, the beer cold and the sun hot. The ingredients for success are all there – except the customers. But he is not fazed by the lack of tourists and says those that do visit Dream Isle are more than happy when they leave.
“Tourists have lots of options for eating and drinking in Ngapali so I always try to ensure the quality of my food is top-rate,” he says. “I have also tried to keep the prices low.

Despite the remote location, our prices are no different to other restaurants in Ngapali.”

The simple, handwritten menu offers mainly grilled seafood on one side and a mixture of juices, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages on the other.

Juices are the most challenging order for his restaurant; almost comically, a small generator has to be fired up to power the blender whenever one is ordered.

Dream Isle’s food is fresh and, where possible, caught around the island, by either his employees or local fisherman. The island is covered in rock pools and the adventurous can help themselves to fresh oysters from the rocks.

Mg Mg Myat Thu says despite growing up in Jade Taw he never wanted to be a fisherman.

“I spent quite a while studying in Yangon but now I’ve come back. I think this is a good compromise.”

He says he will close over the hot and rainy seasons but has high hopes for when he reopens Dream Isle on October 1, 2008.

“We’ll be shutting down from the end of March because that’s the end of the tourist season but then reopening again in October,” he says. “I think things will improve here.

But unfortunately this means I’ll have to get another job for a few months!”