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Often many other travelers ask me about malaria on Lombok. Is there actually such a high malaria risk? Are there really so many mosquitoes and do I absolutely need malaria prophylaxis? What else do I have to take care about for my travel preparation?
All information about malaria on Lombok
Many people get put off by this and during their Indonesia trip they tend to avoid every place east of Bali, which is considered as a malaria area. I have to admit that before our first trip to Lombok and the Gili Islands we also had our concerns. After I have stayed overall more than 6 months on Lombok and the Gilis within the last 20 months, I want to share my experiences with you and give answers to frequently asked questions…
Beforehand I can say that everything really isn’t that bad as it is written in almost every Lombok travel guide or many internet forums. But attention: I’m obviously no doctor and I don’t want to play anything down, because malaria is indeed very serious! But when you keep certain things in mind, normally nothing should happen to you.
Do I need malaria prophylaxis like Malarone for my trip to Lombok or the Gili Islands?
My advice is, you should basically better have Malarone with you, but ONLY as an emergency standby medication. I think you shouldn’t use it before and during your multi-week journey since it’s damn expensive in the first place and you would need more packs anyway. Furthermore, like almost from every drug, there are also side effects that may even become a little bit stronger in this case.
By the way, I haven’t opened my Malarone pack (which I took for our first long-term trip to Southeast Asia 2013) until today. As I said before, I think it’s not wrong to take a pack with you. But it’s also possible to go without, because in the worst case the next hospital in Mataram is reachable within 1 or 2 hours from almost every point of the Island (except you’re somewhere in or around the Rinjani National Park probably). At the end of the day, you have to decide for yourself.
What is the safest travel season and which areas are most dangerous?
Basically, it’s very simple: where it’s very hot and humid, there you will find many mosquitos! Hence, you can assume that it’s generally a little bit safer during the dry season than in the rainy season. The rainy season goes approximately from November until March. The worst months are Dezember and January where it rains like every day. Be careful especially during that time.
My experience is that you indeed notice the higher amount of mosquitos in the extremely hot and wet season and also at the end of the rainy season. In the driest months from July to September it’s noticeably colder and sometimes I didn’t even see one mosquito for days.
The areas that are least affected with malaria are the those at the west coast of Lombok. Also, the risk on the Gili Islands is really very low, according to the statement of locals. The bigger cities of Lombok and the area around them (Mataram, Cakranegara and Ampenan) are considered as malaria-free. So in these areas you don’t have to worry about anything.
Take care when you go further east to rural places or in the jungle, especially the region in and around Rinjani National Park.
How can I protect myself?
Here are some general tips on how you can protect yourself best from these bastards. Because the best way not to get malaria is very simple: just don’t get bitten! 😉
- Try to find an accommodation with AC and a mosquito net (carrying around your own mosquito net for hanging up is unnecessary in my opinion)
- Preferably, wear bright and long clothes in the evening
- Always use mosquito spray
- In case your accommodation has a balcony or terrace, use mosquito coils. But don’t use it in enclosed spaces – you never know what kind of chemicals are inside these Indonesian coils!
- I always buy “One Push Vape” in the Indomaret or Alfamart. It seems to work and it also smells good 😉
Bottom line
Don’t let yourself be discouraged by all the malaria discussions from planning a trip to Lombok! It really isn’t that bad as it often seems. As I mentioned before, I spent there many months on the island and even got bitten by mosquitos only a few times – to say nothing of malaria or dengue! There were many other places on our journeys across Southeast Asia that had much more mosquitos!
I also have to say that most of the time I lived in the Mataram city area. In some other places there were indeed some more mosquitos, especially where it’s more untouched and humid. But when you follow my tips, normally nothing should happen to you.
I have many friends living on Lombok or the Gili Islands and they even never heard of Malarone or something like that in their entire lives! Much less they could afford to buy it. And when a local doesn’t get malaria in 20 years, why YOU as a tourist should get it in 1 or 2 weeks? 😉
Photo 1 (Mosquito): ASCOM – Prefeitura de Votuporanga/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
I have lived in Lombok for five years until about 1996. At that time there were many people affected with malaria. Not the worst species like in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, but anyway. If now the situation in Lombok has improved, I don’t know.
Marcel – unfortunately I think this post contains some very counter-productive advice. Malaria prophylaxis such as Malarone works by killing the parasite at its earliest stage of development in the human host (the sporozoite stage). This can only be achieved if you already have Malarone in your bloodstream before you are infected with the parasite. Taking Malarone as an ’emergency backup’ is pointless – the prophylaxis is useless after you have been bitten, as the parasite progresses to new life cycle stages very quickly, which are not affected by the drug. Prophylaxis means treatment for prevention of a disease, it is not a reactive treatment.
I can also tell you that locals do not get malaria because they are born into the risk area and therefore develop resistance to the endemic diseases there from an early age. They are also used to the environment, including the climate, food and air quality. Tourists from very different areas of the world (like Europe) have not developed this resistance and moreover our bodies are not used to the exotic environment. Our immune systems are weakened by the hot climate, pollution and different diet (think Bali belly), making us much more susceptible to infections of all kinds whilst we’re travelling.
You are however correct in saying the best prevention is to avoid being bitten in the first place, and accurate in methods of achieving this. I have just returned from 2 weeks in Lombok myself, and I did get bitten several times – so it’s better safe than sorry and fork out for the malaria prophylaxis. Malaria can lay dormant in your body for months so it’s a good idea to get checked out when you return home.
I agree that Lombok is not particularly high risk for malaria and that it shouldn’t put people off visiting, but it is important that you get the facts right on a post that many people might read, because malaria is not a laughing matter as you say!
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your comment and for setting some things straight.
One thing beforehand: I NEVER said Malaria is a laughing matter – even if the article title sounds like that. It’s about getting attention in the first place. See also paragraph: “I’m obviously no doctor and I don’t want to play anything down, because malaria is indeed very serious!!! But when you keep certain things in mind, normally nothing should happen to you.” The main message of this article is, as you stated in your comment, that in most tourist places there is no high risk of Malaria on Lombok, as many people (especially on Bali) say.
Some things I will edit in the article that sound too negligent. However, there’s one point about the prophylaxis that might come up. As you probably know, Malarone etc. is quite expensive. One pack lasts for about how long? One week? So what would you suggest to people who decide to stay in those areas 1 month or even a longer period? Like I stayed there almost one year in total. I know most people decide to stay on Lombok for a few days only or 1 week max, but those who stay longer also don’t take any prophylaxis at all. At least the people I know. I don’t think it’s good for the body to take Malarone for many weeks or even months (read about the side effects etc.)
Marcel
Doxycycline 100mg daily. Cheap as chips. But need to take for 1 month after leaving, can cause heart burn and increases skin’s sensitivity to sun.
So pros and cons.
Lombok has numerous forms of malaria including falciparum – this is the most dangerous.
I know someone who contracted it in Lombok – Australian man, Lombok was the only place he’d been and so could not have got it anywhere else.
So is it common? Not compared to some places.
Many travellers don’t take prophylaxis when going to Lombok- usually siting the immortal line ‘we didn’t last time, and we were fine’ or ‘my friends didn’t and they were fine’…
Which is kind of like driving without a seat belt on. You’re gonna be fine, until you crash and are ejected through the windscreen or have your face crumpled by the steering wheel…
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the advice with the Doxycycline. I didn’t know about that but it might be very helpful.
Marcel
Hi Marcel,
We are trying to source a wove rattan bracelet cuff or our jewelry collection in Florida. I understand they are made in Lombok. I really enjoyed your videos of Lombok.do you have a source I could contact? I can send you photos of the woven bracelet if you give me your email.
Many thanks,
Seed PB
Hi Seed PB,
Lombok is a quite huge island and there are many villages where people create crafted goods. Hence it will be almost impossible to find out where exactly it was, I guess 🙁
Kind regards
Marcel
If you email me, a gmail address, I can ask my son in Lombok, where to go.
Hi Marcel, I will be traveling to Lombok around 20.7.2016! I would like to ask you, which place would you suggest me to stay and if you do know anyone who is providing tours to Rijany as few agencies told me that they do not provide group tours for single travelers, only private one!
I would like to do some diving, hiking and surfing and also see some temlpes and local villages!!! So what area would be best for me?
Thank you for your advice
Hi Klara,
here you can find some interesting places on Lombok. More places you will find in our Lombok category.
For the activities you want to do, it actually doesn’t matter where you stay on Lombok since you will have to go far anyway for most of them. Great areas for diving are Sekotong and the Gili Islands. Surfing is good in the south and hiking/traditional villages in Central and East Lombok (Rinjani, Senaru, Sembalun, Tetebatu). If you have further questions regarding interesting places/activities, kindly put it in the comments of the 15 things article 😉
Marcel
Did you know that swallowing vitamin B pills is also a good remedy against mosquitos? You don’t even have to use mosquito spray.
I didn’t know it. Great tip – thanks 😀