Cheapest way to get to Nusa Lembongan, Bali


FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com - How to get to Nusa LembonganHow to get to Nusa Lembongan? Getting from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan (or Ubud to Nusa Lembongan via Sanur) really isn’t rocket science. But… it’s easy to overpay. So let us share our golden tip for getting the cheapest fast boat to Lembongan.

After our stay in Ubud, we left for Nusa Lembongan. Wayan, the owner of Kas Komala (our lovely homestay in Ubud), arranged a car with a driver for us. To get from Ubud to Nusa Lembongan, you have to go to Sanur to catch the boat. One of Wayan’s brothers was supposed to take us to the harbor in Sanur but he couldn’t make it so one of his friends brought us there instead.

We have a friend who lives and works on Lembongan and he told us not to buy a ticket beforehand for the boat to Nusa Lembongan. Instead, he told us, go to the area where the boats land on the beach and get a ticket for the local fast boat, that’s the cheapest way to get to the island. Also, make sure to bring enough cash money. There are no ATM machines on Nusa Lembongan that accept Maestro debit cards so you need to take enough for your stay and the dives you want to do.

Where to buy ferry tickets for the boat to Lembongan

After a quick stop at the ATM, we made our way to the beach where the boats are. Just before the beach, there are some ticket offices from the ferry companies and our driver told us we had to buy the tickets there. I told him I wanted to get the tickets on the boat because this is what my friend told me would be the cheapest, but the driver said we could not buy tickets on the boat and these were the only ticket offices of the different boats that go to the island. I’m sure he meant well, but he was misinformed.

Find the ticket office next to the beach!

lembongan2I thought maybe I hadn’t understood my friend correctly and with a little one in tow, we didn’t want to risk having to go back. After looking at the departure times of the different boats we chose the next one and had to pay IDR550.000 per person for a return ticket with a drop-off and pick up on the island. After buying the tickets I got back into the car and our driver took us to the place where the boats come to the beach. We get out of the car with all our stuff and what do we see? There is a ticket office for the local fast boat to Lembongan at the corner of the street at the beach! Tickets there are A LOT cheaper than the one we bought, only IDR175.000 one way!

Also, the boat was a dump and the drop-off a joke. They ended up bringing us to the wrong place (with a cranky 2 year-old). They couldn’t tell us if this was where we were supposed to be but dropped us there anyway (read the full story in our review of the disastrous Shipwreck’s Beach Resort).

Cheapest way to get from Bali to Nusa Lembongan? Get a ticket for the local fast boat!

lembongan1So if you want to go from Sanur to Nusa Lembongan (or Ubud to Nuse Lembongan via Sanur) and don’t want to pay too much, ignore everybody and continue until you can see, hear and smell the ocean! There will be a sign for the local fast boat to Lembongan and this is really the cheapest way to get to the island. Well… apparently there’s a local slow boat too which is even cheaper, but unless you’re on a realllllyyy tight budget I would not risk it.

Even with instructions, we ended up paying about IDR400.000 too much. Such a waste of money 🙁 So don’t make the mistake we made! How to get to Nusa Lembongan? Continue all the way tot the ticket office ON the beach and get tickets for the local fast boat!

In the end, we did have a very nice stay on Nusa Lembongan, as you can read in our review of Taos House. Not a surprise really, as many people consider Nusa Lembongan one of the top places to visit in Bali.

Want to know about prices on Bali? Check out this Bali price guide for families.



Booking.com


7 thoughts on “Cheapest way to get to Nusa Lembongan, Bali”

      • Hi Lisa, thank you so much for writing this. We are now in the greater Ubud area and unsurprisingly, it seems to be easy to overpay for the transfer to Nusa Lembongan.

        However, there is also a local ferry that seems to be departing at 8am for around 100k one way, but I haven’t checked it out yet. I’m convinced locals won’t book beforehand so walking up to the beach seems to be the best thing, we’ll try that tomorrow.

        Safe travels! 🙂

        • Hey Patrick – so what price did you get? and what was the departure schedule for the boats like.. were there departures post noon? Please let me know.

  1. That’s a nice tip! If I’d only visit Lembongan I would follow your instruction. But I’m doing a bigger tour: Sanur-Lembongan-Gili T – Sanur. I fear that in Lembongan and Gili T there might not exist a cheaper version. I could end up spending more money…

Comments are closed.