Lombok surf is just as consistent as Bali but it’s less busy and more accessible to the intermediate surfer, with a variety of points, reefs, and beach breaks on the menu, not to mention majestic Desert Point!
An introduction to Lombok surf
Lombok is often coupled together with Bali because the two places are just so close. But we really think the spots are significantly different on the surf front. The Isle of the Gods has world-famous, pumping lefts that are crowd magnets. Meanwhile, Lombok’s breaks are shockingly empty much of the time, and come in a whole variety of shapes and sizes, from peaky beach breaks for beginners (we’re looking at you Selong Belanak) to hardcore barrels for the pros (Bangko-Bangko).
Kuta Lombok (no relation to Kuta Bali) is the epicenter of the Lombok surf scene. A burgeoning town filled with surf camps that’s transformed in recent years largely thanks to the opening of a nearby international airport, it provides access to all of the breaks on the south coast. They’re spread between various bays that have exposure to the Indian Ocean, each usually coming with three or four different breaks, along with more heavy-going outer reefs for those after a challenge.
Lombok offers a balance. You will need to travel more to the waves and might even need to hitch a boat there. The payoff? Hardly a another soul in the lineup if you’re lucky, along with a chance to score what’s sometimes hailed as the finest wave on the planet at Desert Point, but we’ll leave that for a whole other guide!
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This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in Indonesia
Lombok surf at a glance
The good:
- Desert Point is one of the best waves in the world
- Great for intermediate surfers looking to progress
- Quiet line ups, especially compared to Bali
The bad:
- You will need to travel to reach the breaks
What’s in this guide to Lombok surf?
Where is Lombok?
You can literally see Lombok from Bali. It’s the next isle over (well…it would be were it not for the teeny-tiny Gili Islands and Nusa Penida in between). Let’s just say that it’s the next major island over from the Isle of the Gods. Spanning just over 4,700 square kilometres, it’s slightly smaller than its compadre. Like Bali, though, it’s got the Indian Ocean just to the south and west (hello, waves), while long, strangely shaped Sumbawa (another surf hub) is just over the straight to the east.
How to get to Lombok
There are only two ways to arrive in Lombok: By air and by sea (this is an island, remember?). A new airport has opened in the last five years and that means there are now short-haul connections from right across Southeast Asia right to Lombok itself. That’s been really helpful, because you no longer HAVE to go via Bali or Jakarta to get in. Check Skyscanner for links to Lombok International Airport to get your flights. We recently booked one in from Kuala Lumpur, but there are also connections from Bali and from Singapore (as of 2022).
If you’re already on Bali then the boats are probably an easier and a cheaper option. They run regularly to Lombok from the port of Padangbai (to get to the Senggigi surf region on the west coast) and the Benoa Marina near the Bukit (for reaching southern Lombok, the best for surfers overall).
A guide to Lombok surf spots
The vast majority of the prime Lombok surf territory is on the south coast of the island. This is the area that gets good exposure to the S-SW swell channels that power through the Indian Ocean. The region also happens to be beset by big rocky mountains and reefs, which help create the variety of waves that Lombok is slowly becoming famed for. Let’s take a look at some of the best…
Desert Point
All hail Desert Point. Also known as Bangko-Bangko, this is the spot that first drew surfer eyes to Lombok. It’s an impeccable example of a proper Indo point break, harnessing the SW swell into a long and hollow barrel that can run for 20 seconds or more. It’s for the pros only and really doesn’t work that often.
We’ve actually got a whole separate guide dedicated to surfing Desert Point – check it out.
Belongas
The gorgeous and remote bay of Belongas is a huge cleft in the south shore of Lombok. It’s now a regular pitstop for boat-surf charters but we’ve not seen it busy often. That might be because there are actually two breaks that work, a left on the far east side of the bay and a right on the western side. The first is the better wave, offering long, cruisy rides off a lippy peak. The second is the more consistent option, working on smaller SW swells. Wet season offshores from the north can really help Belongas get going.
Selong Belanak
Selong Belanak is the best beginner wave on Lombok. Pretty, sandy, easy-going, the swell here is tamed by the framing of reefs to the north and south. There’s a good, steady offshore from the east much of the dry season and the vibe is really nice in the water. The H2O is crystal clear and it’s perfect for practicing the paddle and pop on a foamie.
Mawi
Pantai Mawi is a very attractive, white-sand beach that has consistent dry-season swell from May to August. The wave is wonderful at mid to high tide, though mid is better because it’s hollower and faster. Low tide can be an ask, as the water pulls off a shallow reef bed and cuts can be common. Any other time and it’s a beginner and intermediate gem, with punchy peaks that lead into a short left or a longer right. It’s also lovely because the whole bay gets offshore winds much of the year and it’s totally undeveloped.
Air Guling
Just one bay around from Kuta Lombok is the right-hand reef at Air Guling. It’s a fairly normal Indo-style reefy that peels into the center of the bay from a rocky point. Good consistency on south and southwest swells but the offshore easterlies don’t work quite as well as in other Lombok surf spots, so it has a tendency to get crumbly. On bigger days before the wind is on it, this one can get hollow and fast.
Segar/Seger
The Segar reef in front of the beach of the same name is a veritable swell magnet. It pokes enough out from the bay of Kuta to get pretty much anything that the Indian Ocean can throw at it, meaning it’s often too big to surf. On the flip side, smaller days feed lovely right-hand walls into the spot, which are great for good intermediates and up. You get
Gerupuk Inside Right
Gerupuk Inside Right is a quality wave that has good consistency. It’s a boat ride from the village on the far eastern side of Gerupuk Bay. Sucky, fast take offs put you on a sectiony right hander with some hollow potential. It’s a fun performance wave with room for plenty of turns and airs if you know how to squeeze em’!
Gerupuk Outside Right
The Gerupuk Outside Right is a beefier version of the inside right. It’s on the outer part of the bay (hence the name) and gets mightily large when the swell picks up. The drop in here is challenging but the reward is a rippable shoulder that moves quick and offers occasional barrel sections.
Gerupuk Outside Left
The least-surfed of all the Gerupuk breaks, this one’s a pretty nice left hander that sucks up lots of swell whenever there’s south in the compass direction. It’s a good place to find yourself alone and practice ripping on the goofy side, not to mention bag a few barrels since the waves can get nice and hollow with an offshore. Kick out at the right time, folks – the endzone here is on jagged reefs. Good intermediates and up only, please.
Don-Don
Probably the finest of all the Gerupuk Lombok surf spots, Don-Don is an A-frame peak that offers longer rides than the other reefs here. It’s usually quite busy (AKA, there’s a few people in the lineup) but that’s because it’s the easiest to reach from the port in the village. The ride is fun and you can afford to get creative with bottom turns and switchbacks, because Don-Don allows for lots of time in both ways.
Where to stay when surfing in Lombok
Kuta Lombok is the hub of all the surfing on this island. It’s home to the best surf camps and swell-side hotels. Here are some of our favs:
LMBK Surf House
LMBK Surf House is one of the leading surf camps in Kuta Lombok today. It’s super-cool, with polished concrete and exposed wooden beams throughout. The rooms front a small pool and have gorgeous outdoor bathrooms. Oh, and the folk here organize regular boat and road tours to the Lombok surf breaks. What more could you need?
Batatu Villas
You can get yourself a slice of Lombok luxury by booking one of the Batatu Villas with a private pool. They’re tucked just behind Kuta Lombok beach in the hills above, which means extra romance, peace, and quiet. Great for surfing couples.
Martas Windows
Martas Windows are a series of rooms in traditional Indonesian longhouse huts. They boast an on-site swimming pool and bamboo-built Tiki bar just a short walk from the main Kuta Lombok beachfront. Bike hire is also available from the owners.
Surf camps in Lombok
One of the few downsides to Lombok is that you’ll often need a boat to travel between the breaks that are listed here. That means either negotiating with local fishermen to drop you there and back or biting the bullet and booking onto an organized surf camp. We much prefer the latter choice because that will also buy you a bit of local knowledge. We’d also say that the surf camps that are here right now are pretty darn epic. They look lovely, usually have pools, and almost always make use of local surf tutors to keep it ethical. Our pick of the bunch would be…
- 6-Day Easy Surf Camp at DHM Surf & Stay – Go for this if you’re learning to surf. DHM are known for their dedicated in-house beginner tutor. It’s great stuff for perfecting good technique as your progress.
- 8-Day Boutique Surf Camp at Xanadu Surf & Yoga – Real quality. This package takes place in a very sick camp in Kuta Lombok, complete with its own pool and hangout garden. It includes daily yoga practice and up to two tutored surf lessons per day.
Step-by-step guide to planning your Lombok surf trip right now
Step one: Book flights to the Lombok surf…We use Skyscanner and only Skyscanner for this. The reason? We’ve always found it the best site for comparing deals from basically ALL airlines and somehow seems to offer deals that beat going direct.
Step two: Book your surf lodge. There’s Booking.com. That has consistently unbeatable rates for hotels and a nifty map feature that lets you check how close EXACTLY that hotel is to particular breaks. Or Book Surf Camps, which is the numero uno online booking platform for fully-fledged surf-stay packages.
Step three: Book surf lessons and other activities For advance booking, you can use GetYourGuide or Viator. To be fair, though, we usually just leave this until we’re there – it’s easy to book in person in most surf destinations.
When to surf in Lombok?
Like Bali, Lombok surf is generally better quality and more reliable in the dry season months. They run from May to August and see bigger and more consistent groundswells on longer periods hit the south and west coasts of the island. They are better months for more advanced surfers, as the waves are generally bigger and this is the time of year when you can expect Desert Point to be pumping more often. The wet season (from November to March) certainly isn’t bad at all. The waves will drop a foot or a few in size and the offshores might not be so common, but breaks like Mawi and Gerupuk usually look the perfect fit for improving intermediates and beginners.
How hard is surfing in Lombok?
What’s great about Lombok is that it covered a whole range of surf levels. At the top end of the spectrum, you have breaks like Desert Point. That’s a bone-crunching reef left that’s solely for the proper pros. On the other end of the spectrum, there are cruisy beach breaks like the ones at Selong Belanak.
Filling the void between them are oodles of truly great intermediate-level waves – especially the whole chocolate box at Gerupuk. Those are the predominant break in these parts and the reason that we tout Lombok as an intermediate haven. Well…those plus the fact that the shoulders here give you time to manoeuvre in a way you could only dream of over on busy Bali.
Naturally, the seasons also play their part. The dry season will be much bigger and much more powerful. It’s really the ONLY time that Desert Point will go off. The wet season (November-March) remains good but is smaller and mellower overall.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
