Lombok News

Starting from January 2010 not all travel agent could go in and out passengers’ check in room at Mataram Selaparang Airport. Therefore, airport pass is given for the agents that already have business and counter at the airport. This limitation is in order to prevent density in the airport. For those, travel agents helped their guests check in should use guest card for ten thousand Rupiah each time they entering the airport. (more…)

In the end of 2009, Senggigi tourism object will still flooded by tourists. Rooms in every hotel had declared fully reserved though the guests should bought high packet prize – including a necessity to buy dinner packet and end year event – Most of the tourists is domestic tourists from big cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. Meanwhile for the rest 30 percent of visitors are foreign tourists that coming after visiting Bali. (more…)

14 bunker or cave for Japanese military shelter was found at the coast of Huu beach Dompu regency. Its location is for about one kilometer form Lakey surfing location in front of India Ocean. Dompu provincial government will renovate it becoming a site for tourism object after surfing and other historical archeology sites such as Nangasia, Batu Kadera and Batu Kubur. (more…)

It was still early in the morning when we arrived at Lombok’s Selaparang Airport. As we set foot on the airport’s tarmac, our eyes were greeted by Lombok’s mountains and scenic lush forest. A postcard view it was. Indeed, Lombok has become the new, upcoming tourist destination in Indonesia. It seems that the gods from Bali decided to move away from that island, due to its ever-growing population, and migrate to Lombok instead. At least, that’s what we thought when we saw Lombok for the very first time. It really deserves the title of the new haven of the gods. (more…)

Citing governmental paralysis and hinting that too many officials had their hands out, Dubai’s state-owned Emaar Properties PJSC has cancelled its massive $600 million property project that was to turn the pristine island of Lombok into another Bali. “We have closed our office in Jakarta starting Friday,” said Elly Savitri, Emmar Indonesia’s human resources manager. “Emaar has pulled out of its operations in Indonesia because the government cannot comply with the terms of the agreement with our joint venture company. (more…)

“Come and get shipwrecked,” advertised an island brochure, and that is precisely what it felt like as we followed a group of French, Russian, and Australian tourists off the speedboat after a 2 1/2-hour trip from Bali to this little island in the Indian Ocean.

There are no cars, no motorcycles, no police on the Gili Trawangan. There are, however, dollar Bintang beers, $4 rice dishes, and small gazebos where you can rest 20 feet from the bluest water you ever saw and watch the Lombok volcanoes get painted by the sun. (more…)

Lombok island sits just across a narrow strait from Bali. But unlike its sister island — a travel Mecca that has become even more popular thanks to Russian and Chinese package tours — Lombok has remained largely in the shadows, save for a trickle of foreign travelers who have discovered its charms. (more…)

It was a few days into my journey across Lombok when a strange, yet oddly pleasant, mental miasma descended upon me. My guide, Bahar, and I couldn’t figure out what day of the week it was. Bahar suspected it was Thursday; I thought it was Wednesday. And so, for a while, we remained lost in time.

Such temporal confusion is typical on Lombok, where the roads are rough and the tourists few. This enchanted Indonesian island is, after all, a place that seems to be perpetually arriving, yet has never quite arrived. Proximity to Bali is Lombok’s blessing, and its curse. Many residents bristle at the idea of basking in Bali’s reflected glory and point out that while only 25 miles separate the two islands, they are in fact worlds apart. (more…)

For years it has lived in the shadow of its more famous neighbor, Bali. Now pristine Lombok Island of Indonesia is making a concerted effort to build itself up as the next Bali, while trying to maintain its natural charm. Slower to catch the tourism train than its neighbor to the west, Lombok has been promoted as an unspoiled Bali. But a future $600 million development may see it emerge on par with Bali as a world-class tourism destination, according to the United Arab Emirates-based developer. (more…)

Travel expert of The Times, South African daily news which also available online, answers queries on routes and destinations around the world.

Q: We are planning to go to Lombok Island, Indonesia, and need advice on the best way to get there and where to stay, our preference being for a small hotel on the beach. We would also love to see the Komodo dragons. Is this possible from Lombok? — Daphne Johnson

A: The quickest route would be to fly from Johannesburg to Singapore on Singapore Airlines and then connect directly to Selaparang Airport in Mataram, Lombok’s largest city, on Silk Air. (You can also travel via Denpasar in Bali, but that is a longer route). There are many hotels to choose from, most of which you can find online. A stylish place to stay is Qunci Villas, which has 20 luxury rooms with stunning sea views. Another is the Puri Mas Boutique Hotel, which offers comfortable bungalows and ocean villas in a garden alongside Senggigi beach.
You can visit the Komodo National Park on a private tour arranged by one of the travel operators on the island. But if you want to catch a public ferry you need to get to Sape on Sumbawa island or Labuan Bajo in Flores. There will be plenty of information available on the island about trips and tours as the Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizards, are a major tourist attraction. (more…)