Sumbawa Island Information
Sumbawa island consists of five regencies (kabupaten): West Sumbawa, Sumbawa, Dompu, Bima, and Bima City. The island is not dominated by Mt. Tambora like Lombok’s Rinjani, but nevertheless the island does provide adventurous treks, some wonderful natural forests, archeological sites, agricultural scenery, and a coastline of numerous pristine beaches and waters that provide surfing, fishing, sailind and underwater activity opportunities.
The is a wide variety of hotels in Sumbawa, with the 5-star Amanawana on Moyo island and Tropical beach Club & Spa Resort at Sekongkang leading the way. Comfortable others can be found in Sumbawa Besar, the southern tourism (surfing) area of Huu (Lake beach), Maluk and Bima city (western provincial port and connection point for Komodo Island and eastern Indonesia). Otherwise there are many other hotels and losmen scattered across the island.
How to get there
By Land: Using a car, taxi or bus from Labuan Lombok (Kayangan) take a ferry ride (2 hrs) to Poto tano, in West Sumbawa, Ferry passengers can arrange transport at the terminals for Sumbawa (3 hrs), Taliwang (1 hrs) and Maluk (2 hrs). Ferry passengers from Labuhan Bajo (Flores) in the east can travel from Port Sape to Bima, Dompu, Huu Beach and Sumbawa.
By Boat: Regular and charter boat services operate to Poto Tano, in West Sumbawa and Port Sape in Bima. It is also possible to hire a boat from Labuhan Haji / Tanjung Lalar, and from Labuhan Bajo (Flores) or via Komodo in the east to Port Sape. Perama Tours may operate shuttle boat service to the region. Surfing boats coming to West Sumbawa target certain areas but usually don’t drop off passengers. Perama Tours and Perawa Tours (in the east) operate boat services between some of the regions. Dive operators and surfing boats offer trips to various specific locations.
About The Region
The main rains come from December to March and average rainfall is of the order of 1300 mm, although the eastern tip is noticeably drier. The dry season is very dry and the greenery dies off causing the island to become brown, dusty and very hot. Fortunately parts of the south-west coast sandwiched between mountains and the sea remain lush. Sumbawa has extensive forest areas in the mountainous south-west while areas to the east have plantations of jati trees, intermittently laced with nice forest stretches and populations of monkeys. Unfortunately, the forest areas of Mt. Tambora and the large tree forests of the West Sumbawa have been extensively logged.
Sumbawa Island’s terrain is rough and mountainous; it does not have the fertile plain that central-south Lombok has. As with Lombok’s Rinjani, Mt. Tambora is a significant feature of Sumbawa Island. In fact, Tambora’s eruptions of 1815 was one the most dramatic in the world’s history. However, it is not linked directly to the water and agricultural of Sumbawa like on Lombok. Sumbawa’s other active volcano, Mt. Sangeang, is an isolated island which erupted last in 1985 forcing the evacuation of the island’s inhabitants. On a map, the outline of the island in contorted by canoes, peninsula and deeply cut bays. Some 85% of Sumbawa is too mountainous to farm, but the rich volcanic soil of the river valleys such as near Bima, Dompu, and Sape, yield rich crops. However the extensive dry land areas found particularly in Sumbawa Regency provide good grazing land for cattle, goats and horses. Species of plants found in the forest are kesambi, bungur, sonokeling, mahoni, (mahogany), jati (teak), kelicung, pala, ipil, bamboo, tutul atc.
In Sumbawa there are several types of animals spread out over the area according to climatic and natural conditions. Wild animals found in Sumbawa are monkeys, wild pigs ( babi hutan), small deer (menjangan), deer (kijang rusa), iguanas (biawak), porcupines (landak), turtles (penyu) and many kinds poisonous snakes. Many kinds of birds are found here including pring, parrots (kakatua), bering, koak-koak, cucak rawa.
In Sumbawa, the most significant tourism and recreational activity is found in the southern coastal area: surfing, followed by fishing. Surfers from overseas, particularly Australia, United Started, Europe and Brazil are regular visitors. The accommodation for marine tourist has improved significantly in recent years. However, many come by charter boats from Lombok and particularly, Bali.
Economic activity in the regency since 2000 is dominated by the copper gold mine in West Sumbawa (30%RGDP) following by agricultural, forestry products, cashew nut plantations, aquaculture activities, fishing and small informal industry. Tourism development has centered on the beaches, however, eco-tourism has great potential due to appeal of the area’s isolation and wilderness. With mine site visits available by arrangement, this is a great opportunity to see close hand a large, words class mining operation. The building of the new airstrip in Sekongkang enable tourists to get to the region quickly, although at the time of publication only charter flights are available.
People, Religion, Arts & Culture
The two prominent ethnic groups on the island are the Samawa who mainly reside in the West Sumbaw/ Sumbawa District (east) and the Mbojo who live in the Bima and Dompu District (west). These groups both share a belief in Islam, but are differentiated by their local languages, customs, and traditions. Despite the different religion and belief systems of this diverse population, they live side by side in mutual respect and harmony. In addition, there is evidence of past Hindu presence as well as the influence of Bugis people (from Makasar, Sulawesi) on the island. Furthermore, Sasak (from Lombok) and Balinese migrants have moved into West Sumbawa.
One third of the 4.2 million population living in NTB live on Sumbawa. The population density is <100/km2 which is only 15% of Lombok’s. The diversity of the people provides the region with a rich tapestry of dialect and diverse range of languages, traditional dance, music and rituals.
There are some villages with a significant Hindu cultural influence in the West Sumbawa / Sumbawa District, and family temples can be seen from the road between Poto Tano and Jereweh, and near Utan Rhee. As such, there are opportunities to see Hindu ceremonies being conducted there. A village near Tongo, east of Sekongkang has a significant Hindu community as well. A significant new area for vegetable cultivation can be found at Sekongkang. Here the produce targets the large population of newcomers to Maluk and Newmont townsite. They are available in the local markets. Also the area around Jereweh is involved in producing vegetables.
People from Lombok and Bali have taken up governmental offers to transmigrate to land near Poto Tano and Tongo. They are usually targeted to undertake agricultural work, however, the former location is nearby aquaculture projects.
