Lombok and the Gili Islands
Something came off, and nobody saw it go
The coast road running north from Senggigi to Bangsal, the boats out to Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air, and the bays around Kuta in the south.
A trip here takes in more than one beach: a road along the coast, a boat across to an island, and the bays on the south coast as well. Working out which stretch of that a loss belongs to is where we start.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Lombok and the Gili Islands with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the island, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Put the item itself in as well, and how it was being carried that day. A wedding band or an Oura ring on a finger, keys or a phone in a bag, a watch, a bracelet, an earring or a chain: each one changes what we need to ask you.
Where you went, not only where you ended up
Write as soon as the day allows. Give us the run of it: where you set off from, how you travelled, where you stopped along the way, and the moment you reached for it and it was not there. Rough times are fine, and so is saying you are unsure.
How you were getting about on the islands tells us something as well. Bicycles are how people go round them, alongside the cidomo, the small horse-drawn cart, and the rest is done on foot. So say whether you were walking, riding or in a cart when you last knew you had it, because that decides where along the track a detectorist begins.
Covered on this page
- Senggigi
- Senggigi Beach
- The Senggigi coastal road
- Senggigi harbour
- Pantai Mangsit
- Pantai Klui
- Bangsal
- Gili Trawangan
- Gili Meno
- Gili Air
- The snorkelling water round all three Gilis
- The Meno Wall and the lake on Gili Meno
- Kuta in Central Lombok
- Kuta Beach
- Mandalika
- Tanjung Aan
- Seger Beach
- Gerupuk
- Serenting Beach
- Batu Payung Beach
- Merese Hill
- Mawun Beach
- Selong Belanak
- Pantai Mawi
Putting a name to the piece of coast you were on
Drawn from the tourism ministry pages and from map checks.
Senggigi Beach
The tourism ministry calls Senggigi the oldest and most famous resort area on Lombok, with a series of white sandy beaches and safe swimming areas, and says the point at central Senggigi has good waves for surfers. A colourful reef off the shore shelters marine life and makes it a place to snorkel. The Indonesian article adds soft white sand and clear water, with restaurants and cafes along the beach.
Pantai Mangsit, Pantai Klui and the road up to Bangsal
The town of Senggigi spreads out along a coastal road, and that road carries on north to Bangsal, the port for the Gili Islands. Pantai Mangsit and Pantai Klui both lie along the way, Mangsit at Dusun Kerandangan in West Lombok and Klui at Dusun Klui in North Lombok. Klui is written up for clean white sand, clear blue water and relatively calm waves that suit a swim.
Gili Trawangan
The ministry places the Gili islands off the northwest coast of Lombok and calls Gili Trawangan the largest and most popular of the three. It writes of a laid back atmosphere in daylight and parties by the beach once the sun has gone, a wide collection of restaurants and bars, and the chance to circle the island on a bicycle.
Gili Meno and Gili Air
Gili Air is closest to the mainland and the most populated of the three, the ministry says, a cheerful mix of hip hang outs and peaceful nooks, where families go round the island on the horse drawn cart or swim in the low tides before sundown. Gili Meno it calls the smallest, with the most remote feel to it, long stretches of pearly white beach, and quiet water for snorkelling over coral where turtles pass. Around Meno it names three dive spots, the Meno Wall, Sea Point Turtle and Point Coral Blue, and inland there is a seawater lake.
Kuta Beach and Mandalika
Along the south coast of Lombok the ministry describes a long and wide stretch of white sand facing the Indian Ocean, with lush green hills behind it. That is Mandalika, and Kuta is one of the beaches it names there, along with Gerupuk, which it suggests for swimming, surfing and fishing, and Serenting for peace and quiet, with Merese Hill and Batu Payung Beach for the view. Another of the ministry pages writes Kuta Beach up for white sand and water it calls crystal clear, for surfing and snorkelling, for plenty of restaurants and cafes, and for what it calls beach fun with more crowds and attractions.
Tanjung Aan, Mawun and the bays along from Kuta
Tanjung Aan is in Mandalika as well, its water shading through blue and its waves relatively calm, so people swim, snorkel and take canoes out there. Seger Beach sits on the same stretch of coast, at Kuta on the map. West of those, Mawun Beach sits in Lombok Tengah as a half circle bay between two green hills, with Selong Belanak and Pantai Mawi further along again.
What happens once you press send
There is no form to fill in
All of this happens in a WhatsApp conversation. You write it in your own words, at whatever length it takes, and the answers come back in the same place.
It does not have to be you who writes
The message often comes from somebody other than the person it happened to. If you are writing for a partner, a parent or a friend, say so, and pass on what they told you in their words rather than tidied up.
The first reply is mostly questions
Which beach, which boat, what the thing was worn with. That is usually how a vague afternoon turns into a patch of beach small enough to search.
An island search has a crossing in it
Getting somebody onto Gili Meno or Gili Trawangan means a boat at each end, which makes it a different errand from one on the Senggigi front. We set that out plainly when we write back so you can see what is involved.
What we would want to know about the ground
Small differences between these places change how a search gets set up.
Peppercorn grains at Tanjung Aan
The ministry Indonesian pages describe the white sand at Tanjung Aan as grains shaped like peppercorns, while the sand at Senggigi is written up as soft. That difference is worth knowing before anybody sets out.
Standing up, or swimming
Off Gili Air the ministry writes of families swimming before sundown. Tell us whether you were standing, swimming or out on a boat at the moment you noticed, because those make quite different accounts.
The open side of a southern bay
At Mawun the Indonesian page says the middle of the bay tends to have calmer waves, while the outer side, facing straight onto the Indian Ocean, often has bigger ones. Whereabouts across a bay like that you had reached matters more here than the beach name does.
Questions about Lombok and the Gili Islands
A wedding band went while we were snorkelling off Gili Air.
Describe the band before you describe the swim. The metal, the width, and whether it had been sitting loose on you that week. Then the swim: how long you were out, and whether you got out of the water where you got in. Anything of that you can pin down is worth more to us than guessing at the distance.
The watch is gone, and the last thing we did was surf at Kuta Beach.
Settle which Kuta you mean first, because there is one in Bali too and this page is about the one on the south side of Lombok. Once that is clear, take us through the session. Where you left your things, where you went in, and whether the watch was on your wrist at that point or already off and put down somewhere.
The Oura ring is somewhere along Senggigi.
Restaurants and cafes run along the beach there, so an evening out can take in a fair stretch of it. Walk it back for us in order, from where you came onto the sand to the point where you headed back. Then say whether the ring was on your hand at the time or off and in a pocket.
A chain came off at Bangsal while we waited for the boat.
A wait for a boat happens in a small area, and usually with a bag at your feet. Tell us where you sat or stood, whether the bag was opened and repacked while you waited, and whether you stepped down onto the sand before the boat came.
Is there anything to be done if it went at one of the dive sites?
Shark Point, Turtle Heaven, Deep Turbo and Simon’s Reef are named as the most popular dive sites off the three islands. If it went down at one of those, that is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. Send it anyway with the site name, because the next thing we would ask is whether it may have gone earlier in the day, at the dive shop or on the sand.
An earring did not come back from Tanjung Aan.
There is a row of cafes along that beach and umbrellas to hire, so begin with which of those you were under and roughly how close to the water it stood. After that, say what got packed up when you left and whose hands it went through.
We were staying on Gili Trawangan and it could be anywhere on the island.
Start from the point where you know for certain it was still on you, because everything earlier can wait. Then the place you were staying in, and what you did next: the bars and restaurants along the front count, and so does any beach you sat down on. If more than one of them could equally be the answer, give us each.
Lombok and the Gili Islands
An island and an afternoon will do to open with
Written and answered on WhatsApp.
You do not need the whole of it worked out before you write. Send what you can put your finger on, and the questions that come back will do the rest.