February vs June

Avoid

Bau Nyale festival brings Sasak cultural life to the south coast — otherwise still deep wet season.

• ↑The Bau Nyale festival (February or March, tied to the Sasak lunar calendar) is the most important cultural event on the island: tens of thousands of Sasak people gather at Seger Beach near Kuta Lombok before dawn to catch nyale sea worms, which appear once a year. The ceremony connects to the legend of Princess Mandalika and is one of Indonesia's most extraordinary indigenous cultural spectacles.
• ↑Rinjani's crater lake (Segara Anak) is filling with monsoon rain — a process that makes the eventual dry season approach all the more spectacular. For those comfortable with the rain, the lower slopes offer hiking without the crowds.

Best match

Peak dry season perfection — Rinjani, Gilis, and south coast all at their best before crowds arrive.

• ↑June is the finest weather Lombok produces: 9.1 sunshine hours, 29mm of rain, and lower humidity than May. The Rinjani crater lake is accessible from the crater rim by a steep descent — camping beside the hot springs at Segara Anak Lake (2,000m altitude, with Rinjani's perfect cone reflected in the water) is one of the most spectacular campsites in Indonesia.
• ↑The Gili Islands in June offer snorkelling and diving conditions that rival the Maldives at a fraction of the cost: flat water, extraordinary visibility, and turtle encounters on almost every dive. The no-motorised-vehicle policy on all three Gilis means the only sounds are birdsong, cicadas, and the call to prayer from the mosque on Gili Meno.