Lombok - The South Coast

Overview:

Lombok is an island to the east of Bali, the indigenous people of Lombok are the Sasak who have their own language and unique culture. Historically, Lombok was invaded by the Balinese kingdom who took control of the island in the 1750’s. This was up until the Sasak royal family made an agreement with the Dutch to concede to their rule in exchange for ousting the Balinese invaders. Lombok is only 36km’s off the coast of Bali however the flora and fauna are noticeably and considerably different from its eastern neighbouring islands. This is due to what is called the ‘Wallace Line’ which divides Indonesia. On the west of the line the flora and fauna resemble that of mainland Asia with tropical climate and animals like tigers, elephants, and bird species and so on. While on the east of the Wallace line the climate is dryer and the plant and animal life resembles more that of Australia.

Being the closest neighbour to the ever-popular Bali, Lombok only gets a fraction of the tourists. Of those tourists that make it to here typically stay in the north-west in either the coastal town of Senggigi, or the Gili islands just off the coast. Back in the day the Gili’s were once one of the main stops of the famed ‘Hippy-Trail’. Since then development has taken hold on these 3 small islands and is now a destination for tourists escaping the hustle of Bali. As I mentioned, for most people that visit Lombok tend to isolate themselves in the north and rarely make the pilgrimage down to the southern coast probably due distance and the conditions of the road. This is rapidly changing with the new International Airport completed in 2011, just a short 15 minute drive from the south coastal hub town of Kuta (not to be confused with the noisy busy Balinese beach which shares the same name). With the development of the new airport it’s just a matter of time before larger scale accommodation developments take hold of the south in preparation for the influx of tourists. For the meantime this part of Lombok still remains relatively quiet with just a handful of accommodations and tourists facilities scattered around. For people that make the trip down they get the opportunity to see what Bali might have been like before it became one the most visited islands in the world.

Late 2011, I organised a trip there with a number of friends. We decided to spend 4 nights and 5 days staying in a hotel on Kuta. The southern coast of Lombok is a maze of inlets and headlands with beautiful secluded beaches. The scenery is seriously spectacular with hills and mountains reaching all the way down to the coast line painting a picture of a nearly Jurassic park like land scape. In my point of view, the beaches here top the beaches seen in Bali without even trying. Like Bali's southern peninsula, the south is now famed and is a widely sought after surfer’s heaven with a number noteworthy swells. We spent our time exploring the south as much we could and were taken back by relaxed atmosphere and beauty. It needs to be mention that exploring the south was difficult due to the conditions of the road in which it would take 30 minutes just to travel 5km. With that being said, exploring is well worth it - as more often than not will find yourself alone on one of the gorgeous beaches Lombok has to offer.

Highlights

Kuta-

A coastal town which is the tourist hub if this area with the majority of accommodations and restaurants. Kuta beach itself is pretty, but probably the least impressive of the beaches found on this side of Lombo.

East of Kuta: Areas listed from distance closest to furthest from Kuta

Novotel Beach (Putri Nayle) –

The private beach of the Novotel hotel. A nice beach, made nicer if you pay to use the hotels facilities.

 

Tanjung A’an (Serenting) –

A 2.5km long double crescent beach divided by a rock outcrop. A empty beach with no significant developments and the rock outcrop is a great place to climb and enjoy the sunsets. The water is deep enough to swim even during low tides

Tanjung Ringget-

A significant drive east of from Kuta is Tanjung Ringgit. This point is famous for old Japanese fortifications erected during WWII on the cliffs facing the ocean. The drive is a hazardous but if you make it journey the views from the cliff point are spectacular

West of Kuta: Areas listed from distance closest to furthest from Kuta

 Mawun Beach-

If I was forced to choose the top 3 best beaches Mawun, Selong Balanak and Mawi beaches would be hard to choose from. Mawun Beach is a horse shoe shaped beach with no developments near or around the beach.

 

Selong Belanak-

Is an epic beach which is incredible in length. It’s a gradual slopping white sand beach surrounded by dramatic scenery of mountains and hills. There are a number of small developments here, but the size of the beach makes it so you'll probably never notice. I perfect place to watch the sunset.

Mawi Beach-

Another one of the better beaches in Lombok. A little past Selong Balanak, its definitely worth the drive to see it.

Logistics

Get in-
You can catch a flight directly from Jakarta or Bali with daily flight to the old and the new Airport. If you want to fly into the new airport (closest to the south) make sure you book a flight to the airport with the code BIL not AMI.

Get around-

Take a taxi down to Kuta and simply  ask around the restaurants and hotels and you’ll easily be able to rent a car or motorcycles. Be sure to check the state of the car or motorcycle before you agree to rent it. The car we rented broke down a number of times. As I mentioned before, when we made the trip to Lombok the roads were in horrible shape and slowed us down considerably. With that being said traveling is still doable, just factor in more time.

Motorcycle Rental: Rp40,000 – Rp60,000 per day

Car Rental: Rp350,000 – Rp450,000 per day

Accommodation:

There are a number of hotels in and around Kuta. We stayed in 3 different hotels in 4 nights so I can’t for the life of me remember the names. New hotels are popping up all the time and there is a good range from Budget to Mid-range accommodations. I suggest you jump on the wikitravel page and scroll down to the ‘sleep’ section for more detailed information.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Kuta_%28Lombok%29