Better than Bali

[Girl_Next_Door]

Did Koh Samuie only 8 weeks ago. The beach hawkers sold loud fire-crackers to anyone who wanted to buy them and disturb the nights of all and sundry. Police try but fail with this. Never again Koh Samui. Yeah the issue is what you actaully want to do. For partying types- don't go to e.g. Gili. No action, cars or noise there....but I like it cos I crave peace and quiet. Looking for similar places, if I can find it....

I have stayed in both Rayavadee Resort (Krabi) and Oberoi Lombok (Lombok). If you crave for peace and quiet, both places definitely will meet your requirements. Good services, nice & peaceful environment, but of course, big price tag too. Its good for 2 days but on the 3rd day, you might want to go out for some action.

Alternatively, you can consider Kota Kinabalu (various airlines) and Kuantan (Firefly flies there). Most people think of KK as climbing mountain only, but they actually have diving options and pretty decent beaches (not white sand but good enough).

[smokenams]

next place to see is boracay in philippines

heard very good reports about there n sounds like a place from lord of the lings

plus phil people seem very easygoing n friendly

depends if u into quiet and unspoilt or a lively scene tho

[sundaymorningstaple]

What are the "lings"?

[nutnut]

Is that the Chinese version?

[JR8]

Next trip coming up decisions decisions.... Gili Islands, Borocay, Tioman... all three.... and/or go diving further down the Indon archipeligo than Bali...

Hmmm....

[x9200]

Next trip coming up decisions decisions.... Gili Islands, Borocay, Tioman... all three.... and/or go diving further down the Indon archipeligo than Bali...

Hmmm....

Lombok with much better infrastructure and choice of accommodation (than in Gilis) and with Gili Islands just a short boat trip away. I can even recommend a place to stay (no affiliation) with beautiful sunsets overlooking Bali's vulcanos.

[QRM]

Boracay was there 25 years ago, no power, no cars, very nice, a manky old map was being passed around a few of the back packers, its was suposed to be some scret island where you can stay in huts for a dollar a night and eat magic mushroom omletes all day.

Everyone is raving on about cebu now.

[JR8]

Lombok with much better infrastructure and choice of accommodation (than in Gilis) and with Gili Islands just a short boat trip away. I can even recommend a place to stay (no affiliation) with beautiful sunsets overlooking Bali's vulcanos.

I'd be most interested to hear your suggestion (depending on which legs of the overall trip the wife joins me on, will determine the kind of place I/we stay )

Boracay was there 25 years ago, no power, no cars, very nice, a manky old map was being passed around a few of the back packers, its was suposed to be some scret island where you can stay in huts for a dollar a night and eat magic mushroom omletes all day.
Everyone is raving on about cebu now.

Woah you're giving me flashbacks to another time and place man

Cebu you say? That's interesting as as I recall Cebu City is quite an air-hub, and one of the downsides of the places I tend to go is the epic multi-step/mode journeys getting there. So I'll have a look into that too!

[nutnut]

Lombok with much better infrastructure and choice of accommodation (than in Gilis) and with Gili Islands just a short boat trip away. I can even recommend a place to stay (no affiliation) with beautiful sunsets overlooking Bali's vulcanos.

[/quote]

Interested in hearing about this also! Please can you post the place to stay?

Cheers

[x9200]

We stayed in Quinci Villas (it was 2 years ago):
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review ... ggara.html

A bit confusing but important part was or maybe still is that under the name there were like 3 completely different sections of apparently same owner residences occupying 3 adjacent strips of land. First part, where we stayed was mostly two storey villas (1 room downstairs and one upstairs, separate) - and they were new or renewed and very nice. This part was also rather small like a boutique resort of some kind separated with a fence from the next part but with free access from the beach. This:








from more recent TripAdvisor.

Next to this section was a hotel, not so nice, crowded and rather worn out and yet further a huge villa, probably nice but far beyond our budget.
Food: generally good but nothing outstanding, pricing average as for such place
Location: pretty secluded, needs a transportation to get to the nearest shop
Beach: nothing special but for getting spoiled the resort was pretty self containing - we had close to perfect romantic gateway
Service quality: very good
Gili islands: ca 20 min away by motorized perahu boat (can be arranged at the resort)
Airport: 15-30 min away (IIRC), and there is a direct flight from SG.
And it was pretty good value for money arranged via asiawebdirect (or similar) for half (literally) of the hotel price.

Lombok has some nice Vulcano trails if you prefer a more active way of spending your time.

[x9200]

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-8.478835 ... +&t=h&z=11

[zzm9980]

Five suspects killed in Bali anti-terror raid:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17425336

[JR8]

Thanks for the tip X9. That's certainly a place I'll consider if the wife will be accompanying me...

[chuckd]

Airport: 15-30 min away (IIRC), and there is a direct flight from SG.

Just a quick note, Lombok's new international airport opened October last year coinciding with the closure of the old Ampenan/Mataram airport. So the travel distance is a bit further now. Takes approximately 45 minutes from the airport to central Mataram...and probably another 20 minutes to Sengiggi or that kind of area.

The new airport is very nice though, went through about 4 weeks ago, certainly an improvement on the old airport...and the new highway linking it to Mataram makes the journey quite comfortable.

Silk Air fly direct 3 times a week, on Mon, Thu and Sat. Altenatively there are I believe 4 flights a day from Denpasar Bali to Lombok and at my last check it was cheaper (though less convenient) to fly to Bali and then on to Lombok (even though the flight is like 30 minutes or something).

Make sure to check up to date information on costs of transport from the airport, I believe there are now special airport taxis and buses....can't comment as I was picked up by a friend.

Would definitely recommend Lombok as a destination, some beautiful places to stay, and good to place to get away from things.....oh and the Sushi in Happy Cafe is pretty damn good!

[E-CBS]

A few suggestions, low profile, no mass tourism, nice beaches, a bit remote with the nearest airport being Bandung I think.

Pangandaran or Batu Karas, Indonesia
I think this is a popular holiday destination for people from Bandung and Jakarta.

A couple of nice trips can be made from here too, like to Green Canyon

I have stayed a few nights in Pangandaran last year and had a great time, don't want to advertise but if asked I can share the place

Google and you'll get an idea of what it is like there