Indah Megayacht Concept Has the Biggest, Most Innovative Beach Club Ever

As Florida-based designer Lukasz Opalinski of Opalinski Design House puts it in a new interview with Yachts International, what’s the point of having a megayacht if it doesn’t allow you to become fully immersed in nature? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question.

All jokes aside, this hasn’t been done before: Indah, a new megayacht concept, comes with the biggest and most innovative beach club ever, thanks to the application of the patented Transformation Transom concept. In recent years, beach clubs have received increased attention from designers, and for good reason. No matter how many amenities you pack onto a vessel, you have to have something that’s borderline private beach, mooring station, and sundeck.

This explains the variations recently applied to beach clubs, ranging from regular sundecks with access to water toys or diving stations to double functionality as floating nightclubs or open-air cinemas. Indah’s could virtually be anything you’d want it to be because it’s the largest beach club ever.

“A vessel can take us to the most beautiful places in the world, but due to its structural limitations it keeps us confined within its shell with little access to the very nature we came to see and enjoy,” Opalinski says. “The original concept of fold-down bulkheads was conceived to create more usable space at the water level so when anchored the guests can immerse themselves with surrounding waters, nature and wildlife at a much larger space than, just a relatively small swim platform. Space that can be used for all outdoor activities from sunbathing, through various water sports, fishing, dining and many more.”

The problem with fold-down bulkheads, though, is that they require massive hydraulics and lots of power to operate, which makes them suitable only for larger vessels. For Indah, Opalinski uses vertical axes, rotating the bulkheads outward to form a leveled extension of the existing beach club. This can be done with small motors and minimal power, and the transition is seamless and very short, the designer says. Imagine a bird’s tail in fight, and you get the best approximation of how this extension happens.

In addition to offering extended space, which can be used in a variety of ways, this concept also offers mooring space that is both instantly accessible and hidden in plain sight. Moreover, the designer believes that the concept can be scaled down for implementation in smaller vessels, which is something that can’t be said for the fold-down bulkhead method.

As for the Indah (“beautiful one” in Indonesian) concept, which is the first to use this extendable beach club, it’s a true beauty with or without it. Measuring 394 feet (120 meters) in length, it stands out for its sleek and elegant profile. With a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, and a wave-piercing vertical bow, it would be ideal for exploration missions thanks to its long range and inclusion of environmentally-friendly features.

Powered by four MTU16V engines delivering a top speed of 24 knots and a range of 7,000 nautical miles, it would also incorporate green technologies for minimized carbon footprint. Opalinski mentions solar generating coating and hidden vertical wind turbines among them.

Accommodation on board is for 24 guests across 12 cabins, with the owner’s suite featuring a private terrace, and 32 crew. Amenities would include, in addition to the generous beach club aft, a full gym and spa area, a jacuzzi with sunbeds, and a pool overlooking the beach club. Oh, and let's not forget the helipad with optional storage and fueling station – for those owners who feel the explorer in them itching to go out and, well, explore.

As of the time of press, Indah is just a concept, but Opalinski Design House is offering to license the Transformation Transom concept to interested manufacturers.