Devil’s Tear
I had never heard of Lembongan Island until chatting with a couple of Canadian travellers in Ubud. They told me they loved it; it was quiet and only half an hour by speed boat. It sounded a lot better than the two and half hours to Gillie Air another island I had been contemplating. None of Bali beaches really appealed to me so for 550,000 rupiah ($55) I books with Scoot the return trip. They would pick me up at my hotel, drop me at my hotel on Lembongan then drop me at the airport on my return.
Cassava Bungalows
I found Cassava Bungalow on booking.com for fifty bucks a night. It was located near Tamarind Beach and had rave reviews from other travellers. Reading the reviews is a must before you select somewhere to stay. I met a young woman from China who had to leave because her place only had salt water showers – yuck!
Thus began an idyllic five days to finish my six week adventure. My trip was as smooth as promised and I was delighted with my bungalow at Cassava. The staff were wonderfully friendly although one perhaps too much so. He would grab my iPod and look at photos, read my book then even tried on one of T-shirts because he admired it.
The bungalow was clean, had a safe and air conditioning, mosquito netting, an outdoors shower, a lovely pool and a cute patio that was lovely to sit out on except at dusk when the no seeums became annoying. It was also very social and I made a number of new friends – Alise and Judith from Germany, Jack and Georgie from Devon and Girard and Dominique from France. It was interesting practicing my long derelict French. In addition one of the retreat participants Mara from Ithaca New York joined me there two days later.
I immediately fell in love with Lembongan. It was easy to walk around as long as you were OK with sweating buckets. The roads had little traffic except scooters and adapted pick up vans that seemed to be the island public transportation and not too many of them.
I realize I love an anchor to my experience and it is invariably a place to have good coffee. I found one my first day about a twenty minute stroll overlooking the seaweed farm and staffed by a lovely young man named
Sandy Cove
Karek. It became my regular daily stop. My return would expand my knowledge of the island discovering Dream Beach, Sandy Cove and Mushroom Beach. The former were rugged, looked dangerous to swim but beautiful to gaze on. Mushroom was only seven minutes from the bungalow and was calmer, sandy and was a transportation for boats.
I also went snorkelling twice – once with Alise and Judith and then with Mara, Girard and Dominique. The first time we went to three spots and the first a coral expanse by the mangroves was exceptional while the last one Crystal Bay was a little rough for my taste.
The second trip was to search for the mantas which proved elusive. Two days earlier the French couple had swam with forty but we were skunked however did see some flying fish and stopped at Crystal Bay on the way home which was calm and delightful.
The coastline of the island is fascinating with dramatic drop offs undercut by the waves. I visited one location called Devil’s Tear where water would explode in a geyser of spray. Food was fine, not a highlight and mostly inexpensive except at the beachfront restaurant Hai where they charge 21% tax and service charge on already high prices while many places have no tax at all.
All too soon it was time to leave. It was a magical conclusion to a wonderful trip.
Alise and Judith
Dream Beach
Greta Pool
Outdoor Shower
Farewell Lembongan
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