Diving Indonesia: Lombok Overview
Lombok Map
The Indonesian island of Lombok is often referred to as the “next Bali”, or like Bali was 20 years ago before major development, but that simple if inevitable comparison ignores the significant cultural & geographical differences between the two islands.
Although long in the shadow of its famous western neighbor, the signs are that Lombok is finally emerging as a mainstream tourist destination in it’s own right.
Tourism first touched the island in the early 1990’s around the west coast town of Senggigi & the three offshore Gili islands further to the northwest, but the long promised new international airport was delayed & delayed and the predicted tourism boom simply never arrived.
Then in 2005 the Indonesian government announced that the airport, located near the central Lombok town of Praya and about 20km southeast of the capital Mataram, would finally go ahead and completion is now expected before the end of 2010.
The new airport will make it much easier to get to Lombok and all the major budget carriers are said to be looking at adding flights, which has lead to resort operators & private investors snatching up any remaining prime beachfront property in the north & northwest and turning their attention to the sleepy south & southwest.
Lombok Map
Mass tourism aside, divers & surfers have been visiting Lombok for many years but whether they arrive on the short 20-minute flight from Bali, or the longer ferry trip across the Lombok Strait from Padang Bai, their onward directions are usually quite different – divers head north to the Gili Islands and the surfers go in the opposite direction to chase the big waves on the south coast.
But with the south opening up, more and more divers are starting to follow the surfers and explore the new sites being found there and to check out the “power sites” such as the Magnet and the Cathedral, that have a degree of hard-core iconic status in the diving community.
Diving Indonesia: Lombok – An Interesting Cultural Mix
To the occasional visitor, Indonesia can appear to be a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma – to rehash that famous line from Winston Churchill…
A nation of 227m people, who are predominantly Muslim, spread out over a huge area and with numerous cultural “sub-groups” such as the Balinese, which are the largest Hindu population outside of India, or the swashbuckling Bugis seafarers of South Sulawesi who have left their mark all over Southeast Asia.
Lombok adds it’s own ingredients to the Indonesian enigma as it comes in two distinct flavors…
The western side of the island, which has a strong Balinese influence from when it was a colony of the Karangasem kingdom in the 17th & 18th centuries.
While the eastern side is very much conservative Islam and generally speaking the further east you travel, the more conservative it becomes.
The original inhabitants of Lombok are the Bodhas, who have dwindled in size & now make up only a small percentage of the population and are concentrated in remote southeast of the island.
The Sasaks, a hill tribe thought to have originated in northwest India or Burma is the largest grouping and make up about 70% of the overall population.
Sasaks traditionally followed animist beliefs before their conversion to Islam around the 17th century and their culture remains strong on the island, although it has divided into two branches – the Wektu Lima and the Wektu Telu.
The Wektu Lima take an orthodox approach to Islam, but the Wekyu Telu mix in traditional practices & beliefs called Adat with their version of Islam and follow three cardinal rules – obey God, community leaders and parents. Their Adat practices revolve around what the WektuLima see as the three essential stages of life – birth, life & death and their ceremonies celebrate various aspects of this.
Troupe of Sasak Traditional Dancers
Lombok is much poorer than Bali and, once you get away from Mataram & Senggigi, has significantly less infrastructure. A very immediate indicator of this disparity are the Cidomo horse drawn carts that are the main form of transport in Lombok - compared to the ubiquitous small motorbike in Bali.
Jokingly referred to as the “Lombok Ferrari”, the Cidomo appears to be a very environmentally friendly vehicle plus a great way to provide cheap public transport and a source of employment for their owners. However they do not seem to have any brakes and are reliant on the skill of the driver when descending the many hills in Lombok…
Cidomo Gallery
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