jenna04

Thank you again to all that have offered fabulous suggestions for our honeymoon! Besides staying in Seminyak and Ubud we are still undecided on the following for the middle part of our trip:

1. Munduk (3N): The treks along the orchards, waterfalls and lush hills caught our attention. However, we definately would like to snorkel Pemuteran/Menjangan and visit the West National Park. Is this feasible from Munduk rather than staying in Pemuteran?

2. Amed or Lombok (2N): Not sure what else to do in Amed (I've read that the snorkelling is not that great). We keep reading that the beaches in Lombok are great. Any suggestions for a specific beach area in Lombok?

Bella_Bluebell

I did a dive in Amed in 2001 and there was lots of marine life but the sand is black so it is quite dark so the colours are not as vivid as against light sand. Amed back then was very quiet.

Not much help with Lombok itself - although we did dive in the Gilis (islands off lombok) and the beaches there were white powdery sand and colours of marine life better when diving so would imagine snorkelling would be more vivid there than in Amed.

Kathie

I loved Qunci Villas on Lombok. It's a small boutique place, and inexpensive (it was US$75 per day including tax, service, breakfast and airport transfers several years ago). The beaches there are lovely. The caution I would give you is that someone on this board had flight delays and diversions between Bali and Lombok. It is a short flight, and as long as everthing goes smoothly, it would be fine. But if there were delays, two nights might mean you have a mere one day there. I wouldn't want to move around that frequently.

marmot

Why all this interest in Munduk? It's the third time it's shown up on this board in recent days. I must be missing something here.

People commute to Menjangan from all over Bali and in Munduk you'd be reasonably close. I would guess about an hour. Then you have to get a boat and gear . . . the time adds up. If I were you I'd make it two different trips.

I like east Bali but think the beaches are less appealing. My guess is that it's better for scuba than snorkle, but I've only done a minimal amount of snorkling there. Getting out on the water was lovely, but the marine life is not spectacular.

The beaches are very nice in Lombok. Qunci Villas have been well recommended (haven't been there myself) and the Oberoi is really nice too.

KimJapan

Maybe all the Munduk interest is because of Puri Lumbung? It's a really cool place that offers lots in terms of cultural offerings, much like Alam Sari. We have friends who stayed at Alam Sari, Puri Lumbung and somewhere in Pemuteran a couple of years back, and they rated Puri Lumbung highest, Alam Sari #2 and Pemuteran great for snorkeling/diving but little else.

jenna04

Good to know about the possibility of Mejangan day trip.

I've been reading the new Lonely Planet and thier review attracted us to Munduk....."simple mountain village culture, treks among orchards, waterfalls,lush hills, day trip to Ganung Batukau, rice fields".

In regards to Gili Islands...we would plan to go island hopping. How many days would you recommend and which accomodations did you like for a side trip?

marmot

Thanks for the information on Munduk. I've had young friends who have gone there to study gamelan but I've not seen in on the travelers map.

jenna, I'd probe carefully into the Gili's. There does seem to be a lot of recent development (and redevelopment) going on in the area, so things may have changed, but the last time I was there the islands were scruffy and dismal. They bill themselves as the Indonesian equivalent of the white sand, clear water back-packers' paradise that you find in the Thai islands, but, to me, the actual environment fall short.

jenna04

Thanks again for the info esp. about Gili Islands.

Another thought would be to spend a night or 2 at Nusa Lembongan (Dream Beach). Have you been and if so any thoughts?