Playtime at Low Tide

Nusa Lembongan

September 2011

Imagine a little island so small you can bike around in practically two hours (if you don't mind the badly paved roads). There's a small boardwalk, with a few casual places to have a drink and watch the sunset, or find a room for the night.  We stayed here for 4 nights, in some rooms just a short walk from the beach (a few dollars less than right on the beach).  An air-conditioned room was $25/night.  Amazing.  Also, it's only about an hour or so (cost effective) boat ride from the main island of Bali.  

Apparently this island only started to get popular as a tourist destination about 10-15 years ago.   This has certainly helped the two local villages, in that they now have more efficient water and electric services.  The main industry of the villages is expanding, which is seaweed farming (I believe they export most of what they produce to Japan).  Therefore the majority of the beaches are like the one you see above, littered with seaweed bits and, well, litter.  What's the phrase?  Flotsam and jetsam.  These little islands (Bali included) don't exactly have a proper recycling program in place, though I know there are groups out there dedicated to cleaning up the beaches.  There are tourist beaches...ones that have been cleaned and are maintained for swimming, but they certainly don't have the same feel or energy.  The time when I took this photo was close to sunset, and I believe it was our first day on the island so we wanted to do a bit of exploring.   For the locals, all the work of the day was completed, and it was time to relax.  Kite-flying is really big on these islands, and you can see a family in the distance with their bat kites in the air.  The little girl was proudly walking along like she was on a special errand, though it could have been simply that she was headed home for the day.  I recall that she smiled at us as she passed by. 

I find that I think about this little peaceful island more often than the rest of Bali, when I remember that trip.  It was so relaxing, we did some amazing snorkeling (and diving for the person with us who was getting his certification), and met some nice people.  Did I mention it was relaxing??  The area on the island where we stayed was the most "popular", as it's where the majority of home-stays and resorts are, called Jungut Batu.  Even so, there weren't very many tourists there, and it was perfect timing for us as we had just spend a busy few days in the popular town of Kuta, in Bali.

When I go back to Bali (and I will be!), another little trip to Nusa Lembongan will definitely be on my list:)

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