Lombok (LOP): the DAMRI bus, and ignore the men offering cheap fares
DAMRI runs proper shuttle buses to Mataram, Senggigi and Selong for a few tens of thousands of rupiah. The touts in the hall are unlicensed and the quoted price changes once you are moving.
- DAMRI runs shuttle buses from the airport to central Senggigi, Mataram and Selong in East Lombok.
- Fares are 30,000 to 40,000 rupiah depending on the destination and the source.
- Hourly to Mataram and roughly every 90 minutes to Senggigi, from about 03:00 or 04:00 until 20:00 or 22:00.
- You can board at both domestic and international arrivals.
- Some guides quote 240,000 to 350,000 rupiah for the same routes. Those are private transfer prices, not the DAMRI bus. The bus is the cheap one.
- There is no bus to Kuta Lombok. For the south coast it is a taxi or a booked car.
- Metered taxi fares run about 100,000 to 120,000 rupiah to Kuta, 160,000 to 180,000 to Mataram and 220,000 to 250,000 to Senggigi.
- Grab and Gojek both work here and quote in the same range as a metered taxi.
- Ignore the touts. Both guides used here warn about them: they are not licensed, they quote low, and the price rises once you are in the car.
- Senggigi is about 90 minutes away, Mataram less. The airport is in the south of the island and most of the resorts are not.
The bus
- DAMRI, the state bus operator, runs airport shuttles on three routes: the airport to central Senggigi, the airport to the DAMRI pool in Mataram, and the airport to Selong Pancor in East Lombok.
- Fares are 30,000 to 40,000 rupiah, with the two guides used here differing by a few thousand on each route.
- Hourly to Mataram and about every 90 minutes to Senggigi, running from the early morning until the evening.
- Board at either the domestic or the international arrivals area.
- The Senggigi service terminates on the main street, across from the Galleria shops, which is walking distance from most of the hotels there.
A warning about the fare figures
- One otherwise useful guide lists the DAMRI routes at 240,000 to 350,000 rupiah. Those are an order of magnitude above the other sources and match private transfer prices rather than a public bus.
- Take the lower figures as the bus and the higher ones as a car. If someone at the airport quotes you 250,000 rupiah, that is a car, not the DAMRI.
Taxis and apps
| Destination | Metered taxi | Grab or Gojek |
|---|---|---|
| Kuta Lombok | 100,000 to 120,000 IDR | about 230,000 IDR |
| Mataram | 160,000 to 180,000 IDR | about 200,000 IDR |
| Senggigi | 220,000 to 250,000 IDR | about 250,000 IDR |
| Bangsal harbour | about 350,000 IDR |
- Grab and Gojek both operate at the airport and meet you at a designated pickup point.
- The figures vary between sources, which for Indonesian taxi fares is normal. Use them as a floor for what is reasonable.
The touts
- This is the thing both guides go out of their way to say. There is a persistent, organised group of unlicensed drivers at Lombok airport who approach arriving passengers with cheap offers.
- They are not licensed operators. The quoted price commonly changes once you are in the vehicle and moving.
- Take the DAMRI, a metered taxi from the official rank, or an app booking. All three are easy and none of them involves being approached.
The geography
- The airport is in the south of the island, near Praya. Senggigi and Mataram are on the west coast, so a Senggigi transfer is about 90 minutes.
- Kuta Lombok and the south coast beaches are the closest destinations and have no bus.
- Bangsal, the harbour for the Gili islands, is the far side, and one guide quotes 350,000 rupiah by taxi.
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