Senggigi Beach

Quite close to Selaparang airport, and fairly convenient to the ferry arrival port of Lembar, most visitors to Lombok usually begin their stay at Senggigi, Lombok’s oldest and mos famous resort area.

A series of white sandy beaches in small palm-fringed bays, hugging the sides of steep hills sweeping down to the sea, make up Senggigi. The views up and down the coast and stretching out to sea as far as Bali are majestic. Swimming off the beach is safe and good waves for surfers peel to the left and right off the reef that just out from the main beach. The reef is also home to a variety of marine life and beautiful coral and is ideal for relaxed snorkeling.

Visit the very evocative shrine that sits on a black outcrop of rock that reaches out into the sea at Batu Bolong, a few kilometers from central Senggigi. It can be particularly enchanting when Hindu devotees make their offerings at dusk and Senggigi presents one of her crimson sunsets with the silhouette of Bali’s Mt Agung faintly visible in the distance.

Restaurants and small cafes line the colorful main beach road. Two pulsating discopubs churn out music until the early hours, but in effect they don’t disturb the laid-back and decidedly relaxed atmosphere of the place.

Hotels belonging to some of the major international and local chains have beachfront locations with all the fancy frills expected of luxury hotels. Cheaper accommodation is likewise available in the form of small, comfortable bungalows.