Lombok, Indonesia

On Indonesia’s lesser-known island of Lombok, journey through its wild beaches, jungles, and hidden waterfalls, and crack open fresh lobsters and pineapple.

Though only twenty-five miles east of Bali, Lombok has historically and geographically occupied a much more liminal space than its neighboring island. Located between the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea, both islands lie between Australia and Asia yet sit on either side of the Wallace Line: a faunal boundary separating the species distinct to each region.

Today, systems of belief intertwine like the bamboo woven walls so ubiquitous on the island. A small pocket in the east, around the bustling, scooter-filled provincial capital city, Mataram, remains predominantly Balinese Hindu. The rest of the island is Sasak Muslim, and five times a day the call to prayer drifts through the soundscape.

It takes three hours to drive from south Lombok to the north, but the time passes quickly if the trip involves a climb through the lower slopes of Mount Rinjani, past wild macaque monkeys and lush, generous strawberry fields, rice fields, coconut palms, and cacao and vanilla trees. With its natural riches, the south of the island is now the de facto center of tourism, enticing travelers with beaches like Kuta Beach and Tanjung Aan, both paradisiacal waterscapes decorated with thatched-roof warung eateries selling coconuts and nasi goreng to salty-haired surfers.

A fresh wave of hotels is crafting a new kind of holiday experience on the island: one where the island’s communities benefit, and their home of earthly pleasures take center stage.

Located on top of a hill, Somewhere hotel offers a worthy reward for driving up—the chance to submerge in the hotel’s infinity pool and drink in the rainforest-tipped curves of Are Guling bay below. Descending down the hill like terraced rice fields, each room has its own outdoor plunge pool that is just private enough to evoke a feeling of pure seclusion.

Over on the far side of Awang Bay lies Innit hotel, a modern and secluded beachfront venue with similar values to Somewhere, but with different design approaches. Innit is best accessed by boat, followed by a jump into the sand (there’s no jetty). The villas are sleek and minimalist, each shaded with vertical planks of locally sourced rajumas wood, and meditative in their geometric precision. In contrast, the hills surrounding Innit are rugged and rustic, covered in dry farmland interspersed with jungle. It is like being at the edge of the world.

Lobster farming in Lombok started in the early 2000s; today, there are 100 farms suspended on Styrofoam barrels in the middle of Awang Bay, the floating grid structures lashed together with bamboo rods or plastic. Each raft has nets that drop into the ocean below, and the farmers pull one of each type of crustacean out of the water by their antennae: pasir (sand lobster, named for its beige coloring), and mutiara (pearl lobster, named for its blue, opalescent shell).

Skewered and cooked slow over a beach fire, the lobsters are then cracked open, with their flesh, sweet with the taste of the sea, dipped in raw lemongrass and chili sambal. Outside, the night sky and the ocean merge into one dark, inky canvas, lit only by fishermen rowing out to sea on narrow sampans, their fluorescent lamps drifting through the darkness like floating spirits.

With its natural riches, the south of the island is now the de facto center of tourism, enticing travelers with beaches like Kuta Beach and Tanjung Aan. Both are beautiful waterscapes decorated with thatched-roof warung eateries selling coconuts and nasi goreng to salty-haired surfers.

Waterfalls are Lombok’s pride and joy—tall streams of icy relief plunging through the gaps in the fern-filled rainforests, like Sendang Gile near Senaru.

But nature gifted the island with additional places to cool off. Near Tetebatu, guides will reveal something else: a natural pool fed with mountain springs from Mount Rinjani. Teenagers dive in and take selfies under the waterfall where the spring tumbles into the pool.

Nearby, a young woman makes rujak, a green mango salad with peanuts, palm sugar, and chili, shaken until the flavors become one. When asked what is the best thing about Lombok, she cuts a few slices of mango to share and points to the pool: “There are so many hidden spots to discover,” she smiles.