Hidden Gems and Local Secrets in Lombok and the Gili Islands

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Lombok's tourism concentrates in three small pockets — Kuta, the Gilis and Senggigi — which leaves most of an island the size of Bali essentially unvisited. What is out there: rice-terrace country on Rinjani's southern slopes that looks like Bali did decades ago, a south-east coast of empty bays reached on rough roads, working craft villages, and a whole eastern half that sees almost no foreign visitors at all.

Tetebatu

A village on Rinjani's southern flank at around 400 metres, surrounded by rice terraces, tobacco fields and forest, with waterfalls in the hills behind and a monkey forest above. It is cooler than the coast, green year-round, and has a scatter of homestays and small guesthouses at 200,000–600,000 rupiah with terraces looking straight at the mountain. Almost nobody goes. It is the closest thing on Lombok to Ubud twenty years ago, and it is two hours from Kuta and ninety minutes from the airport.

The south-east

East of Kuta the paved road deteriorates and the tourism stops. Ekas has a wide bay with surf on both an inside and an outside reef, a couple of remote resorts and effectively nobody else. Tanjung Bloam is a cliff-backed white bay with turtle nesting. Pink Beach (Tangsi) is at the far end, and the drive there is rough enough that most people go on an organised boat trip instead. Further north, the east coast around Labuhan Lombok is the ferry port for Sumbawa and sees no tourism whatsoever.

The craft villages

Banyumulek near Mataram, Penujak near Praya and Masbagik in the east are the three pottery villages, producing burnished terracotta water jars, bowls and lamps that are exported across Indonesia; you can watch the whole process and buy at a fraction of shop prices. Sukarara is the weaving village for songket and ikat. Rungkang makes pottery and bamboo. All are working villages rather than attractions, cost nothing to visit, and are far more interesting than the demonstration versions on the tourist route.

The quiet north-west

Sire and Medana, on the north-west coast beyond Bangsal, have calm reef-protected water, a golf course and a couple of upmarket resorts, and are almost empty. Gili Nanggu, Gili Sudak and Gili Kedis off the south-west coast are three tiny islands with white sand and clear water that are almost never mentioned — day trips run from Lembar or Sekotong for a fraction of what a Gili Trawangan trip costs, and you may have an island to yourself.

Hidden Gems and Local Secrets at a glance

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