Nusa Lembongan: A haven of tropical tranquility

Chisato Hara, Contributor, Jakarta

The breeze rises from the sea, skimming the waves and sweeping up the slope of the granite cliff, bringing with it the subtle scent of salt and seaweed to billow into the open-walled villa of Coconut Beach Resort.

From the nearby village, the faint cry of a territorial rooster is heard; there is no other sound but rustling palm leaves and the murmur of the rolling surf below. Directly ahead, majestic Gunung Agung dominates the view with its crown of wispy clouds.

It is mid-morning on Nusa Lembongan, a 4km by 2km island located 20km off the southeastern coast of Bali across the Badung Strait, but it could equally be mid-afternoon. In the evening, the rooster's plaintive call is replaced by the sporadic cacophony of clucking geckos, and the sea breeze carries a whisper of coolness under a luminescent moon. The island is imbued with the lanquid pace of village life, and locals claim nostalgically that Kuta was just this way 20 years ago.

"Tourist" seems a misnomer for the visitors -- both Indonesian and foreign -- who venture out to Lembongan and its sister islands, Ceningan and Penida. Most are returning regulars seeking peace and quiet, a little space to breathe and some time out under the bright tropical sun, taking an intermittent dip or two just to cool down before laying out again with a fresh juice or a paperback, or to bake a deep golden brown.

There are no souvenir shops, tourist traps nor beachcombing hawkers on Nusa Lembongan, which has a population of just under 4,000. The island economy is sustained mainly by seaweed farming and crop farming -- cassava, sweet potatoes and peanuts -- and the villagers fish for their daily meals, selling any surplus fish only if they happened upon a large catch that day. The coastal villagers also build and sell the indigenous jukung boats, painted red, blue, teal, yellow and white, incongruous saltwater skimmers that brave the swirling undercurrents of the Badung Strait.

Tourism is at best underdeveloped, although there are a few star-rated boutique hotels -- such as Waka Nusa Resort and Nusa Lembongan Resort -- and, of course, a coastline dotted with requisite losmen (simple lodgings) and their accompanying cafes, but one hopes that tourism never takes off fully here, so as to preserve the island's timeless ambience and the open, natural courtesy of the villagers.

The village of Jungut Batu is situated along the island's arcing western bay, the shallows of which are plotted with grids of seaweed. The seaweed farmers wade alongside their makeshift raft to harvest the seaweed -- the red pinusan and the green kotoni -- which are hauled onshore to dry into diminished, shrivelled piles before they are exported to Hong Kong to be reconstituted into cosmetics, food stabilizers and medicines.

Lembongan, the inland village, is bordered by small farms and their dewy-eyed resident cows or snuffling black-and-white pigs, and boasts a unique -- if not strange -- attraction, the Goa Sigala-gala Underground House.

Goa Sigala-gala was excavated by Balinese dancer, puppet master, medicine man, village elder and Hindu priest Made Biasa over 15 years with a hammer and chisel, inspired by the story of Pandawa in the Mahabharata epic. Pandawa, a banished king, built an underground house to save his family from the wrath of his enemies.

A 500-square-meter house of passages, rooms, ventilation shafts, light shafts and a fresh water well, Goa Sigala-gala could be described as split-level, with tunnels that cross under and over each other, and hidden nooks and crannies that spur the imagination a la Hobbits and Dwarfs.

Made Biasa began his labor of love at the age of 75 in 1961, and lived the rest of his life underground -- his family chose to live in the upper world -- and died in 1984 at the grand old age of 98.

The site is managed by one of his granddaughters, who asks for a meagre donation from those curious enough to venture below ground into a lamp-lit maze of claustrophobia.

For marine and aquatic enthusiasts, there is plenty to see and do around the sister islands, as their reefs have been declared a marine park by the government. Nusa Lembongan is renowned for its surf breaks, with idiosyncratic names like Playground, Lacerations, Shipwreck and Surgery, as the waves frolic over sharp reefs.

Nusa Penida, the largest of the three islands, is best for diving, with its underwater caves and a World War II U.S. wreck -- the Tumbalen Wreck -- to explore. The waters off Penida are also the only place in Bali where one can spot the oceanic sunfish, or mola-mola, and is thus a treasure trove of sunken delight among underwater photographers and marine researchers. Diving arrangements can be booked on Lembongan through the PADI shack at Desa Jungut Batu.

The major cruise operators to Lembongan - Island Explorer Cruises (which operates Coconut Beach Resort) and Bali Hai Cruises -- have wet docks with water slides, and offer a variety of water sports, including jet skiing, glass-bottom boats, banana boats, parasailing, ocean rafting, snorkeling and trawl fishing, as well as a day-trip up to the Mangrove Park on the northern Lembongan coast. Cruises to Lemongan leave from Benoa Harbor in the morning and return late afternoon, while motorized jukung shuttles leave from Sanur Beach.

For hiking aficionados, there are bat caves and temples to visit, and a local trail from Song Lambung Beach to Mushroom Beach edges along the sea cliffs overlooking clear, minty lagoons. A narrow hanging bridge connects Lembongan and Ceningan, the smallest and least visited island, and if dusk catches one unawares to walk back past the graveyards lining the main road, there is always an eager lad with a motorcycle to speed one home.

Whether you sign up for a day-cruise with complimentary buffet or choose to stay on Lembongan, the island is a haven for those in search of tranquility, repose and sanctuary.