Quiet time in Lombok

Dive, paraglide and enjoy the beaches without the crowds on the island often referred to as "Bali's little sister"

- Leyla Rose

LOMBOK, Indonesia - Lying east of Bali, the island of Lombok is often referred to as "Bali's little sister". Quieter and less developed, tourism has long taken a back seat to Bali's international appeal.

However, in recent years, Lombok has come into its own. The Mandalika area in the south of Lombok was chosen as one of the "five New Balis", an initiative by the Indonesian government to diversify tourism destinations. The area has seen rapid growth in the last five years, with frequent openings of villas, boutique hotels and restaurants catering to an international crowd.

Around 75,400 international visitors arrived at Lombok International Airport in 2024, up around 30 per cent from the year before.

Despite the increase, this is a fraction of the international arrivals at Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, which received 1.34 million international visitors in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Gili Islands in the north are also seeing more visitors, with multiple fast boats a day making the two-hour journey from Bali. Low-cost carrier Scoot flies non-stop from Singapore to Lombok International Airport, and a route to Darwin, operated by Australian carrier Airnorth, is slated to begin in April.

With overtourism in Bali reaching a tipping point, evidenced by the traffic jams and environmental problems such as plastic waste and water shortages, Lombok is seeing an increasing number of tourists looking to head somewhere more peaceful instead.

Even so, parts of the island are feeling the heat from tourism. The town of Kuta on the south coast - no relation to nightlife hot spot Kuta beach in Bali - for instance, was once a small village mainly frequented by surfers. It has ballooned in size and population in the last 20 years into a largely expatriate community these days, with much of the surrounding land developed into upscale villas and hotels.