Kuta in Lombok

Got distracted playing Texas Holdem poker each time I grabbed my BBerry and didn't get to write anything. I love easy distraction.
Kuta, Lombok. Why we headed there I had no idea as it wasn't in our plans. We were at Gilli T trying to decide what to do next. Our options were either boat trip to Flores or volcano in Lombok. We could not make up our minds, as it usually happens when you have too much time and no travel plans whatsoever. So while reading lonely planet I read something about Kuta being great for surfing and we decided it was about time we took it up, since we where in the capital of surf.
So we headed for Kuta. Arrived at Bangsal with our public boat from Gilli and took a taxi ( bargained to 220k rupees, which was amazingly cheap considering we would do 3 hours and cross the whole island) and found quite nice accommodation at the Royal Spa Bungalows (125k rp) that sounds quite fancy but mmmmh...no. Nice and normal bungalows, which I would definitely recommend them, and amazing neighbours. Only problem is the karaoke bar just around the corner which plays awful tunes to deaf Indonesians. But all the rest, good for the price.
We met a great couple from Vail on their honeymoon and two very good looking Germans. And in Kuta we also met our now good friend Zissou. Kuta was all about relationships and interesting conversations with people. And surf as well, which we enjoyed inmensely. Plus the beaches surrounding it are amazingly beautiful with white sand and turquoise water. Bali beaches look shitty in comparison. There is much less tourism in Lombok, and everything is less crowded, and wildlife is more impressive.
We liked it so much we stayed there five days.

BEACHES AND SURF: to surf its good to go to Gerupuk and take one of the boats to Inside wave. We were beginners and this was perfect wave for us. You can share boat with 4. Tommy, our boat driver was the best and helped us catch many waves too. There are many other waves around Kuta too, and surf camps to go to.
Best beaches around Kuta...just ask around. Mawi or towards Gerupuk, there is an amazing beach (see image below). The beaches in Kuta are far better than the ones in Bali in terms of wider, whiter sand, better to swim. Surf wise I am not sure, even though we did learn how to surf there in Gerupuk.

Surf class: 350Rp.