Indonesia
Mandalika
One night a year, set by the lunar calendar, Sasak Lombok gathers for the sea worms.
On a date set by the Sasak lunar calendar, communities gather along this coast to harvest the rising nyale sea worms, a tradition the whole shore turns out for. The rest of the year the coast carries the trip alone: surf, headlands and bays in every register.
Mandalika curves around Kuta Lombok on the island's south coast, where the annual Bau Nyale festival gathers Sasak communities to harvest the rising nyale sea worms on a date the lunar calendar sets, legend tying them to Princess Mandalika herself. Outside festival time the coast carries the trip alone: Tanjung Aan's pepper-grain sand, Selong Belanak's learner surf, Mawun's sheltered arc, linked by a scenic coastal road, with the international racing circuit stamping a modern identity on the same shore. It is an active development zone, busy and changing, and the bays absorb it.
Couple
A scooter and the coastal road turn bay-hopping into the whole point.
Family
Pick the sheltered beach, add a short cultural stop, and the day builds itself.
Friends
Surf lessons, beach-hopping and a race weekend can share one trip.
- Bau Nyale's sea-worm harvest runs on the Sasak lunar calendar, a living ritual.
- Three distinct bays within one coastal road cover surf, swimming and shelter.
- The MotoGP circuit gives the coast a second, contemporary identity.
- Selong Belanak's gentle walls are a natural surf classroom.
Ayam taliwang, Lombok's fiery grilled chicken, is the coast's culinary symbol.
Plecing kangkung, water spinach with chilli and lime, is its classic partner.
Manuel Antonio
Costa Rica
Capuchins patrol the sand beneath dozing sloths where rainforest walks into the ocean.
Vaitupu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu's largest island, where traditional sport te ano sends two woven balls flying at once.
Tortuguero
Costa Rica
Jungle canals where green sea turtles haul onto black volcanic sand under a moonless sky.
Kadavu
Fiji
Manta rays circle the world's fourth-largest barrier reef, off villages the road barely reaches.
Nias Island
Indonesia
At Bawömataluo, jumpers still clear a two-metre stone tower in a single leap.
Ijen Crater
Indonesia
Sulphur miners and blue fire share Ijen's crater with a kilometre-wide acid lake.
Lake Toba
Indonesia
A volcanic island the size of Singapore floats inside the largest caldera lake on Earth.
Mentawai Islands
Indonesia
Sago smoke in the longhouse, heavy water on the reef: the Mentawais run two worlds.