Senggigi and Kuta Lombok

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I spent a total of 6 days in Senggigi just relaxing and not doing very much at all. It is quite touristy compared to the other places I have been to in Lombok, with many hotels, restaurants, bars, and the usual touts. It has some nice but not great beaches and a little snorkeling which I didn't try because the current was too strong. A lot of the restaurants had bands playing in the evening and I found them to be very good. I finally bought a mask and snorkel which I should have done a couple of months before to save me money every time I rented one. I stayed in a nice little hotel with a nice clean room for $9 a night without breakfast just 100 metres from the main area. Senggigi beach is also the location for a lot of weddings and in the evenings the reception is held on the sand with magnificent sunsets as backdrops.

One of the trainee staff at the restaurant owned by the hotel asked me if I would like to come to his home near the main town of Mataram and meet his family. Of course I said yes, so I went on the back of the motorbike with Saf the twenty or so kilometres to his village. It was a great day going from one home to another and meeting his family, friends, and workmates. I liked being the only foreigner around and everyone treated me great. Every house I went to they offered me Lombok coffee to drink as well as food or snacks. On the way back we stopped at Ampenan beach as the sun was setting. There were hundreds of locals enjoying the beach and it had a real buzz to it with food stands and even a couple of kids rides. A great day.

After 6 nights I decided to head south down to the surfing town of Kuta. I took the tourist bus because it seemed a lot more convenient than taking multiple bemos. Once there it took me a while to find a room and I finally settled on a really nice one for $10 a night with breakfast, and tea or coffee all day. I had a very good and cheap warung next door where I ate most of my meals.

I hired a motorbike a couple of times to have a look around the area. On the first day I had a look at Segar Beach and then the stunning Tanjung Aan, where I spent a couple of hours just enjoying the scenery. I can't believe a bay like this has so little development, just a couple of restaurants and thats it. I then rode to Gerupak which is a small village where you can hire boats to take you out to the surf breaks. It was getting dark so I headed back to Kuta but a couple of days later I returned by motorbike. I shared a boat ride with a few English guys who were planning on surfing the inner break. After dropping the guys off and taking a couple of photos the boat dropped me at a small and simple floating bar about 80 metres from the action. It was great just relaxing with a drink watching the surfers for a couple of hours before the guys had enough and we returned to Gerupak. After having a late lunch I rode a little more around Kuta before calling it a day.

I spent a total of 6 nights in Kuta mainly relaxing and reading my book in my hammock. It is predominantly surfing tourists here at the moment and it has a laid back feel to it, but this will change in the near future with an international airport opening next year only half an hour up the road. Already there is a lot of land being bought up by foreigners and I think the area will look completely different in 5 years time. Today I am leaving Lombok and heading back to Bali.

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Comments

[Herbert Haase]

good story
and great pictures. As I am there in october please give me the names of your homestay/hotel in senggigi and kuta. Thanks a lot..

[wheresjason]

Hi Herbert
I cant exactly remember the names of each guesthouse but I think in Kuta Lombok it was called "Kuta Baru" and it was in town just before the turnoff towards the beach. In Senggigi I stayed down the side street where the 2 mosques are located. The guesthouse is on the left and the name I believe starts with a "Z". Hope this helps. Jason