Lombok Tourism - Tanjung Aan Beach

Tanjung Aan Beach

One of the beaches that should be in your Lombok tourism list is Tanjung Aan Beach, the home of Princess Mandalika. The beach is facing the Indian Ocean with about 2 km stretched to the coastline. Tanjung Aan Beach is located at south coast of Lombok. One thing that you will directly notice when you set your feet on Tanjung Aan Beach is the sand. It is not like the other Lombok Beaches, the sand of this beach is like a pepper, so soft.

This beach is perfect for you who are looking for a perfect beach to swim or snorkeling due to the smooth flowing wave with medium height. If you don’t bring your own equipment, you can get the high quality ones on the area. In the late afternoon, when the wave is getting high, Tanjung Aan Beach will be the rendezvous spot for surfers.

Tanjung Aan Beach is surrounded by some hills and you can get easy access to the hills to see Tanjung Aan Beach from the higher place. Around this Lombok tourism spot, you will find some wooden umbrella with braided straw roof. This is one of the best ways to enjoy the beach; you can tan your skin and grab your coconut that you can buy there. You can also find rows of restaurants that serve various foods and beverages that can be enjoyed together with the magnificent view of Tanjung Aan Beach.

During the holiday, most of the tourists are domestic tourist, but if you visit Tanjung Aan Beach at Lombok Indonesia around February, the beach will be filled by both domestic and foreign tourists because there is a special event called as BauNyale ritual. The ritual is related to a tale about the beautiful princess Mandalika who jumped to the south sea to stop the princes who want her to be their wife. Princess Mandalika is said to be the incarnation of a worm called Nyale. The local people make foods from Nyale.

“Nyale” itself is local-collective-name of some sea worm species that always ‘bloom’ in certain season at Tanjung Aan Beach and some other areas in Indonesia (especially Lombok, Sumba, and Moluccas). At least there are 4 species of Nyale from Eunicidae family, namely Eunice siciliensis, Eunice viridis, and Licydicecollaris,  and there are one more species of Nyale from Nereidae family namely Dendronereides  heteropoda.

Tanjung Aan Beach at Lombok island Indonesia is located about 75 km from Mataram or about 3 km from Kuta Beach. If you are using a private car or motorcycle, it will take about 1.5 hours. The route is Mataram – Cakranegara – Kediri – Praya – Batunyale – Sengkol – Rambitan – Sade – Kuta and finally Tanjung Aan Beach. If you are using public transportation, you should reach Sengkol and take a Sengkol – Kuta route which will cost you about Rp.10.000 for one person. After that, you should use a motorcycle service or rent a motorcycle to reach Tanjung Aan Beach. It can be quite complicated and waste your time, so renting a car or motorcycle from Mataram is more recommended. Make sure to visit some beaches near Tanjung Aan Beach like Kuta beach, Seger Beach and Selong Belanak Beach.