Lombok is a small island in East Indonesia, next to Bali. Unlike Bali, it only became popular as a tourist destination around 5 years ago, mainly because of the much-talked-about Gilis. Yep, a lot of people mainly associate Lombok with the three Gilis – Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, and Gili Meno. But you know what, there are just so many pretty things in Lombok island other than those three Gilis!
I went to Lombok last week in a group of four, my friends from work. We booked a private tour with a local instagrammer, Ingga – widely known as @debucung. He does private tours for a living and let me just say it straightforward… he will take you to AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL places! No joke. So what places did I went to? read along and follow my journey! 🙂
Day one
We flew Batik Air from Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta to Lombok international Airport. I remember it was rather hard to fly to Lombok, around 5 years ago when my friends first went to the Gilis – they had to transit in Bali first. But worry not, nowadays it’s getting easier to fly to Lombok from Jakarta (and I believe from other cities too?).
We arrived around noon and met Ingga – our trip planner straightaway. He then took us for lunch and went straight to our first destination. It was beach day today! First stop was Mawun beach in south of Lombok.
It was love at first sight. Though it is not too big, but it has white sands, clear sea, plus amazing hills in its surroundings. Yes, we went there during dry season, so the hills were not green… but imagine if we came around April, it must be even more beautiful! It’s not crowded too, there were only several foreigners and although there are some food stalls/vendors but I still found it serene. Too bad I did not jump into the water because I haven’t got my swimsuit and all that ready since I just arrived from the airport. Hmph. Lesson learned, always keep your beach wear handy for places like these!
Second stop was nearby Selong Belanak beach.
Selong Belanak is as pretty as Mawun, but less crowded. There were barely anyone except us and few locals there. We did not stay long there, but I surely spent enough time to capture some images, and just enjoyed the stellar view. It was such a refreshment for my eyes!
From Selong Belanak we went to Semeti Beach and Mawi Beach in Central Lombok, which happens to be located next to each other. Semeti beach is not as famous as the first two, there is no Trip Advisor page about it yet! It took us over 30 minutes drive from Selong Belanak to get to the area,which was rather deserted and it made me feel like we were in the middle of nowhere! The road was not smooth either, but the view was really pretty ..
Compared to the first two beaches, Semeti to me was more of an ‘adventure’ beach rather than a leisure one. why? because we climbed these rocks!
The rocks were hard for me to climb because, well, it has been awhile since I last been outdoor! 😦 I haven’t been very active nowadays and to be honest I didn’t expect that kind of “trail” to climb. But seeing that my friends started to climb already motivated me… until I managed to make it to the top! YEAH! I got a wee bit emotional up there because the view was spectacular!
After Semeti, we went to its neighbour – Mawi, which was also our last destination for the day. Similar to Semeti, Mawi beach also does not have sandy beach, instead the beach is full of rocks. During broad daylight it may not look as pretty as the other beaches I’ve been that day…
But it’s a complete different story during sunset! It was rather cloudy so we did not get that spectacular orange, but still.. the view was quite something :’)
So that concludes my first day in Lombok. Afterwards we went for dinner and then to our hotel in Mataram area.
I actually wanted to write all of my stories in one post but here I am just finishing day one with over 700 word count already.. hahaha. So I guess I’m going to separate the stories in several posts. I think day two will need a separate post for sure as we went up north to the villages underneath Mt.Rinjani!
So for now, here’s a sneak peek of my day two adventure.. until then! x
Christa Bercerita 
Ooh, saya ketinggalan mengunjungi Semeti dan Mawi dan Selong Belanak (tapi kalau Mawun dan pantai-pantai di timurnya sih sudah :hihi). Keren-keren memang pantainyahh! Sunsetnya juga menggoda banget :hehe. Ditunggu cerita dari Sembalunnya yah Mbak :hehe :)).
Iyaa pantai2 nya bagus2 banget yaa Gara. Aku tadinya cuma tau Sengigi doang loh. Kalo liat di google kan ngga terlalu spesial jadi selama ini kurang tertarik ke Lombok. Eh taunya.. Pantai2 lainnya buagussss banget! Next time kesana musti ke semeti sih.. Kereenn hehe sekalian bisa manjat2 :)))) sipp menyusul yah cerita berikutnya! Nulis day one aja ga kerasa ampir 1000 kata hahaha
Pasti ke sana Mbak *brb booking tiket mudik :haha*.
Asikk sambil mudikk jalan2 hehehe
Pantainya masih bener bener perawan nih..sepi..beautifulindonesia
Bener… Pantainya bersih dan bagus banget 🙂
Selong Belanak bagus ya Chris pantai ya….sepi pula! Pantai lainnyayg kamu debutin diatas aku blom perna kesana, one day is a must! Did you snorkelling at one of the Gili?
Iyaa.. Kalau kesitu lagi is a must Ria 🙂 I did, last day.. Hehehe tapi cuma ke Gili Layar, itu juga heaven on earth bangeet 😍
Duh naksir banget sama Selong Belanak. Pasti Kara bakal betah di sana. Kalau Mawi sama Semeti kayaknya kurang kids friendly ya tracknya. Bisa kali ya request tempat tempat yang kids friendly sama Ingga? 😀 *langsung follow*
Mawun juga oke tuuh.. Iya kalau Mawi sama Semeti krg kids friendly kayaknya hehehe. Bisa banget, dia menerima customised trip based on request gituu.. Orgnya asik bgt dan baik, lesgooo 😀
Thanks Chris! udah follow IG nya, nungguin jatah cuti dulu baru akan tanya-tanya :’) *duduk manis menunggu cerita selanjutnya*
Hehehe siappp segera ditulis lagiii *banyak pr* :p
Beautiful pics Christa. I’ll put some of the places on my list. TFS.
Your welcome! 🙂
Christa, road ke Mawi ternyata seru juga ya jalannya
Iyaa Non jalannya ampir kayak offroad, tapi pemandangannya baguuus. Kering aja bagus apalagi kalau lagi hijauu.. hehe
Duhhh cantik2 bangettt Chris… One day should pack my bag to there deh!!
You should hehehe aku mau balik lagi jugaaa 😀
Terakhir ke Lombok pas masih tinggal di Bali, yang adalah 20 tahun yang lalu, hehe… Pas waktu itu Gilis masih sepiiiii, isinya rumah penduduk aja. Definitely need to revisit Lombok.
Huaa udah lama banget ituu.. kayaknya udah berubah banyak deh, kata guide ku sejak 5 taun yg lalu udah berkembang banget Lombok 🙂
mawun beach nya cakep dan bersih ya chris….
foto yang terakhir juga seger banget ngeliatnya, semua ijo2… 🙂
Iyaa asik banget Man, kalo ga ikut tour bisa seharian kali disitu leyeh2 hehehe
Christa, Mawun ini kayaknya lagi booming ya. Soalnya lihat IG teman2 kuliahku, mereka pada pergi kesini diwaktu yang berbeda. Duuhh pantai2nya beneran bikin pingin nyemplung ini Chris. Aku langsung catet info2 yang kamu tulis diatas. Thanks for sharing. Dicatat dulu, entah kapan eksekusinya haha.
Oyaa Den.. tapi emang dari semua pantai itu, Mawun yg paling “rame” sih… rame nya juga paling ada 20 orang heuheuheue. Nanti kalau sekalian pulang kampung, sekalian jalan2 Den.. amiin hihihi
waaah ini Lombok pantainya emejing sekaleee 😀
seperti memanggil-manggil untuk segera dikunjungi. semoga taun depan terlaksana reunian SMA di sana 🙂
Amin 🙂 semoga terlaksana!
keren-keren banget mba fotonya…
dari dulu pgn banget ke lombok.. semoga bisa segera terlaksana :’)
Amiiinn 🙂