Retiring in Lombok from Australia: costs, visas and what to weigh up

Who Lombok suits, and what to weigh up

Lombok is the next island east of Bali, and quieter. It isn’t part of Bali, though: Lombok is in West Nusa Tenggara, a separate province with its own capital, Mataram. On this site it sits under our Bali page, which holds our Indonesia-wide rules, and the same visas apply on both islands.

Senggigi, on the west coast, is the place we’ve centred on. Wikivoyage calls it the main tourist area on Lombok and puts it 15 to 20 minutes north of Mataram, where the hospitals are. Lombok’s dry season runs through our winter, and on our stand-in estimate a month costs a couple about A$2,740, under the Age Pension’s base rate. Lombok is about 90 percent Muslim, Wikivoyage says, and that shapes what to wear and where alcohol is served.

Health care and getting home are the hard parts. Smartraveller says medical care in Indonesia is below Australia’s standard and many regional hospitals offer only basic care, so a serious illness may mean a flight to Bali or further. There are no non-stop flights from Australia to Lombok.

What a month costs

A month on Lombok costs about A$2,740 for a couple and A$1,830 for one person, rent included. That figure is a stand-in: Numbeo has no usable figures for Lombok, Mataram or Senggigi, so we borrowed Numbeo’s Bali living costs and its rent for a central one-bedroom flat in Denpasar, Bali’s capital, both updated on 15 October 2026. Denpasar stands in for Mataram because both are provincial capitals. Numbeo was closed to us on 26 October 2026, so we’ll look again for Lombok figures after 1 November 2026.

We took the living costs for one person (without rent), added the one-bedroom city-centre rent, then added 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. For a couple we multiplied the living costs by 1.8. Everything is converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = 11,938 rupiah). Health insurance is not included.

A month on Lombok (Bali and Denpasar figures)	Couple	One person
Rent, one-bedroom flat in the centre (Denpasar’s figure)	about A$530	about A$530
Living costs (food, transport, bills; Bali’s figure)	about A$1,570	about A$870
Eating out, local trips and extras (30%)	about A$630	about A$420
Total	about A$2,740	about A$1,830

How a month in Lombok compares

For a couple

Lombok, our estimate

A$2,740

Comfortable in Australia

A$6,580

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$4,040

About A$3,840 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

For one person

Lombok, our estimate

A$1,830

Comfortable in Australia

A$4,680

Age Pension, the most paid in Australia

A$2,680

About A$2,850 a month less than a comfortable month in Australia.

Not built the same way: Australia's figure (ASFA Retirement Standard, comfortable, June quarter 2026) assumes you own your home and includes health insurance; our estimate for Lombok includes rent and leaves health insurance out. Age Pension: the most paid in Australia from 20 September 2026; living overseas for good, the base rate is about A$3,710 a month for a couple and A$2,460 for one person.

Each row and the total are worked out in rupiah and rounded to A$10 separately, so the rows add up to A$10 less than each total.

Numbeo’s Denpasar rent is about 6,386,000 rupiah a month (about A$530), and Bali’s living costs for one person about 10,438,000 rupiah (about A$870). Our Ubud page, which uses Numbeo’s Ubud rent with the same Bali living costs, comes to about A$3,110 for a couple, so treat our Lombok figure as a guide until it has its own. Short furnished lets usually cost more than long-term rent. Our guide to what retiring overseas really costs sets other places side by side.

Against the Age Pension. After 12 weeks away, the most the Age Pension pays is the base rate. That’s about A$2,460 a month for one person and A$3,710 for a couple, before tax (from 20 September 2026). On our stand-in estimate that leaves about A$970 a month for a couple and about A$630 for one person, before health insurance and trips home.

What costs more than you’d expect. Health cover with evacuation, which our estimate leaves out. Flights, since every trip home has a change of plane. A hired driver, if you’d rather not ride a motorbike: Wikivoyage puts one at 350,000 to 700,000 rupiah a day (about A$29 to A$59).

Visas for Australians

Visiting. Lombok follows Indonesia’s rules, the same as Bali. Smartraveller says you fill in the All Indonesia arrival card online within 72 hours before you arrive, and can apply for an e-Visa on Arrival (e-VOA) online at least 48 hours before you travel. The e-VOA or a visa on arrival costs 500,000 rupiah (about A$42) and gives 30 days, extendable once by up to 30 days at the immigration office closest to where you’re staying. Smartraveller says a visa on arrival is only issued at certain airports and seaports, listed on Indonesia’s immigration site, so check yours before you fly. Bali’s tourist levy is charged on entering Bali, Smartraveller says.

Staying longer. For a longer winter, Indonesia’s official e-Visa site lists a C1 tourist visa, applied for before you travel. For a year or more, there are two retirement visas from 55, the E33F and the “silver hair” E33E, and a Second Home visa with no age rule; each has income or deposit tests. Our Bali page sets them out under visas for Australians. Indonesia’s embassy or a licensed visa agent in Indonesia can confirm the rules for your case.

Lombok follows Indonesia’s visitor rules, which our visa table lists under Bali. Our table of visitor stays for Australians sets them beside 26 other countries.

Your Age Pension and Medicare on Lombok

Services Australia says your Age Pension can keep paying while you are overseas. After 6 weeks away the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. At 12 weeks the Pension Supplement stops completely (since 20 September 2026). After 26 weeks, the rate can be reduced for people who lived in Australia less than 35 years between age 16 and pension age. Our guide to the 6, 12 and 26-week rules goes through each step.

Indonesia has no social security agreement with Australia, so you claim the pension before you leave, while living in Australia. Medicare never pays for treatment in Indonesia, and none of Australia’s 11 reciprocal health care agreements is with a country in Asia. An Australian citizen who moves overseas can still use Medicare back in Australia for up to 5 years after leaving. See Medicare when you live overseas.

How long can you stay on Lombok? What changes at home

A visa on arrival gives 30 days and one extension takes you to 60, so a stay past 60 days needs a C1 tourist visa arranged before you fly, or a retirement visa. At home, the Age Pension rules change at 6, 12 and 26 weeks away wherever you are.

Lombok’s dry months, June to September on the weather figures below, line up with an Australian winter, and 60 days fits the middle of it. Our guide to how long pensioners can travel overseas explains each row.

Health care and insurance

Smartraveller says the standard of medical facilities in Indonesia, including critical care, is lower than in Australia, Bali included, and that many regional hospitals only provide basic facilities. Hospitals expect a family member or friend to guarantee payment in writing, with proof of insurance and a deposit, before they treat you. Wikivoyage says Lombok has no international hospitals.

What is where, by type. The German embassy’s list of hospitals and clinics in Indonesia, dated July 2024, has these entries for Lombok. It doesn’t say which are public or private.

Type	Where	Source
Hospitals (three)	Mataram	German embassy list
Emergency hospital	Kuta, on the south coast	German embassy list
24-hour medical service	Gili Trawangan	German embassy list

Wikivoyage also names Mataram’s public hospital. Senggigi is 15 to 20 minutes north of Mataram, Wikivoyage says, which is one reason to centre a stay there.

When care means a flight. Smartraveller says the Australian Government won’t pay for emergency care or medical evacuation. From Lombok, serious care may mean a flight to Bali or further. Its page on retiring overseas says a medical repatriation can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Other risks. Smartraveller warns of methanol poisoning and drink spiking, including on Lombok, and says to drink only branded, sealed drinks. Australians have drowned in rough seas and rip currents at beaches including Lombok’s and the Gili Islands’. In an emergency, call 118 for an ambulance or 119 for medical emergencies.

Your medicines. Smartraveller says some medicines, including some prescription medicines, are illegal in Indonesia, with harsh penalties even if you have a prescription, so check yours before you go. Carry enough for the stay in the original packs, with a doctor’s letter. Our guide to taking medicines overseas covers the Australian side.

Which cover. A season away usually means travel insurance; see travel insurance for long stays. Living there means international health insurance, priced on your age and health; ask how it would get you from Lombok to Bali or Australia. If you’re not sure which fits how you’d go, book a free planning session on Zoom.

Where Australians live

There are no official figures on where Australians live on Lombok. Wikivoyage says Senggigi has long-term residents, both Indonesian and foreign, alongside its visitors. These are the areas it describes.

Area	What it’s like	Health care nearby
Senggigi	The main tourist area, on the west coast, 15 to 20 minutes north of Mataram	Mataram’s hospitals
Batu Bolong	Just south of Senggigi, with hotels, cafes and restaurants spread out	Mataram’s hospitals
Mangsit	Just north of Senggigi, with a hotel strip along a long, quiet beach	Mataram’s hospitals
Mataram	The island’s capital and administrative centre	The island’s hospitals
Kuta and Mandalika	Remote beaches and surfing on the south coast, with a newer resort area to the east	An emergency hospital in Kuta
Gili Islands	Tiny islands off the west coast, popular with divers, reached by boat	A 24-hour medical service on Gili Trawangan

Senggigi and its neighbours are the closest beach areas to Mataram’s hospitals, and the airport is more than an hour away, Wikivoyage says. If you’re a light sleeper, it suggests not staying right by a mosque, because the morning call to prayer is loud.

Kuta, on the south coast, is nearer the airport, which Wikivoyage puts about 40 km south of Mataram. It’s further from the Mataram hospitals.

The Gili Islands are reached by boat. Smartraveller says boat and ferry travel in Indonesia can be dangerous, and in March 2026 a boat from Gili Trawangan to Bali sank, with 117 people rescued.

Renting or buying a home

Foreigners can’t own land in Indonesia. With a stay permit, a 2021 government regulation lets you hold a house on a right of use (hak pakai) or a flat on strata title. Our Bali page explains the rules and the warnings about nominee deals under renting or buying a home. The person to ask is a property lawyer in Indonesia who acts for you, not the seller.

Tax: there and at home

Our Bali page explains Indonesia’s tax residence test: living there, spending more than 183 days there in any 12 months, or being there in a tax year and intending to stay. Australia and Indonesia have had a tax treaty since 1992. At home, a foreign resident for Australian tax loses the tax-free threshold, and Australian income such as rent is taxed at 30% from the first dollar (2025-26). Our Bali page covers tax there and at home. Talk to a registered tax agent in Australia and a tax adviser in Indonesia before you go.

Money and banking

Your pension is paid in Australian dollars and you spend rupiah. On the stand-in rent of about 6,386,000 rupiah a month (about A$530), a 10% fall in the Australian dollar would make it about A$590. Services Australia can pay into an Indonesian account in rupiah; the form and moving money are on our Bali page under money and banking.

Day to day

Language. Indonesian is the national language, and Wikivoyage says 85% of people on Lombok are Sasak.

Getting around without driving. Wikivoyage says Lombok has metered taxis and ride-hailing apps, bemos (shared minivans) are the cheapest option, and a hired driver costs 350,000 to 700,000 rupiah a day (about A$29 to A$59). Smartraveller says Australians have been seriously hurt and killed in motorbike and moped crashes, including on Lombok and the Gili Islands, and that you’ll often be assumed to be at fault in an accident.

Faith and customs. Wikivoyage says the majority of the Sasak, the island’s main people, practise local Muslim faith and traditions, and it puts the Muslim share of the population at 90 percent. Alcohol is generally available, though some areas don’t serve it, and during Ramadan most restaurants stay closed until the fast breaks at dusk. Modest dress is expected at religious sites.

Safety. Smartraveller advises a high degree of caution in Indonesia overall (updated 21 October 2026). Mount Rinjani, Lombok’s volcano, is among the active volcanoes it names on trekking routes, and in 2018 Lombok was struck by two severe earthquakes, Wikivoyage says.

The weather, month by month. Lombok is hot all year, with a dry season through our winter:

Month on Lombok	Average high	Average low	Rain	Rain days
January	32.3°C	22.1°C	280 mm	21
February	32.2°C	21.8°C	223 mm	18
March	31.6°C	22.9°C	162 mm	14
April	31.5°C	22.8°C	108 mm	16
May	30.2°C	22.8°C	94 mm	9
June	29.4°C	22.2°C	44 mm	7
July	28.5°C	22.3°C	29 mm	5
August	28.9°C	22.4°C	19 mm	2
September	29.9°C	21.9°C	33 mm	4
October	31.4°C	22.3°C	110 mm	11
November	32.5°C	22.6°C	165 mm	13
December	33.1°C	24.0°C	247 mm	20

Figures: BMKG, Indonesia’s weather agency, for its Lombok station, 1961 to 1990, as published by the World Meteorological Organization. They are old, and the station’s coordinates put it in the east-central part of the island, not at Senggigi, so treat them as a guide to the seasons. Smartraveller says the wet season usually runs from about October to April.

Making friends. Take an Indonesian class, or eat at one warung most mornings, and people start to know you. If you’re going alone, see retiring overseas single.

Getting there and coming home

There are no non-stop flights between Australia and Lombok; BITRE’s June 2026 figures show none. An Indonesian airline announced flights from Darwin and later Perth for 2026, KarryOn reported in January, but none was operating in BITRE’s June figures, so check before you count on them.

The usual route is through Bali: Sydney to Denpasar takes about 6 and a half hours and Perth to Denpasar 3 and a half to 4 and a half, then Denpasar to Lombok about 50 minutes on Flightmapper’s schedules. Flights from Singapore take about 2 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours, and from Kuala Lumpur about 3 to 3 and a half. Wikivoyage lists slow ferries from Padang Bai on Bali of about 5 and a half hours and fast boats of about 1 and a half to 2, but in August 2026 a ferry from Bali to Lombok caught fire, with 172 people rescued and one crew member killed, Smartraveller says.

Lombok is on the same time as Perth and Bali: 2 hours behind Sydney and Melbourne in our winter, 3 in daylight saving. If you connect through Bali, our Bali page explains that its airport closes for Nyepi, the Day of Silence.

Lombok for over 50s, 60s and 70s

Indonesia’s retirement visas start at 55. In later decades, the question is how far you’d live from Mataram’s hospitals.

In your 50s

Under 55, the official e-Visa site’s long-stay option is the Second Home visa, which has no age rule but asks for US$130,000 (about A$188,000) in an Indonesian state bank. The ATO says super generally opens at 60 once you retire, or at 65 if you’re still working. A licensed financial adviser can talk about yours.

In your 60s

Both retirement visas, from 55, ask for income of at least US$3,000 a month (about A$4,340), more than the Age Pension pays a couple, our Bali page explains. Age Pension age is 67, and with no social security agreement you claim while you still live in Australia; Services Australia says you can submit the claim in the 13 weeks before you turn 67. A 60-day winter on a visa on arrival and one extension fits the dry season.

In your 70s

Distance to a hospital is the big question now. Senggigi is 15 to 20 minutes from Mataram’s hospitals, while Kuta is further. Fewer insurance policies reach 80: in CHOICE’s May 2026 table, 58 of 76 single-trip policies do, and only 15 of 34 annual ones. Our guide to travel insurance for long stays has the age limits.

Your first steps

One order that works, from a first visit to living there. A month or a winter away needs only some of these steps.

1. Ask for help first. Book a free planning session on Zoom, or contact our team. Once we understand your situation, we can point you in the right direction.
2. Spend a dry-season winter on Lombok, near Senggigi or wherever you could rent long term. See trying before you move.
3. Talk it over with your family early, including who would fly over if you got sick. See talking to your family.
4. Put your own numbers against the pension after 12 weeks away, with health cover, visa fees and flights through Bali. See living overseas on the Age Pension.
5. Find out what health cover you can get at your age, including evacuation from Lombok. See international health insurance by age.
6. See your GP, check each medicine is legal in Indonesia, and get a doctor’s letter. See retiring overseas with a health condition.
7. Work out what happens to the house, and whether it counts for the pension while you’re away.
8. For a stay past 60 days, arrange a C1 visa before you fly, or look at the retirement visas with a licensed agent.
9. Read up on visa agent and property scams before you pay anyone.
10. Tell Services Australia you’re going, and set up how your pension will be paid. See taking your Age Pension overseas.
11. Keep a plan for coming home: where you’d live, and how the pension and Medicare restart.

Questions people ask

Is Lombok a good place to retire?

If you want somewhere quieter than Bali, with a dry season through our winter, it’s worth a look. Smartraveller says medical care is below Australia’s standard, though, and serious cases may need a flight to Bali or further. There are no non-stop flights from Australia.

How much does it cost to live in Lombok?

Our stand-in estimate is about A$2,740 a month for a couple and A$1,830 for one person, rent included, before health insurance (October 2026). Numbeo has no Lombok figures yet, so it uses Bali’s living costs and Denpasar’s rent.

Is Lombok part of Bali?

No. Lombok is its own island, east of Bali across the Lombok Strait, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, with Mataram as its capital. The same Indonesian visa rules apply on both islands.

Is Lombok good for over 70s?

A dry-season stay near Mataram’s hospitals, such as at Senggigi, is the easier way to do it. Serious care may mean a flight to Bali or Australia, and an insurance broker can tell you how a policy would handle that.

Can over 60s get a retirement visa for Lombok?

Yes. Indonesia’s two retirement visas start at 55, but both ask for income of at least US$3,000 a month (about A$4,340), more than the Age Pension pays a couple.

What is the weather in Lombok by month?

Hot all year, with average highs from 28.5°C in July to 33.1°C in December on BMKG’s old figures for its Lombok station. August is the driest month, with about 19 mm of rain, and January the wettest, with about 280 mm.