Photography Hotspots in Lombok and the Gili Islands

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Lombok's photographic strength is landscape at scale: a 3,726-metre volcano with a lake inside it, a southern coastline of enclosed white bays, and a north-west coast where the three Gili Islands sit in the strait with Bali's Mount Agung rising behind them. The light is best in the dry season and the crowds are a fraction of Bali's, which means several of these frames can still be made without anyone else in them.

Bukit Merese

A grassy hill between Tanjung Aan and the Mandalika headland on the south coast, ten minutes from Kuta, with a short walk to a ridge that looks down over two bays, a rock stack and a coastline of headlands running west. It is the best accessible viewpoint on Lombok and it works at both ends of the day — sunrise over the eastern bay, sunset along the western coast. Small entry fee. Go on a weekday; it has become popular with domestic visitors.

Rinjani

The crater rim at dawn, looking down onto Segara Anak lake with the Barujari cone rising from it and cloud filling the caldera, is one of the great landscape frames in Indonesia — and it requires a two-day trek to reach. From the summit at first light the shadow of the mountain falls across the island and Bali's Agung is visible across the strait. Weight is the constraint: most people who carry a full kit up regret it by the scree slope. Sembalun's savanna approach photographs well and needs no summit.

The coast and the Gilis

The Malimbu and Nipah viewpoints on the north-west coast road give the classic Lombok frame: the three Gili Islands laid out in a turquoise strait with Mount Agung on Bali behind them, best in the late afternoon. On the islands, the west coasts of Trawangan and Air give sunset over Agung, and Meno's underwater sculptures need a mask and a housing. Selong Belanak's crescent from the hill above it. Tiu Kelep waterfall's amphitheatre, with spray and green walls, needs a rain cover.

Practicalities

Sunrise is around six and sunset around six-fifteen with a short tropical twilight. The dry season gives clear light and brown southern landscapes; the wet season gives green and dramatic cloud. Salt spray on the boats is hard on equipment. Drone rules apply and enforcement around Rinjani's national park and the Mandalika circuit is real. And in villages and at the traditional settlements, ask before photographing people — Lombok is conservative and a camera in a face is less welcome than in Bali.

Photography Hotspots at a glance

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