Visit the island of Lombok, Indonesia to experience stunning beaches, diverse marine life, fantastic diving and hiking opportunities that make it an exciting option from Bali.
Of course, we had never heard of Lombok before we began organising our Indonesian itinerary. It was only whilst we were in Yogyakarta where we started hearing about the island’s less-touristy appeal. People were saying Lombok is what Bali used to be.
We had planned our Indonesian itinerary to give ourselves 12 days in Bali, meaning that we could, if we so desired, included some time in Lombok. After a stay in Ubud, we ventured to the east coast resort of Sanur. From here, we figured it would be easy to get the ferry across to Lombok.
How To Get To Lombok From Sanur Bali
As it turned out, it wasn’t the best option for us to go by sea. The slow boats take around 6 hours and the fast boats, whilst much quicker, were also much more expensive. It turned out that a flight was cheaper than the fast boat and literally took around 20 minutes.
Bus From Sanur To Bali Airport
We took a bus with ‘Perama Tour & Travel’ to the airport as we had used them to get to Sanur from Ubud with no probems. Unfortunately, this time the bus arrived 40 minutes late and then the driver decided to hang around for another 10 minutes for no apparent reason. Just as I was about to confront him, he finally set off. We got to the airport with just about enough time but then discovered he had dropped us at the international terminal, not the domestic one. He never asked us where we wanted to be. This meant we had a bit of a mad rush to get to the proper terminal in time for check in. Not the best service. I would recommend a taxi for airport runs!
Which Area In Lombok To Stay?
There are a number of locations in Lombok suited to the type of visit you have in mind.
Gili Islands
The most popular destination in Lombok, particularly with divers, is the ‘Gili Islands’ which are located to the north-west of the main island. There are three main islands to visit: Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Gili Meno. Gili Trawangan is the biggest of the three and also the most lively.
Mount Rinjani
Mount Rinjani is an active volcano and the second highest volcano in Indonesia. Hikes to Mount Rinjani are usually over 3D2N. As we’d recently visited both Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen, we were looking for something a bit more relaxing than another hike (by all accounts, it is a very strenuous adventure).
Senggigi Or Kuta
Perhaps the two most popular cities on the main island are Senggigi and Kuta. Both are beach towns. Senggigi is closer to the Gili Islands whist Kuta is on the southern coast and is more popular with surfers.
We did a lot of research whilst trying to make a decision on where to spend our time. We decided to spend 3 nights in Senggigi and 2 nights in Kuta. Our reasoning for this was that our Senggigi trip could also include a day trip to the Gili Islands.
