Today we are fortunate enough to have a guest post from bloggers Charlotte & Josh of
thespindrifters
Read about Charlotte & Josh's travels as they use the world as their playground:
Blog - http://thespindrifters.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thespindrifters/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/thespindrifters
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE98YwT_qj5f5E-zkbKpxnw
Twitter - https://twitter.com/thespindrifters
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE98YwT_qj5f5E-zkbKpxnw
About Charlotte & Josh...
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
We’re
Charlotte & Josh, a 26 & 27 year old couple from London with an
insatiable passion for travel. We met 3 years ago bonding over a mutual
love of travel having both travelled the world before. It took 2 years to
decide we would set off together on an adventure of a new kind. We wanted to
travel spontaneously; Drifting from place to place depending on where our
mood, people or work took us, so we saved like crazy for 10 months and now here
we are living the dream...
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
Our passports were being escorted somewhere for a single
stamp which was seemingly a harder process than it should be but this allowed us
to scoot off away from the misery of soulless Mataram and head to the 'better'
Kuta Lombok.
Whenever you talk to someone about Lombok the first thing
most people utter is 'Kuta' and 'amazing beaches' so we needed to check it out!
Accompanied by our German friends we all jumped in a car and headed South in
search of the white sands and amazing surf we had heard so much about.
If Senggigi was a disappointment then Kuta was on the
complete other end of the spectrum. Unbroken white and golden sand beaches with
incredible surf and turquoise water! Where to begin?
Here's our guide to two days of beach hopping!
Day 1 West of Kuta
Mawan Beach
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
Park up your bike and walk over the small ridge and be
greeted with a half moon stretch of white sand, amazing crashing beach break
waves and deep blue sea! The pictures can do the talking but it was basically
deserted when we arrived apart from the small kids asking you if you need a
coconut, pineapple or Bintang...dreamy! The waves were incredibly powerful when
we arrived and we all spent a good 2 hours playing around being swept off our
feet and dragged out to sea, which was awesome, just tie up your shorts....!
Mawi Beach
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
Ooohh Mawi, beautiful Mawi. If this wasn't the most
difficult 'road' to get to a beach we have ever encountered we may have been
able to spend more time admiring the majesty of Mawi's surf and cliff back
drop. Its a stunning little beach and once you get over the 'shakes' from
bouncing up and down on your bike for 30 minutes its a great place to laze away
the day and watch the insane left hand break waves and the amazing surfers
trying to conquer them! Please don't be put off by the road, just be ready for
it, embrace it and remember that what you find at the other end if most
definitely worth it!
Selong Belenak Beach
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
The longest beach of all that we visited to the West of Kuta
and definitely the busiest as well! This is the beginner surfers paradise with
small waves and many surf shops/warungs offering lessons and board hire. The
beach itself is a long stretch of white sand with insane views of the Lombok
coastline and little Islands in the middle of the sea. Park your bike, pay the
man, get to the beach, turn right and walk into secluded beach heaven!
Everybody as usual congregates by the warungs and surf shops but the best part
of the beach is further to the North so wander through the breaking waves and
find a little spot in the distance to see out the day!
Kuta Beach
Unfortunately, you will get hassled by little kids on this
beach but only to buy bracelets and more often than not they just want to take
a break and have a chat! They speak surprisingly good English and will leave
you too it after a couple of minutes, unless you make them laugh then they
could stay for hours! A huge beach with golden (slightly stony) sand stretches
off into the distance and has quite a lot of seaweed on it. Maybe not the beach
to spend the whole day on but walk away from the main car park and it can seem
surprisingly quiet!
East of Kuta
Seger Beach
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
Another crescent moon shaped beach with unfortunate amounts
of rubbish and seaweed on the beach. Still boasting great views out to sea and
the hills that separate it from Tanjung Aan. More of a quick stop off this one,
or a destination to park up relax until the sunset starts and race up the hill
to the viewpoint to watch the sun setting over Kuta...
Tanjung Aan
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
A tourist destination. Lots of buses and tours were stopped
here when we arrived and the beach was overrun with people taking selfies and
generally disturbing the peace we had come to expect throughout the day. This
makes us sound like boring old farts but when the previous beaches set such a
serene precedent this was a bit of a surprise...Anyway, who are we to
judge, each to their own. The beach is still great and you have to go and see
it for the sunset or just to walk up and down to take in the coastal views.
The second day scootering around was revisiting our
favourite beaches to spend more time playing in the sea and generally relaxing
on the sand but not before we looked round a 'traditional' Sasak village. We
aren't sure how traditional this was unfortunately as it seemed very commercial
and too many people spoke English while walking around for us to believe it
wasn't just a tourist trap. However, we had a good guide and you can choose how
much you pay them once you have finished depending on how informative they are.
(we were recommended to pay no more than 5k each but pay what you want!)
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| Photo: @thespindrifters |
We spent a total of 3 days in Kuta and loved it. Its
chilled, relaxed surfer vibe is still ever present and the locals are
incredibly helpful and friendly. Just be careful about transport back to
Mataram. Its expensive in high season, we paid 250k for 4 people which we
thought was steep but after negotiating with what seemed like every tour shop
its the best we could find! Enjoy!
C & J
