Harmony SpaSPA
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0812 386 5883; massages from 150,000Rp; h10am-7pm)
The beautiful north-coast location alone will make you feel renewed. Facials, body treatments and more are on offer. Call first.
DON'T MISS
SNORKELLING THE GILIS
Ringed by coral reefs, the Gilis offer superb snorkelling. Masks, snorkels and fins are widely available and can be hired for about 40,000Rp per day. It's important to check your mask fits properly: just press it gently to your face, let go and if it's a good fit the suction should hold it in place.
Snorkelling trips – many on glass-bottomed boats – are very popular. Typically, you'll pay about 200,000Rp per person. Expect to leave at about 10am and visit three or more sites, possibly with a stop for lunch on another island. On Gili T there are many places selling these trips along the main strip; prices are very negotiable.
On Trawangan and Meno turtles very regularly appear on the reefs right off the beach. You'll likely drift with the current, so be prepared to walk back to the starting line. Over on Air, the walls off the east coast are good too.
It's not hard to escape the crowds. Each island has a less-developed side, usually where access to the water is obstructed by shallow patches of coral. Using rubber shoes makes it much easier to get into the water. Try not to stamp all over the coral but ease yourself in, and then swim, keeping your body as horizontal as possible.
Among the many reasons to snorkel in the Gilis are the high odds you'll encounter hawksbill and green sea turtles. Top overall snorkelling spots include the following:
AGili Meno Wall
AThe north end of Gili T's beach
AGili Air Wall
4Sleeping
Gili Air's 50 or so places to stay are mostly located on the east coast. You'll find more isolation in the west.
oGili Air HostelHOSTEL$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; www.giliairhostel.com; dm/r from 125,000/350,000Rp; hreception 7.30am-7pm; aW)
A great addition to the island. Beds here are in two- to seven-bed rooms, all of which share bathrooms. The decor defines cheery, and there's a cool bar, a huge frangipani tree and even a climbing wall.
Bintang Beach 2BUNGALOW$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0877 6522 2554; r from 350,000Rp; a)
On Gili Air's quiet northwest coast, this sandy but tidy compound has basic rooms and bungalows that range from budget-friendly and fan-cooled to mildly snazzy. The bar area is a delight. This enterprising clan has a few other guesthouses nearby.
oVilla Casa MioBUNGALOW$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0370-646160; www.villacasamio.com; cottages from 900,000Rp; aWs)
Casa Mio has fine cottages with pretty garden bathrooms, as well as a riot of knick-knacks (from the artistic to the kitsch). Rooms have fridges, stereos and nice sun decks with loungers. The casa also boasts a lovely beach area, and good access via a paved portion of the beach lane from the boat landing. Several competitors have sprung up nearby.
oRival VillageGUESTHOUSE$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0819 0734 9148; www.facebook.com/rivalvillagegiliair; r 500,000-600,000Rp; aW)
This modest four-room guesthouse just gets everything right. The French owners have created a sparkling-clean little compound amid family houses off one of the village's main paths. Rooms are large, the bathrooms are open-air, breakfast is delicious, everything works. Très bon!
DamaiGUESTHOUSE$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0878 6142 0416; www.facebook.com/damaihomestay.giliair; r 450,000-650,000Rp; aW)
It’s worth seeking out this thatched enclave. The 11 rooms range from basic bungalows to deluxe crash pads, which are tasteful and open onto a garden. The cosy dining patio has cushioned seating, and is elegantly lit with paper lanterns.
Biba Beach VillageBUNGALOW$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0819 1727 4648; www.bibabeach.com; bungalows from 700,000Rp; aW)
Biba offers nine lovely, spacious bungalows with large verandahs, and grottolike bathrooms that have walls inlaid with shells and coral. The gorgeous garden has little chill-out zones. Biba is also home to a good Italian restaurant. The best rooms have sea views.
Grand SunsetBUNGALOW$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0859 3610 3847; www.grandsunsetgiliair.com; r 700,000-900,000Rp; aWs)
These solidly built, bungalow-style rooms reflect the ethos of this modest resort: solid. Bathrooms are well designed and open-air, rooms have all the basic comforts, the wi-fi works, the pool is large and refreshing, and the beachside loungers have superb views. Plus there's the quiet that comes with the location on the sunset side of Air.
7 SeasHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0819 0700 3240; www.7seas-cottages.com; dm from 80,000Rp, r 450,000-800,000Rp; aWs)
Part of the 7 Seas dive empire, this is an attractive bungalow compound in a great location. Rooms are tidy and comfy; cottages have soaring ceilings and thatch. There are also fan-cooled, bamboo, loftlike hostel rooms.
5Eating
Most places on Gili Air are locally owned and offer an unbeatable setting for a meal, with tables right over the water.
oEazy Gili WaroengINDONESIAN$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains 25,000-40,000Rp; h8am-10pm)
In the buzzy main village, this spotless corner cafe serves up local fare aimed at visitors. It's the slightly Westernised face of the beloved Warung Muslim, immediately to the east. It also does breakfasts, sandwiches and a superb pisang goreng (fried banana).
Warung Sasak IIINDONESIAN$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains from 15,000Rp; h8am-10pm)
A fine find in the village, this dead simple warung has excellent versions of all the standards such as chicken satay and fish curry. It also has many variations on parapek, a Sasak speciality where foods are cooked in a spicy sauce.
Pasar MalamMARKET$
(Night Market; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains from 15,000Rp; h6-11pm)
Inspired by the wild success of the night market on Gili T, Air's has the requisite stalls with fresh Indo fare arrayed around open-air tables. It gets lively after 8pm. Half the fun is just browsing.
oLe CirqueFRENCH, BAKERY$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0819 1601 0360; www.lecirque-giliair.com; mains 35,000-120,000Rp; h7am-10pm; W)
A clever French-accented culinary vision with a scrumptious bakery and tables spanning the path right up to the shore. The dinner menu is ambitious and there are nightly seafood specials. Kids get their own menu with tasty treats such as 'pizza circus'.
Scallywags Beach ClubINTERNATIONAL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0370-645301; www.scallywagsresort.com; mains 45,000-150,000Rp; h8am-10pm; W)
Set on Gili Air’s softest and widest beach, there’s elegant decor, upscale comfort food, great barbecue, homemade gelato and superb cocktails here. But the best feature is the alluring beach dotted with loungers. The choice of sambals is sublime.
Sunset LoungeSEAFOOD$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains 40,000-120,000Rp; h9am-11pm)
More ambitious than your usual beachside bamboo hang-outs, Sunset offers a nightly seafood barbecue and an ever-changing line-up of fresh fare. Good pasta shows what the Italians can do with mie (noodles). Come for drinks, stay for sunset and then have a moonlit meal. (On a bike, buzz over on the paved interior lanes.)
6Drinking & Nightlife
Gili Air is usually a mellow place, but there are full-moon parties and things can rev up on the strip in the southeast in high season. Still, where late-night Gili T is all about rave parties, Gili Air's hotspot is the waffle-cone stand.
oLegend BarBAR
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h7am-late)
Painted the requisite Rasta colours of red, green and gold, this raffish reggae bar has a large dance party every full moon.
Little BarCAFE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h9am-late)
Set on a sublime stretch of beach with technicolour sunsets, there is no better place for a sundowner than Little Bar. The menu includes snacks and veggie options.<
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8Information
There are ATMs along the southeast strip.
Royal Medical ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0878 6442 1212; hphone service 24hr) has a simple clinic.
There's a good general store, Siti Shop ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; h8am-8pm), in the village.
8Getting There & Away
The boat landing ( GOOGLE MAP ) is busy. Gili Air's commerce and popularity mean that public boats fill rather quickly for the 15-minute ride to Bangsal. The ticket office has a shady waiting area. Clipboard-toting staff handle fast-boat check-ins.
Sumbawa
Elaborately contorted and sprawling into the sea, Sumbawa is all volcanic ridges, terraced rice fields, dry expanses and sheltered bays. Two main areas draw visitors: the southwest coast from Maluk is essentially a layered series of headlands and wide, white beaches with renowned surf, while in the southeast, Lakey Peak has become Sumbawa’s premier year-round surf magnet. Elsewhere, massive, climbable Gunung Tambora (2850m), which once had an explosion so large it changed the climate of the planet, looms in the north.
Though well connected to Bali and Lombok, Sumbawa is a very different sort of place. It’s far less developed, mostly very dry, much poorer, extremely conservative, and split between two distinct peoples. Those who speak Sumbawanese probably reached the west of the island from Lombok. Bimanese speakers dominate the Tambora Peninsula and the east. Although Sumbawa is an overwhelmingly Islamic island, in remote parts underground adat (traditional laws and regulations) still thrive. During festivals you may come across traditional Sumbawan fighting, a sort of bare-fisted boxing called berempah. Dynamic horse and water-buffalo races, best glimpsed in Bima each August, are held before the rice is planted.
Transport connections off the trans-Sumbawa road are infrequent and uncomfortable, and most overland travellers don’t even get off the bus in Sumbawa as they float and roll from Lombok to Flores. For now, it’s the domain of surfers, miners and mullahs.
DON'T MISS
BEST OF SUMBAWA
Pantai Lakey A genuine beach town, with cool guesthouses and cafes linked by a sandy path overlooking awesome surf.
Rantung A low-key collection of classic surfer dives, great breaks and a fine beach.
Trans-Sumbawa Highway Mostly traffic-free and in great shape; good for speeding between Lombok and Flores.
8Dangers & Annoyances
Most Sumbawans are hospitable, albeit taciturn, but you may encounter some tension. In the past, protests against foreign-owned mining operations have turned violent. The island is also much more conservative in terms of religion than neighbouring Lombok or Flores; behave modestly at all times. Indonesia's anti-terrorism police make raids and arrests around Bima.
8Getting Around
Sumbawa’s main highway is in good condition and runs from Taliwang (near the west coast) through Sumbawa Besar, Dompu and Bima to Sape (the ferry port on the east coast). It's relatively traffic-free – a relief if you've made the trek through Java, Bali and Lombok. Fleets of long-distance buses, most of them air-conditioned, run between the west coast ferry port of Porto Tano and Sape, serving all the major towns between.
Car hire is possible through hotels: prices are about 600,000Rp to 800,000Rp per day, including a driver. Motorbikes cost 50,000Rp to 80,000Rp a day.
West Sumbawa
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West Sumbawa is dry and rolling. Beaches are wide, sugar-white, and framed with domed headlands. Bays are enormous and dynamic: they can be tranquil one hour and fold into overhead barrels the next. Sumbawa Besar is a humble Muslim town with a good morning market. Pulau Moyo, a lush jewel off the northern shore, has revered diving and snorkelling, but it’s difficult to access on a budget. Watch for small Balinese villages near the coasts.
Poto Tano
Poto Tano, the main port for ferries to/from Lombok, is a ramshackle harbour, fringed by stilt-fishing villages with tremendous views of Gunung Rinjani. Pretty place, but there’s no need to sleep here.
8Getting There & Away
Ferries run hourly, 24 hours a day, between Labuhan Lombok and Poto Tano (passengers 19,000Rp, 1½ hours). Cars cost 466,000Rp, motorbikes 54,000Rp. Through buses to Lombok, Bali and Java include the ferry fare.
Buses meet the ferry and go to Taliwang (20,000Rp, one hour) and Sumbawa Besar (30,000Rp, two hours).
Taliwang & Around
It may be the regional capital and transport hub, but Taliwang is just a small, conservative village, 30km south of Poto Tano. There are ATMs along the main road, plenty of Padang warungs (food stalls), and no reasons to hang around.
From Taliwang, bemos (minibuses) and trucks also run 11km south to Jereweh, your gateway to the remarkable beach and enormous horseshoe bay at Jelenga, a humble country village with rice fields, goat farms and a world class left break known as Scar Reef.
4Sleeping & Eating
oScar Reef HotelSURF CAMP$$
(%0813 3774 2679; www.scarreefhotel.com; r 500,000-900,000Rp; a)
A modern lodge for surfers. The four rooms, which each sleep up to four, have soaring ceilings, wood furnishings, air-con, and a common beachside porch and lounge area with satellite TV. Two have ocean views. There's also a cafe.
8Getting There & Away
Buses go from Taliwang to Poto Tano (20,000Rp) almost hourly, where you can hop on a bus to Mataram or Sumbawa Besar. Hourly bemos head to Maluk (20,000Rp, two hours).
Maluk, Sekongkang & Rantung
South of Taliwang, the beaches and bays try to outdo one another. Your first stop is the working-class commercial district of Maluk, 30km south of Taliwang. Yes, the town is ugly, but the beach is superb. The sand is a blend of white and gold, and the bay is buffered by two headlands. There’s good swimming in the shallows, and when the swell hits, the reef further out sculpts perfect barrels.
One of the world's largest copper mines, about 30km inland of Maluk, has driven a wave of development and attracted scores of employees from the US, Australia and Java. The Newmont Mining Corporation employs about 8000 workers, and has had a huge impact on the area (you'll see its vast port facilities along the coastal road). Most of the expat restaurant and bar traffic is in Townside, a private company enclave complete with golf courses and other amenities. Casual visits are discouraged.
Directly south of Maluk, within walking distance of the beach (though it is a long walk) is Supersuck, consistently rated as the best left the world. Surfers descend regularly from Hawaii's North Shore to surf here – which should tell you something – and many lifelong surfers have proclaimed it the finest barrel of their lives. It really pumps in the dry season (May to October).
About a 10km serpentine drive further south, the spread-out settlement of Sekongkang includes three superb beaches with another handful of surf breaks. It also has the best range of accommodation and a gorgeous all-natural vibe. Pantai Rantung (commonly called Rantung Beach), 2km downhill from Sekongkang Atas, spills onto a secluded and majestic bay framed by 100m-high headlands. The water is crystal-clear and waves roll in year-round at Yo Yo’s, a right break at the north end of the bay. Hook, which breaks at the edge of the northern bluff, is also a terrific right. Supersuck breaks straight in front of the Rantung Beach Hotel, and is a consistent year-round beginner’s break, though it gets heavy and delivers a long left when the swell comes in. The next bay down is where you’ll find Tropical, another phenomenal beach (named for the nearby resort) and home to great left and right breaks that beginners will enjoy.
North of Rantung is Pantai Lawar, a tree-shaded stretch of white sand on a turquoise lagoon sheltered by volcanic bluffs draped in jungle. When the surf is flat, come here to swim and snorkel.
4Sleeping & Eating
Maluk's fun beachside marketplace is packed with warungs selling everything from soto ayam (chicken soup) to coffees, juices and ikan bakar (grilled fish).
Bars and restaurants on Rantung Beach get crowded with expat mine workers on weekends. Most everything here is in easy walking distance, and it
has a classic surfer feel.
oSantai Beach BungalowsGUESTHOUSE$
(%0878 6393 5758; Rantung Beach; r 100,000-200,000Rp; i)
The choice budget spot in the area offers a collection of 12 spacious, well-tended tiled rooms. Those with private bath have sensational sea views from the front porch, and all have access to amazing views from the thatched restaurant (dishes 30,000Rp to 60,000Rp), where there's a pool table. Book ahead: when that swell hits it's full for weeks. It is close to several other places.
Maluk ResortHOTEL$
(%0372-635424; Jl Pasir Putih, Maluk; r 225,000-425,000Rp; aW)
One block west of the main road, and steps from the sand, is this decent collection of 10 rooms. Garden rooms surround a small pool and most have a private terrace. Upstairs deluxe rooms are slightly larger, with bathtubs and a better view.
Rantung Beach HotelGUESTHOUSE$
(%0878 3905 4999; www.surfindo.com.au; Rantung Beach; r from 150,000Rp)
Located on a small point overlooking the best part of the breaks, this 12-room surfer crash pad makes up for its dishevelled appearance with a great, welcoming spirit. The view from the cafe (dishes 30,000Rp to 60,000Rp) and bar are stunning. Rooms have fans and simple bamboo furniture. The hotel organises various surfing packages, including transport from Bali.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 65