‘We kept it natural’: Sumbawa in Indonesia is a paradise of unspoilt beaches, crystal clear waters and natural beauty – for now
- Sumbawa, east of Bali, is a draw for surfers and those looking for untouched parts of Indonesia to visit – but for how much longer?
- An international airport under construction has already started a property boom, and will vastly increase tourist numbers
In 1936, when American Bob Koke reportedly became the first person to catch a wave off Bali’s Kuta Beach, he inadvertently became the catalyst for mass-market tourism in Indonesia.
Surfers are credited with popularising once-hidden coastal gems, from the Bukit Peninsula, in Bali’s deep south, to the sparkling satellite islands of the Nusa Penida archipelago.
Now the phenomenon is being replicated on the west coast of Sumbawa, the ninth largest of Indonesia’s more than 17,000 islands. Known as the Wild West of Indonesia for its gold and copper mines – Newmont’s Batu Hijau mine is the second largest in the country – the island is also home to some of the country’s best-rated and most consistent waves.
When surfers started travelling to Sumbawa in the 1980s, the only way to do so was by land and sea from Bali via Lombok.
Today, most visitors fly from Bali to the capital, Sumbawa Besar, from where they take a half-day ride in a taxi to one of a dozen or so surf lodges. But an international airport under construction on the west coast promises to make the journey even shorter and has sparked a property boom that will indelibly change this slow and dreamy corner of the world.
To see West Sumbawa before it changes and with the freedom to explore at leisure, I am travelling there the old-fashioned way, on a motorcycle from Bali.
