Tanjung is a beach town on the north west coast of the island of Lombok in Indonesia.
Tanjung is a developing tourist destination on mainland Lombok. There are five resort-style hotels in the area including Lombok's most prestigious resort, The Oberoi Lombok at Medana Beach. The Kosaido Golf Club is located on the nearby Sire Peninsula. The Medana Bay Marina provides modern mooring and anchorage services to the area. Tanjung is also the administrative capital of the new North Lombok Regency and so the township has a growing regional administrative sector with offices and support services. There is also a traditional produce market and a small regional public public transport hub in the town.
Tanjung is traversed by a single two lane road that follows the west coast of the island from south of Ampenan and continues northward to circumnavigate Mount Rinjani in the north of Lombok and then traverses the greater part of the east coast toward the south.
Popular excursions that can be done in a day trip include:
- On the sea — take a boat across to the Gilli Islands for lunch or some snorkelling
- Village — visits including weaving villages and other handicraft producers
- Waterfalls — visits and walks around nearby Senaru
On the sea — take a boat across to the Gilli Islands for lunch or some snorkelling
Village — visits including weaving villages and other handicraft producers
Waterfalls — visits and walks around nearby [[Senaru]]
Most of the tourism activities in Tanjung revolve around the resort areas at Sire beach and Medana, with diving, snorkelling, and hiking activities available. Tanjung is well situated for day trips to Mount Rinjani and Senaru, The Gilli Islands, and the north east coast. According to local legends two of the oldest villages on the island, Bayan and Sembalun, were founded by a prince of Majapahit. Both villages are readily accessible and are nearby to the Tanjung area.
Traditional therapeutic massages and spa treatments are available in the hotels and local traditional masseurs are available.
Fishing and boat charters are available to explore the area along this part of the west coast of Lombok.
Nearby golf courses are a popular destination for many visitors and local golfers. The Sire Peninsula in Tanjung has an international 18-hole championship course.
- Kosaido Golf Club, +62 370 640137. The course has views of Mt. Rinjani to the north east and the Gili Islands across the bay to the west. The course was designed by Peter Thompson, Michael Wolveridge & Perrett and pays respect to the natural on-site contours of the land. The 18-hole championship course offers a basic clubhouse facility and is promoted as having a unique, challenging and world-class experience for golfers of all levels.
Participate in a local Sasak community program in the Tanjung area by joining a locally run volunteer program or visiting one of the locally initiated community development projects. Several options are available for visitors involving coral regeneration, land management and rehabilitation, and agricultural development programs. Or you can just join with a group of local people, help out and join in with what-ever they are doing during their day. Specific skills are not a requirement for participation. Some visitors choose to go and live in a native village and help the women working in the fields. English-language and skill-teaching programs are encouraged and involve stays of around 3 weeks minimum. Opportunities are available for very short visits through to longer stays with integration into a more specific program. For a stay to experience and work in a hill village, a few days would be sufficient as a minimum to have time to adjust and settle in.
- Sokong Community Action Program (SCAP), Jl Raya Tanjung, Kampung Kencong, Sokong, Tanjung, Lombok Utara (turn off the main highway at Kencong, +6287865259656. Accommodation can be provided including local transport and transfers to and from Lombok airport, hotels and the Gili islands if required. Single day trips can be organised to visit the programs or just to look around the local community and meet the local participants.
Kosaido Golf Club, +62 370 640137. The course has views of Mt. Rinjani to the north east and the Gili Islands across the bay to the west. The course was designed by Peter Thompson, Michael Wolveridge & Perrett and pays respect to the natural on-site contours of the land. The 18-hole championship course offers a basic clubhouse facility and is promoted as having a unique, challenging and world-class experience for golfers of all levels.
Sokong Community Action Program (SCAP), Jl Raya Tanjung, Kampung Kencong, Sokong, Tanjung, Lombok Utara (turn off the main highway at Kencong, +6287865259656. Accommodation can be provided including local transport and transfers to and from Lombok airport, hotels and the Gili islands if required. Single day trips can be organised to visit the programs or just to look around the local community and meet the local participants.
The Tanjung area is a quiet area, and tourism activity is restricted to the Medana peninsular and parts of Sire Beach. There are not a lot of beach hawkers or tour guides touting for business on the beaches, other than at the nearby Bangsal area which serves as a departure and arrival point for much of the boat traffic going to and from the Gilli Islands.
There is a large public market area and many local shops in and about Tanjung selling local requirements from building supplies to food stuffs.
The hotels and resorts of the Tanjung area offer Western and Indonesian style cuisine with wine and drink service in a hotel or resort setting. There are few eating venues catering to international tourists in the Tanjung area other than within the larger established hotels and resorts of the area. The more intrepid visitor may like to set forth and try some of the small local eating houses many of which are along the main highway passing through the Tanjung district. Otherwise a trip to Senggigi to the south may be required to access a wider range of venues catering to local and international tourists.
Mobile phone towers ensure you're never out of touch. Telekomsel's Simpati SIM card has a reasonably good signal in the Tanjung area. XL Axiata and Indosat SIM cards also provide coverage in the area. Coverage can be unreliable and inconsistent.
Several hospitals are located in the main city of Mataram including the islands main public hospital Rumah Sakit Umun and also the Risa Hospital in Cakranegara near Mataram mall.
- Please see the Lombok main article for a list of medical facilities available in Mataram.
- Puskesmas Tanjung, Tanjung, +62 370 623010. This is a local municipal health clinic rather than an emergency centre, though it does have an UGD (Emergency room) of limited scope.
- Ambulance, +62 370 622254, +62 370 623489, 118 (In emergency).
The reality is that unless within the confines of the main city of Mataram/Ampenan/Cakranegara an ambulance is normally too far away to provide prompt transport in the case of a true emergency. Most often a taxi, police vehicle or a private car is used to get someone requiring urgent medical attention to a hospital. The ambulances in Lombok are more often used in the role of assisted patient transport rather than for first responder/paramedic supported emergency assistance and transport.
Ambulance, +62 370 622254, +62 370 623489, 118 (In emergency).
The reality is that unless within the confines of the main city of Mataram/Ampenan/Cakranegara an ambulance is normally too far away to provide prompt transport in the case of a true emergency. Most often a taxi, police vehicle or a private car is used to get someone requiring urgent medical attention to a hospital. The ambulances in Lombok are more often used in the role of assisted patient transport rather than for first responder/paramedic supported emergency assistance and transport.
Puskesmas Tanjung, Tanjung, +62 370 623010. This is a local municipal health clinic rather than an emergency centre, though it does have an UGD (Emergency room) of limited scope.
Much of Lombok can be accessed easily from the Tanjung area.
- Take a boat to the Gili Islands for snorkeling or diving and partying on Gili Trawangan. The cheapest way to reach Gili Trawangan is on a public boat which departs from Bangsal from 08:00-17:00 (but rarely later than 16:00) for Rp 10,000. Charter boats can also be arranged or take a speedboat from Teluk Nare a little to the south of Bangsal. Cidomo horse carts hang around on the main road in Pemenang waiting to ferry visitors the short distance to the Bangsal beach landing point that cannot be accessed by taxis and bemos
- Climb Mount Rinjani, an active volcano (access can be suspended for extended periods during the rainy season).
- Visit Bayan and Sembalun.
- Take a road trip to Tetebatu a small town about 2 km from the southern boundary of Mount Rinjani National Park. Traditional Sasak handicraft artisans are spread throughout the villages in this area. When in Tetebatu visit the nearby town of Kotaraja, the best known location in Lombok to witness traditional Sasak stick fighting.
- Travel south down the scenic west coast highway past Bangsal, through Pemenang and the beaches of Teluk Nare, Nipah, Malimbu, Setangi, Klui, Mangsit, Senggigi and Batu Bolong, then on to Ampenan and the provincial city of Mataram.
- Travel to the island of Bali by fast boat from the nearby Gili Islands, from the airport in Ampenan or travel further south down the west coast to the port of Lembar and take one of the larger vehicular ferries to Panangbai on the east coast of Bali.