When the waves aren't up to snuff, there are plenty of other things to do: horseback rides along the beach, rain forest treks to a stunning waterfall, massages, fishing, diving and snorkeling right off the beach, and visits to local villages and markets. Nihiwatu bills itself as a luxury surfing enclave—although the staff are notable more for their constant smiles than for white-glove service. Still, the raw, undeveloped beauty here easily makes up for the fact that the bartender serves my cosmopolitan in a highball glass—and it's the color of a Long Island iced tea.

Health, education, and clean water are the Sumba Foundation's current initiatives, and to date it has raised $1.4 million—more than a third of that donated by Nihiwatu guests. In five years, those funds have produced several achievements: lowering the malaria rate in children under five, from 62 percent to 10 percent, by distributing mosquito netting; saving 34 children who would likely have died without the medication that the foundation provided; performing structural repairs and distributing supplies and uniforms to seven nearby schools; and constructing 13 wells that supply potable water for 5,200 Sumbanese.

Downs ascribes many of the foundation's accomplishments to the groundwork laid by Graves during the seven years he and his wife, Petra, lived in a grass-roofed bamboo hut on what is now the site of Nihiwatu, slowly winning the local villagers' confidence. When Chinese developers proposed building on the land, Graves flew several tribal elders to Bali to show them the results of rampant growth. They quickly agreed to Nihiwatu, his eco-friendly alternative. Downs told me, "You could throw millions of dollars at a place like Indonesia and have very little to show for it—unless you have somebody who, like Claude, knows the culture and has the respect of the people.

"If we were outsiders," he continued, "the money would be squandered just in transit. Our success is the result of the goodwill Claude built up by being part of this culture, participating in its rituals."

Graves's next step is to hand over Nihiwatu's ownership to the Sumba Foundation, with profits from tourism earmarked for long-term humanitarian aid. Once that is complete, he plans to bring this model to other parts of the developing world. Transforming the living conditions of an entire island may seem a mammoth undertaking, but to Claude Graves it is just the beginning (62-361-757-149; nihiwatu.com; doubles, $390).

Tour Operator: Natural Habitat Adventures
Environmental Initiatives: 80
Local Contributions: 69
Guest Experience: 69
Overall Score: 73
This company goes where the wild things are—and with stringent enough standards to have won the business of one very knowledgeable customer: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). NHA's scheduled and customized trips to 30 countries run the gamut from Galápagos cruises to African safaris, all led by naturalists who are retrained annually by WWF scientists. The tour operator's Boulder, Colorado, home office runs entirely on alternative energy, and NHA matches clients' contributions to offset the trips' carbon emissions. Not neglecting the species Homo sapiens, during its Canadian polar bear expeditions NHA offers talks by members of three aboriginal tribes and gives empty seats on its flights between Churchill and Winnipeg to local residents (800-543-8917; nathab.com; seven-day Classic Polar Bears excursion, $3,795 per person).