Lombok, Indonesia and the Secret Gili Islands

When I asked my husband his highlight of the cruise, he said Lombok. My top was Komodo followed very closely by Lombok but I would say Indonesia was my favorite overall.

I had never heard of Lombok before our trip but word is that Lombok is the next Bali and it’s easy to see why. It has the same laid back chill vibe that Bali has, but without as much traffic. You can take a quick boat ride from Bali or hop a flight from Denpasar and many other Indonesian cities into Lombok International. They even have direct flights from Australia. (Unfortunately not from Seoul, though, I’ve already checked.) Also, since it’s just across the Lombok Strait from Bali it’s easy to island hop your way around.

Lombok port is not in a walkable part of town. It is a shipping port. It took a 30 minute drive around the coast and a 15 minute longboat ride out to the first island. When we walked off the boat we were greeted by a tour guide offering this trip to us. It was $150US for 4 adults and 2 kids roundtrip car service and island hopping boat tour at our leisure. This was much cheaper than what was offered through our cruise ship. I’m sure you could haggle but it was a fair price in my opinion.

I didn’t think I would want to spend all day snorkeling the “Secret” Gili Islands but I was wrong. While we could’ve stayed a bit longer (we had until 10pm to get back on the boat) a storm was moving in and we wanted to be back on land before it hit. I’ve said this in every post but the Gili Islands were stunning. Untouched, raw, everything I imagine places to have been before tourists arrived. The sand was soft. The difference in water color near the reefs were like something out of a painting.

London snorkeling in the Gili Islands, January 2023.

Typically people start at Gili Nanggu then hop around to Gili Sudak and Gili Kedis. The beach on Gili Nanggu was so pretty and was more pink than the beach we went to in Komodo. There was a beautiful rock formation with crabs crawling all over it and you didn’t have to venture far for snorkeling. It was such a great place for the kids to hang out and hunt for seashells as well. Once we saw the clouds rolling in we decided to skip Gili Sudak and head straight to Gili Kedis. Gili Kedis is so tiny! No wonder they call it the small island. I was honestly unsure how much would still show once high tide came around.

There’s so much more to do in Lombok like visiting waterfalls (there’s no shortage of waterfalls in Indonesia, that’s for sure), trekking Mount Rinjani, visit the local Sasak native villages, or visiting rice terraces. Of all of our excursion days on the cruise, Lombok was the most relaxed but I really felt like we saw a lot. Lombok is truly a gem and I would love to go back!