A house on the hillls of Lombok with the most impressive Yoga studio! Woke up early and drove all the way up to the Ashtari Yoga studio. It is a platform with a view of Lombok’s coast line. The rising sun was shining on this beautiful landscape and illuminated the studio with warm bright morning light.
No idea what i was doing?? -Write a caption
I have never heared of Mawi Beach until that day, we discovered this amazing spot on Lombok! It was a sunny morning, i checked the wave forecast and it looked great. That's when we decided to drive along the coast of Lombok and randomly look out for a spot to paddle out. After driving for a couple of minutes, past Kuta and other beaches, we arrived at Mawi Beach or in indonesian called pantai Mawi. At the road to Mawi you got to pay a small entry fee. The locals pretend to take care that your scooter won't be stolen. The beach was already surprisingly beautiful. unfortunately there was no surf board rental so instead of driving to another spot, we decided to enjoy this beach. on the very end was a pathway leading around a hill and what we found there was amazing. Relaxing, sunbathing, swimming and fly around with the drone. what an amazing day!
You are travelling to Lombok and you want to learn how to surf? You are a beginner or you never surfed before? this is the guide for you to know where to travel to. Some spots on Lombok are only for pros and if you rent a board and paddle out by yourself it can get pretty dangerous. I recommend you to join a surf school or take classes with a teacher. Its safer and you'll get the proper technique. One of the spots to learn how to surf is Selong Belanak Beach. But there are several other spots. And of course there are some great spots on Bali as well.
Have you ever heard of surfing Bingin Beach? probably not! it is not one of those super known spots, nevertheless its also not a top secret spot. What i can say is that the beach has been spared by mass tourism and that's cool. There is no huge mega hotel with hundreds of rooms. I'll be honest here, the beach perhaps not the most beautiful one to sunbath and the rocky environment makes it tricky to go for a relaxed swim without hurting your feet. So let's talk about surfing Bingin Beach!
The Surfing Bingin Beach video on Youtube. Don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube Channel
I already made a detailed Blogpost about the Bingin Beach itself so i'll quote this section here and you can read more information about where to stay and how to get there on this post.
"Bingin Beach is situated in the southern part of Bali, the region of Uluwatu. Bali has its own airport in Denpansar which is 35 min car drive away from Bingin Beach. Book a hotel close to the beach or park your scooter at the beach parking. Just google for “bingin beach parking”. From the parking should be street signs leading to the beach. The way leads through unconventional narrow streets through the buildings in front of the beach. sometimes the way seems to be wrong but trust the signs your on the right track."
The drop: the surfer is on top of a clean faced wave building up on the Bingin Beach reef.
Surfing Bingin Beach means dealing with sharp rocks. It is a reef break and i can highly recommend you to wear water shoes. I cut my feet, not very dramatic but you can hurt yourself seriously if you're not carefully, especially on low tide. I even saw some people surfing with helmets. Always stay safe buddy.
After a successful drop the surfer maneuvers himself slightly into that beautiful tube.
Yes, there are one or two surf schools. I've never participated in a lesson nor have i analysed their teaching style, but what i can remember is that some locals paddle out with you and teach you how they surf. So don't expect a "WSL" internationally certificated pro surf school.
Ending the ride with splashing up a some sea water. great job!
Of course you can! The surf schools offer boards for beginners but you will also get some smaller specimens if you are a more advanced surfer. I think there is even a shaper, because they offer board repairs right by the beach. I mean in case you f* up your board shredding too hard. haha.
Bali is one of the Islands in the southern part of Indonesia. Mostly there is tropical warm weather on the Island. The Island has an airport in the capital city of Denpasar which is situated in the South of Bali. The most beautiful month on Bali is September and the Rainy Season lasts from the end of november until the end of march. Most people speak balinese or indonesian on the island. We travelled Bali for a month. We landed in Denpasar in the south of Bali and went up to the north. We stayed in places like Nusa Dua, Canggu, Ubud and Pemuteran.
Perfspots stands for Perfect Spots. My passion is to explore places I've never been before. While running a startup, i travel as much as possible. Here i share the Perfect Spots i enjoyed the most. Spots you can get a great meal, sip a coffee with a breathtaking view or experience an exciting adventure. learn more about the project.
A full week on Gili Trawangan in Indonesia means really a full week of relaxing and slowing down. Already the fact, that on the island no engines are aloud and only bicycles, horses and your own feet bring you from A to B, proves that you will really slow down. But that's not the only thing. Gili Trawangan is the most populated of the three Gili Islands, that means you will find lots of nice restaurants and bars there. Gili Trawangan has a lot of nightlife to offer as well. Boats bring you to the more deserted neighbor islands Gili Meno and Gili Air. Lots of beautiful reefs for snorkeling and diving around.
The Video Log on Youtube. Don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube Channel
We purchased our Gili Boat ticket online. Actually there are a lot of different options to get over to the islands. In peak season i can recommend you to buy a couple of days in advance, otherwise you could miss your preferred departing day and time. But whilst low season you can actually book a day before departing or even on the same day you want to leave. If you decide to buy from a street seller always negotiate the price and compare different offers. You can choose between private boats, which are the most expansive, fast boats and public ferries. We chose the public ferry because it is the cheapest option and we actually enjoy a good boat trip. more about it here
No engines on the Island but the boats are of course running on benzin
Of course in the Pinkcoco Hotel, it is not right in the center of Gili Trawangan but they have a restaurant, a popular bar and bicycles for rent. The beach is sandy and in the water a bit rocky but depending on the tide there are some good areas to go on a swim. And of course there is a hotel pool if you prefer to avoid the salt.
Amazing restaurants on the island. Places to have a meal, stare at the ocean and live life to the fullest.
Well, its difficult to choose which one are the best restaurants but there are some we really can recommend. Healthy, delicious and chilled locations. The prices on the island are a bit more expansive than in Indonesia because it is also more touristy but still affordable. So here we go:
Besides those Restaurants i can highly recommend you to eat seafood in the local market or in a seafood restaurant (lots of them around)
The nightlife is vibrant on the island. live music and raving party all night long.
Horses do the work
Do not miss the tropical fruit juices!
Bali is one of the Islands in the southern part of Indonesia. Mostly there is tropical warm weather on the Island. The Island has an airport in the capital city of Denpasar which is situated in the South of Bali. The most beautiful month on Bali is September and the Rainy Season lasts from the end of november until the end of march. Most people speak balinese or indonesian on the island. We travelled Bali for a month. We landed in Denpasar in the south of Bali and went up to the north. We stayed in places like Nusa Dua, Canggu, Ubud and Pemuteran.
Perfspots stands for Perfect Spots. My passion is to explore places I've never been before. While running a startup, i travel as much as possible. Here i share the Perfect Spots i enjoyed the most. Spots you can get a great meal, sip a coffee with a breathtaking view or experience an exciting adventure. learn more about the project.
I'll be honest, i already saw a couple of water swing pictures swinging through instagram before i saw this Gili water swing on the Gili Trawangan Island. Nevertheless it is something fascinating, a swing placed in the middle of the ocean. This one was placed right in front of the hotel we were staying. Someone had the idea of building such a water swing and now there are a handful of swings on the island or in the sea, however you want to call it. During the daytime the swing is often occupied by people shooting pictures and making selfies. The first time i had the chance to get on it, i tried to swing. first attempt failed. One of the two swings was hanging a bit lower than the other one. with the lower one i had no chance to swing because it was too hard to get enough velocity to swing out of the water. It depends on the tide, when it's high, it gets more difficult, when low, easier. The second try on the other swing was successful. i gained height once the swing came out of the water. Trust me, that was fun!
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As i mentioned there are couple of water swings on Gili Trawangan. I think there are already some in Bali as well. Just do your research. Get on the island, stroll along the beach. You can actually get around the island easy in one day. If you see a water swing out in the water and nobody is having a shooting on it. Go swing the shh out of you.
this stage is called "the posing", while shooting pictures or thinking about a strategy.
Of course in the Pinkcoco Hotel, it is not right in the center of Gili Trawangan but they have a restaurant, a popular bar and bicycles for rent. The beach is sandy and in the water a bit rocky but depending on the tide there are some good areas to go on a swim. And of course there is a hotel pool if you prefer to avoid the salt.
This is the moment moving out of the water, use this momentum.
Instead of lying the whole day on your beach chair and burn your skin while reading a bad book, move your body an feel like a child again. You will experience that it takes a bit more energy to swing while the water is breaking your speed. But once you get that velocity and height, the water splashes up when touch down, that's an amazing feeling. Getting sweaty? no problem, just drop in the ocean and feel like newborn. it is amazing trust me.
This stage is called "sky high". feel the realease of dopamine.
Bali is one of the Islands in the southern part of Indonesia. Mostly there is tropical warm weather on the Island. The Island has an airport in the capital city of Denpasar which is situated in the South of Bali. The most beautiful month on Bali is September and the Rainy Season lasts from the end of november until the end of march. Most people speak balinese or indonesian on the island. We travelled Bali for a month. We landed in Denpasar in the south of Bali and went up to the north. We stayed in places like Nusa Dua, Canggu, Ubud and Pemuteran.
Perfspots stands for Perfect Spots. My passion is to explore places I've never been before. While running a startup, i travel as much as possible. Here i share the Perfect Spots i enjoyed the most. Spots you can get a great meal, sip a coffee with a breathtaking view or experience an exciting adventure. learn more about the project.
It was a bit of a struggle to get to Gili Trawangan but we made it to the Pink Coco Hotel finally. Read about our struggles to get on this Island here. It was not really a surprize but as we arrived we realized that the whole hotel is in Pink. Okay the name already betrays it but to see it in real life was cool. Passports, Check-in, welcome drink, short instruction and we were ready to drop our bags in the hotel room. Guess what, the room all in pink as well. It was on the first floor with a nice balcony with a view on the Pink Coco Hotel pool. First impression... Pink 🙂
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First of all you need to get to Gili Trawangan which is an Island. This is one of three islands located between Bali and Lombok, Indonesia. On the Islands are no motors allowed so either you get on a coach, walk or you get around with a bicycle. And it can be pretty difficult to ride to the hotel with bags on a bike. So the only options are to walk or get on a coach. It's about 22 minutes to walk from the port to the Pinkcoco Hotel. First we decided to get on a coach but the prices were really high, 100 Indonesian rupiah as i remember. It is affordable compared to other tourist destinations but compared to Indonesia the price is pretty high. So we decided to walk. After the first steps with the luggage, the bad roads, the burning sun on our neck, we decided to pay the price nevertheless.
After trying to negotiate the price we hopped on the coach.
Of course in the Pinkcoco Hotel, it is not right in the center of Gili Trawangan but they have a restaurant, a popular bar and bicycles for rent. The beach is sandy and in the water a bit rocky but depending on the tide there are some good areas to go on a swim. And of course there is a hotel pool if you prefer to avoid the salt.
A coach on a rainy day transporting tourists.
Of course it is all pink, the building, the interior, the restaurant, slippers and the towels as well. That somehow a special experience to live couple of days in a pink world. The Pinkcoco hotel has its own bar which is crowded in the evenings. people come to enjoy the sunset because it sets right in front of the bar with a fantastic view on the sea.
The famous waterswing (there are severals on the island) is in the front of the bar and a lot of tourists come just to snap a picture on this swing. when we were enjoying our coconut at the bar there were people standing in line to get such a photo... probably for instagram. 😉
A droneshot to see the Pinkcoco Hotel from a birds perspective
This is me, having fun on the famous waterswing.
Even the bicycles are pink
Bali is one of the Islands in the southern part of Indonesia. Mostly there is tropical warm weather on the Island. The Island has an airport in the capital city of Denpasar which is situated in the South of Bali. The most beautiful month on Bali is September and the Rainy Season lasts from the end of november until the end of march. Most people speak balinese or indonesian on the island. We travelled Bali for a month. We landed in Denpasar in the south of Bali and went up to the north. We stayed in places like Nusa Dua, Canggu, Ubud and Pemuteran.
Perfspots stands for Perfect Spots. My passion is to explore places I've never been before. While running a startup, i travel as much as possible. Here i share the Perfect Spots i enjoyed the most. Spots you can get a great meal, sip a coffee with a breathtaking view or experience an exciting adventure. learn more about the project.
After arriving with the taxi in Padangbai we've been approached by a lot of street sellers to buy a Gili boat ticket. We've already purchased one online with a dubious boat company which i'm not gonna mention here because we were not happy with the service. there was no pickup point described nor a proper pick up time or meeting point. so we had to ask our way through the hotel reception and some small offices of this company. The staff was not friendly but we managed to get to the port in time. I have never experienced such a messy boarding. The boat was delayed and we waited for more than two hours to depart. The port is pretty chaotic, people screaming around departing times from different companies, vendors are selling beverages and the waiting room is packed full with tourists.
The Video Log on Youtube. Don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube Channel
Like i mentioned we purchased our Gili Boat ticket online. Actually there are a lot of different options to get over to the islands. In peak season i can recommend you to buy a couple of days in advance, otherwise you could miss your preferred departing day and time. But whilst low season you can actually book a day before departing or even on the same day you want to leave. If you decide to buy from a street seller always negotiate the price and compare different offers. You can choose between private boats, which are the most expansive, fast boats and public ferries. We chose the public ferry because it is the cheapest option and we actually enjoy a good boat trip.
The port of Padangbai
We stayed at a hotel close to the Port of Pdangbai. What we didn't kow then, we had to walk all the way with our luggage to the Gili Boat ticket office and from there they brought us to the port again.
The funny thing was, that the boat seats were old airplane seats. somehow a cool way of recycling. The boat ride was comfortable. once the boat broke down, the motor stopped but after couple of minutes they fixed it again. Don't expect everything to work well if you choose the cheapest option 😉
Me personally love boat trips so i really enjoyed the whole journey from departing in bali until arriving to the Gilis. You see the Islands from the water perspective and that's cool somehow.
finally boarded and happy with our window seat. Me and Simi
Not all the boats arrive there safely haha
Bali is one of the Islands in the southern part of Indonesia. Mostly there is tropical warm weather on the Island. The Island has an airport in the capital city of Denpasar which is situated in the South of Bali. The most beautiful month on Bali is September and the Rainy Season lasts from the end of november until the end of march. Most people speak balinese or indonesian on the island. We travelled Bali for a month. We landed in Denpasar in the south of Bali and went up to the north. We stayed in places like Nusa Dua, Canggu, Ubud and Pemuteran.
Perfspots stands for Perfect Spots. My passion is to explore places I've never been before. While running a startup, i travel as much as possible. Here i share the Perfect Spots i enjoyed the most. Spots you can get a great meal, sip a coffee with a breathtaking view or experience an exciting adventure. learn more about the project.