Kuta Mandalika, Beautiful Beach with Complete Facilities
Kuta Mandalika is a beautiful beach that has become the pride of the people of Lombok. Its similar name often leads to comparisons with Kuta Beach in Bali. However, Kuta Mandalika has a quieter and cleaner atmosphere.
Getting to Kuta Mandalika
This beach is located near Lombok International Airport, at the western tip of Mandalika, Pujut District, Central Lombok, making it very easy to reach. From the airport, tourists only need to travel for thirty minutes by motor vehicle. Public transportation is indeed rare in Lombok, but tourists can rent vehicles for their holiday. Oh yes, tourists will be charged an entrance fee of Rp5,000 to access the beach.
What’s Unique About Kuta Mandalika
Kuta Mandalika Beach is also known as Merica Beach. This is due to the shape of its sand. If you visit Kuta Mandalika Beach, try to observe the beach sand. The sand on this beach is white, but upon closer inspection, it is not entirely white, but rather cream. Its shape is small and round, resembling pepper.
After knowing this fact, don’t just focus on the shape of the sand, okay? If you find yourself without a destination for the day because you have explored Lombok the day before, you can definitely take a stroll along the beach as it will surely take a whole day. This is because Kuta Mandalika Beach stretches for 7.2 kilometers. Kuta Mandalika Beach is also surrounded by hills, making the view of blue mixed with green a beautiful sight for tourists.
Part of the Mandalika Special Economic Zone
Kuta Beach is one of the tourist spots included in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK). This area was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo in 2017.
Being part of the Mandalika KEK makes Kuta Mandalika Beach equipped with complete facilities, from restrooms to accommodations around the beach area. In fact, near Kuta Mandalika Beach, there is also a place of worship for Muslim tourists, namely the Nurul Bilad Grand Mosque.
Around Kuta Mandalika Beach, there are also unique sights, such as many women from the local Lombok community seen wearing skirts wrapped around their waists and carrying stacks of fabric. They sell songket fabric and typical Lombok souvenirs, you know. Well, there’s no need to go far to Sade Village where this fabric is produced to buy songket fabric as souvenirs.
Most interestingly, around the Kuta Mandalika area, a circuit was built for MotoGP 2021. The construction of the circuit was planned to be completed in January 2021, and the MotoGP event could be held in Indonesia every 10 years! Wow, that’s really cool, right?
Bau Nyale Ceremony
There is a unique story about Kuta Mandalika Beach. The name Kuta is taken from the name of the village where this beach is located, while the name Mandalika not only refers to a place but also to the story of a princess.
She is Princess Mandalika, who has a beautiful face and is sought after by ordinary young men and princes. However, the princess did not want to marry, so she preferred to dive into the sea rather than accept proposals from those young men.
According to local beliefs, Princess Mandalika, who plunged into the sea, transformed into a sea worm known locally as Cacing Nyale. Moreover, a strange event occurs. Every year, many Cacing Nyale appear on the beach. The appearance of these worms then marks the beginning of the local annual festival, the Bau Nyale Festival. This festival aims to catch Cacing Nyale and serve them as food.
Author: Nisa Maulan Shofa
