Hu’u Village & Lakey Peak

As much as this website is not targeted at surfers (unless they happen to be into other forms of adventure) it would be amiss of us not to mention the surfing mecca of Pantai Lakey, or more precisely Lakey Peak, the famed left and right hand break within paddling distance of the beach.

You’ll find Pantai Lakey at Hu’u Village on the south-west coast of eastern Sumbawa. It’s tucked just inside Cempi Bay but still catches the swell rolling up from the Indian Ocean. There are five world class breaks, among others, rolling into the bay directly off Lakey Beach. Lakey Peak, described as “intense hollow right and left hand peak” or the “Sumbawa Machine” is the most famous. On the other side there’s Lakey Pipe, popular with body boarders, and Cobblestones. At the north end of the beach, there’s Nungas and Periscopes, a fun right hander. The breaks are good all year round but best from February through to November.

The breaks are all off the beach on the reef. In between there is a lovely little lagoon where you can snorkel on the high tide. Other than that, there’s not much else to do around Hu’u other than relax, kick back and enjoy the natural beauty of the place. Watching the surfers do their stuff is pretty entertaining and if you want to get closer to the action, swim out to the observation tower that was built out in the bay for surf competitions.

There’s a good range of accommodation to suit every budget and basic facilities such as wi-fi (albeit slow and intermittent), laundry services, restaurants and bars so even if you’re not a surfer you’ll appreciate the amenities. There’s also a surf shop hiring boards too so don’t despair if you’re travelling without yours and you want to hit the waves.

Hu’u can be reached by turning south off the Trans-Sumbawa highway at Dompu. The 38km journey takes around 2 hours. One last tip; there’s no petrol in Lakey other than the expensive roadside bottle option so fill up your car or scooter in Dompu before heading down to Lakey.