After Uluwatu our plan was to head to the Gili Islands with 2 nights on Gili T then 2 on Gili Air. However after buying our ticket and transport the ferries weren't running. Much closer to mainland Bali are the Nusa islands, and for a bit of our money back we were able to go to Nusa Lembongan instead.
Accommodation
We stayed at Rigils Bungalows and Spa which I couldn't recommend more. It was really, really nice. About a 10 minute walk from mushroom beach where the ferry drops you off, and only about 5 to two other lovely beaches, this "hostel" has the lovely bungalow style accommodation many of the fancy resorts do, but for around £5 per person per night. We stayed in a 4 bedroom dorm which was clean and spacious, with two bathrooms just for the room. It had A/C, free breakfast and a pool. The owners were lovely and helpful, they sold cheap cocktails but it was also near to many restaurants. One of the best hostels I've ever stayed at. No hot showers tho
Things to do
Beaches- we weren't all that lucky with the weather during our stay and only really went to the beach on our last day. Tamarind beach is close to the hostel as well as a really nice private beach the owner told us about. We went there for the sunset and even saw a couple get engaged
Mangrove forest- There's a big area of forest on the island where you can take boat trips and do stand up paddle boarding. The SUPing wasn't running when we did it as I assume it's off season which was a shame and so we didn't actually visit, but it sounded nice!
Devil's Tear- this is a pretty cool cliff edge where the waves get really high. We were told not to get too close to the edge as tourists have died there which is never a reassuring thing to hear, but if you stay far back it's good for photos
Nusa Ceningan- We walked over to the small island attached to Lembongan by a yellow bridge on our last day. There are loads of lovely beach side restaurants and bars where we stopped for a drink and later some lunch. We walked to blue lagoon which was really pretty, and then walked back. In the sea are lots of swings which make very pretty photo backdrops!
Club nights- While we were there one of the bars had a club night with a DJ which all the tourists went to. We got there early to utilise happy hour and they even extended it for us until the bar picked up a bit. We had seen signs around the area advertising it so it was easy to find
Food
We went to a few different restaurants along the road by our hostel for lunches and dinners. They all served similar things- the tofu curries and satay were my favourites. A lot of places sold cocktails and did happy hours making each drink less than £3
We had some of my favourite food of the trip here, and it was all freshly made and cheap. The beach bar we went to for lunch had a pool despite being right on the beach so we had a dip after our food. The smoothie bowls looked great and were reasonably priced
Getting to/from
We paid 550,000 IDR for return transport including hostel pick up and drop off in Bali. This was definitely overpriced, but due to our plan to go to Gili we paid it anyway, and it was sorted through our hostel in Uluwatu. Shop around.
We wanted to go from Lembongan onto the Gili Islands but it's really expensive. It's cheaper to do a return ferry to Bali and then go to the Gilis from there, though we didn't end up doing that
The boat trip takes about 30 minutes and wasn't bad. You have to wade out up to around mid thigh level to get on the boat, so maybe wear shorts
Accommodation
We stayed at Rigils Bungalows and Spa which I couldn't recommend more. It was really, really nice. About a 10 minute walk from mushroom beach where the ferry drops you off, and only about 5 to two other lovely beaches, this "hostel" has the lovely bungalow style accommodation many of the fancy resorts do, but for around £5 per person per night. We stayed in a 4 bedroom dorm which was clean and spacious, with two bathrooms just for the room. It had A/C, free breakfast and a pool. The owners were lovely and helpful, they sold cheap cocktails but it was also near to many restaurants. One of the best hostels I've ever stayed at. No hot showers tho
Things to do
Beaches- we weren't all that lucky with the weather during our stay and only really went to the beach on our last day. Tamarind beach is close to the hostel as well as a really nice private beach the owner told us about. We went there for the sunset and even saw a couple get engaged
Mangrove forest- There's a big area of forest on the island where you can take boat trips and do stand up paddle boarding. The SUPing wasn't running when we did it as I assume it's off season which was a shame and so we didn't actually visit, but it sounded nice!
Devil's Tear- this is a pretty cool cliff edge where the waves get really high. We were told not to get too close to the edge as tourists have died there which is never a reassuring thing to hear, but if you stay far back it's good for photos
Nusa Ceningan- We walked over to the small island attached to Lembongan by a yellow bridge on our last day. There are loads of lovely beach side restaurants and bars where we stopped for a drink and later some lunch. We walked to blue lagoon which was really pretty, and then walked back. In the sea are lots of swings which make very pretty photo backdrops!
Club nights- While we were there one of the bars had a club night with a DJ which all the tourists went to. We got there early to utilise happy hour and they even extended it for us until the bar picked up a bit. We had seen signs around the area advertising it so it was easy to find
Food
We went to a few different restaurants along the road by our hostel for lunches and dinners. They all served similar things- the tofu curries and satay were my favourites. A lot of places sold cocktails and did happy hours making each drink less than £3
We had some of my favourite food of the trip here, and it was all freshly made and cheap. The beach bar we went to for lunch had a pool despite being right on the beach so we had a dip after our food. The smoothie bowls looked great and were reasonably priced
Getting to/from
We paid 550,000 IDR for return transport including hostel pick up and drop off in Bali. This was definitely overpriced, but due to our plan to go to Gili we paid it anyway, and it was sorted through our hostel in Uluwatu. Shop around.
We wanted to go from Lembongan onto the Gili Islands but it's really expensive. It's cheaper to do a return ferry to Bali and then go to the Gilis from there, though we didn't end up doing that
The boat trip takes about 30 minutes and wasn't bad. You have to wade out up to around mid thigh level to get on the boat, so maybe wear shorts
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