Stunning Islands to Visit On Your Bali Trip: Alternatives

Forget Bali; there are so many other islands near the popular island of Bali you should explore instead.

Okay, so maybe don’t forget Bali…it’s famous for a very good reason.

But while Bali is overcrowded with tourists, many other islands in Indonesia don’t get the credit they deserve.

The south of Bali was quite disappointing for me, but there were parts that were absolutely breathtaking (you can read about my favorite spots in Bali here).

My favorite places in Indonesia, however, were located in the islands surrounding Bali, all near enough to travel by boat. If you’re pressed for time and aren’t a fan of crowded, touristy places, I’d actually skip Bali and do some of these other islands instead.

Either way, if you’re planning a trip to Bali, here are the nearby islands you shouldn’t miss on your trip. Make sure to schedule some time to see at least some of these places!

[This post contains affiliate links.]

Java

Java is the island north of Bali, and it’s home to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. I scheduled some time to see Jakarta, but I wish I didn’t.

I didn’t feel comfortable in that city at all as a solo female traveller. I couldn’t walk more than a few steps without people calling out to me, staring at me or stopping me to take pictures with me.

It’s also a dirty, crowded city, and the government is actually in the process of moving the city to another island.

But, I loved the rest of Java.

About halfway down you’ll find Yogyakarta, a city I had a hard time leaving. It’s a student city and an artist city, and the ideal place for culture and rest.

If you’re on a budget, definitely stay at Otu Hostel. I have never experienced a more welcoming, friendly and helpful staff, and the pool was heaven in the heat.

You can book tours and classes directly with the hostel too. I took a silver making class (made a ring with the help of a local silversmith) and a batik class (a traditional method of painting fabrics). You can also take a cooking class too, although I didn’t have time for it, and tons of other awesome classes unique to Indonesia.

It’s also a great base to explore nearby wonders. For the most beautiful sunrise, I’d recommend going to Borobudur Temple, a Buddhist temple. I actually watched the sunrise from a nearby hill, and I think it’s way better than the view from the temple. I booked this sunrise tour from Otu Hostel, but you can definitely find it elsewhere.

For sunset, Prambanan temple, a Hindu temple, is the place to go. I just went during the day and it was still very impressive.

If you want to visit both temples, this tour takes you to both.

You also shouldn’t leave Java without exploring some of the volcanoes. I booked a tour from Jogyakarta to do Mount Bromo and Mount Ijen.

A visit to Mount Bromo entailed hiking to a view point to watch a gorgeous sunrise as well, and then a short hike up Bromo to see the smoke coming out of it up close. And Ijen is actually best hiked at night. You can climb down into the volcano crater to see the blue fire emerging from it, and then see sunrise as you hike back up.

This is one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in Indonesia, and it’s worth visiting this island on your Bali trip just to do this tour to see Bromo and Ijen.

Nusa Penida

This smaller island is very near Bali, and in my opinion, it’s much more beautiful. It’s very quickly getting developed, and will likely soon be overrun by mass tourism. It’s not hard to see why.

Broken Beach is one of the super tourist crowded places, but the water is absolutely gorgeous. You can’t swim in it, but you can peer down into a naturally formed bowl at the untouched beach.

Broken Beach is located right by Angel Billabong, a natural infinity pool formed on a cliff over the ocean. These two can be visited for observing natural wonders. It does get crowded, so make sure you go early like I did to fully appreciate the serenity of nature.

Probably more crowded is the Insta famous Kelingking Beach, also known as T-Rex. The reason for the nickname is the cliff formation that resembles a T-Rex head. The lush green of this cliff next to the vibrant blue water is the reason why this place is so popular.

But if you’re looking for a quiet day at a gorgeous beach, you won’t find it here. I actually didn’t even make it all the way down to the beach because so many people crowded in a line to take the long staircase down. It’s a good place for a picture (if you can get one with no other people in it), but not for relaxation.

If you want a more quiet beach, there was almost no one at Atuh Beach when I was there. The waves are very strong there so I wouldn’t recommend swimming, but I had a great day wading  in the water, exploring caves in the cliffs and just lying out on the beach. And of course, taking lots of pictures of this gorgeous place.

It looked like they were building a resort when I was there, so the pristine quiet of this beach may change soon. Hurry over now to see it- I’d recommend renting a motorbike to get there; the roads weren’t too bad!

Another beach option is Crystal Bay Beach. It was a bit more crowded, but not much. Although I thought Atuh Beach was more beautiful, Crystal Bay had its perks. The water was calmer there so you could swim, and it had some really impressive snorkeling! You could rent snorkeling gear from the beach and find lots of cool fish swimming in the clear water.

For sunset, I’d highly recommend Amok. We went there after a long day of sightseeing and watched the sun end the daylight while enjoying Happy Hour cocktails in the infinity pool.

It’s a great place for pictures and they also serve great food there. It is a bit pricey for Indonesia, but the pool access and great sunset views made it well worth it.

If you don’t have much time to on your trip to visit islands near Bali, you can do a day trip to Nusa Penida.

Gili Islands

The Gili islands are just a few hours away by boat from Bali, and a much shorter 20-minute ferry ride from Lombok. These tiny islands are car-free, so the only noises you’ll hear are roosters, the hooves and bells of horse carts and bicycles clanking down dirt roads, along with other sounds of quiet village life.

Some travelers I met were disappointed by the islands, saying there was nothing to do but lay on beaches. But that’s what excited me about them: the perfect place to relax. And I found that I actually didn’t have time to do everything I wanted to do on these islands!

Because, yes, there very beautiful beaches on these islands. But you can also snorkel with turtles, practice yoga, do some shopping, relax at spas, go on bike rides, attend open air cinemas and watch  the most beautiful sunsets.

I personally liked Gili Air the most. It was less developed and westernized than Gili T, and a lot more quiet. It was the perfect place to relax after traveling in busy places for so long. The quiet was a nice change, and for such a small island, there was a lot of open space with a rural feel.

Gili T is more of a party island, home to lots of bars with live music along the coastal edge of the island. It’s a good place if you’re not the biggest fan of seclusion and quiet. While the middle of the island is more rural, the beach areas are loud and westernized. It’s a really cool contrast in such a small place! My favorite part of Gili T was Turtle Point, where you’re pretty much guaranteed to see a turtle while snorkeling near shore.

And Gili Meno is known as the honeymoon island, so it’s good for couples. You can also find an underwater statue off its coast that you can explore on a snorkeling boat tour. Like on the other Gili islands, you’ll encounter lots of colorful fish here while snorkeling.

Lombok

The big island south of Bali is Lombok. Some say it’s what Bali was like before it became the object of mass tourism. And there certainly were very few tourists on this island in comparison.

There were some similarities to Bali, like the gorgeous waterfalls and mountains, but there were many differences too. I thought Lombok as a whole was drier and less colorful than Bali, but the beaches were much more beautiful.

Both Bali and Lombok have a beach town called Kuta. But while Bali’s Kuta is a crowded, dirty party town, Lombok’s Kuta is a calmer, smaller town with some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to in Indonesia.

Tanjung Aan Beach is a gorgeous one I went to, but there’s many more to explore. It’s a great place to go in the afternoon because you can walk to Bukit Merese from it. This hill is probably one of the best places to watch sunset in the area, with gorgeous natural scenery all around you.

One of the most impressive things on this island is Mount Rinjani, the second largest volcano in Indonesia and arguably with the most beautiful views.

If you’d like to hike it (which I highly recommend if you’re in well enough shape), you’ll have to book a tour to do a two-day hike. I chose Amet Rinjani Trekking, and I can’t praise them highly enough.

It was such an amazing experience hiking up all day, enjoying a gorgeous sunset over the Gili Islands and Mount Agung in Bali, and then watching the sunrise over the crater rim after spending the night in the tent.

To learn more about the hike and the company I chose to do this trek with, you can find out more about my experience here.

---

I hope I’ve convinced you to explore some of these gorgeous islands near Bali. While Bali is unarguably beautiful, islands like Java, Lombok, Nusa Penida and the Gili Islands are largely ignored. And you’ll be missing out a lot if you skip them on your trip to Indonesia.