Nusa Lembongan Surf Guide: The Breaks and the Fast Boat from Sanur

Almost everyone crosses from Sanur Harbour, on Bali's east coast. Fast boats take 30 to 45 minutes. One-way fares run from about IDR 175,000 to 450,000, depending on the operator and whether a hotel pickup is included. As one example from an operator's own fares page, Rocky Fast Cruise charges IDR 300,000 one way for the boat alone and IDR 400,000 with a door-to-door transfer.

Sanur's new harbour, open since late 2022, has a pier for the fast boats, though a 2026 guide says most operators still board through shallow water. Expect the same at the other end: on Lembongan most boats pull up on the beach at Jungut Batu or Mushroom Bay, and you step off into shallow water. Wear shorts and sandals, and bring a bag you can carry rather than drag. Rocky Fast Cruise is the exception, with its own jetty at Telatak.

Bringing a board? Rocky Fast Cruise carries surfboards free if you tell them when you book. We couldn't find a written board policy for the other operators, so ask before you pay.

The boats run in almost any weather. On the roughest days of the wet season, November to March, a crossing can be delayed, so if you're flying out the same day, take a morning boat back.

If you've never surfed, Lembongan isn't the place to start. Every break is reef, and even Playgrounds, the easiest of them, breaks over sharp coral. Learn on the sand-bottom beach breaks on Bali's west coast first, then come over once you can turn and get off a wave on purpose.

If you can already ride green waves, a lesson here is mostly about which break to surf on which tide, and that's worth paying for on an island where the guides disagree. GetYourGuide lists one Lembongan lesson, a two-hour session for all levels.

Lembongan gets flat days, especially outside April to October. Nusa Penida, the big island next door, is the usual day out. GetYourGuide lists dozens of day trips that leave from Lembongan, many of them Penida tours and snorkelling trips. We haven't done them, so we're not ranking them here.

Stay in Jungut Batu if you're here to surf. It puts you closest to Shipwrecks, Lacerations and Playgrounds, and it's where the budget guesthouses are.

Scooters are the main way around, at about IDR 70,000 to 100,000 a day. The yellow footbridge to Nusa Ceningan, rebuilt in 2017, takes pedestrians and two-wheelers only.

Bring cash. There are ATMs, but they cap withdrawals and sometimes run out, and you'll need cash for scooter hire, snorkelling and day trips. Most resorts and restaurants take cards.

Foreign visitors to Lembongan, Ceningan and Penida pay a Klungkung regency fee on arrival. From 2019 it was IDR 25,000 per adult and IDR 15,000 per child, one payment for all three islands, and since August 2025 it's card only.

In September 2026 the regency switched to a new 'One Gate One Destination' system, with an entry fee at the port plus separate tickets at some attractions. We couldn't find the new amount in any source we could read, so check at the harbour.

This is separate from Bali's own tourist levy, which you pay once when you arrive in Bali.