Padang Bai to Lembar ferry

At a glance

Schedules and fares can change. Check the official Ferizy/ASDP channel before travelling.

Route overview

Padang Bai to Lembar is the working link between Bali and Lombok. It is operated as a public ferry service by ASDP, the state ferry company, and it exists primarily to move vehicles and freight — tourists are passengers on a service built for trucks. That shapes everything about the experience: the terminal is functional, the crossing is long, and the schedule bends around loading rather than around your day.

The route leaves from the ASDP terminal at Padang Bai, on Bali’s east coast, and arrives at Lembar on the south-west coast of Lombok. Both ports are ferry ports rather than resort towns, and neither is close to the places most visitors are heading. Padang Bai is roughly two hours from south Bali by road; Lembar is about an hour from Mataram and considerably further from Kuta Lombok, Senggigi or the Gili boats at Bangsal.

If you are travelling without a vehicle and your destination is the Gili Islands, this is almost certainly not the crossing you want — a fast boat goes to the islands directly, in a fraction of the time, from the beach beside this same terminal. The ferry earns its place when you are bringing a car or a motorbike, when you want the cheapest way across, or when sea conditions have grounded the small boats.

The two ports

Who and what can cross

This is a roll-on/roll-off vehicle ferry, so everything from a scooter to an articulated truck crosses on the same deck. A vehicle is ticketed by its class, which is based on the type and length of the vehicle rather than on how many people are inside it.

How ASDP classes a vehicle

Vehicle fares are set by class, and the class is decided by what the vehicle is and how long it is. There are nine classes; IV, V and VI split into A for passenger vehicles and B for goods.

• You must enter the vehicle registration plate number when booking — ASDP requires it under government regulation, so have the plate to hand before you start.
• ASDP staff may measure your vehicle at the port and verify its class. If the measured class does not match the one on your e-ticket, ASDP applies a penalty of 25% of the measured vehicle fare plus the difference in fare.
• If you over-declared and paid too much, a refund can be requested — but it is also reduced by a 25% penalty and bank transfer costs, and ASDP allows itself up to 30 days to pay it. Declaring the right class first time is the only outcome that costs nothing.

ASDP’s full vehicle-class reference is the authority on this, and it is where the figures above come from.

Public ferry or fast boat?

These are two different services that travellers routinely confuse, and choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake on this journey. The short version: the ferry takes vehicles, the fast boat takes time off the crossing.

Travelling without a vehicle? Fast boats leave the beach next to this terminal and cross in a fraction of the time to Lombok’s tourist harbours. Those are bookable on Sailtix today. See the fast boat route page.

Buying a ticket and boarding at Padang Bai

ASDP sells this crossing through Ferizy, its own online channel, and through authorised sales points. Buying online before you travel is the normal process now — do not plan on turning up at the gate and paying there. Tickets are issued against passenger identity details, so book with the name and document number you will be carrying, and bring that document with you.

A ticket ties you to a departure window rather than to a seat, and the gate closes before the vessel sails. Arrive with time in hand: at Padang Bai the queue that matters forms on the road outside the terminal, not inside it, and being ten minutes late to the approach road can cost you an hour.

• Book through Ferizy or an authorised Ferizy sales point before you set off.
• Passenger names must match the identity document you travel with — a passport, for most foreign visitors.
• Have the booking on your phone and, if you can, a screenshot: signal at the terminal is not something to rely on.
• Expect a vehicle and ticket check at the gate before you are waved onto the ramp.
• Around Nyepi, Bali’s day of silence, ferry services to and from Bali stop and the ports close. The date moves every year — check it before you plan a crossing in March.

Buying on Ferizy, step by step

Taking a car or motorcycle from Bali to Lombok

This crossing is the only way to get a vehicle between the two islands, and the vehicle is ticketed separately from the people. ASDP prices vehicles by class, based on the type and length of the vehicle rather than on how many passengers are inside it, so declare what you are actually driving. ASDP measures vehicles at the port and charges a published penalty when the measurement disagrees with the ticket — the class table above is worth two minutes before you book.

Before you book, check your rental agreement. Many Bali rental cars and scooters are contracted for use on Bali only, and taking one onto a ferry can void the insurance entirely. Rental operators who do allow inter-island travel usually want to know in advance and may charge for it. This is a question to ask the owner, not the internet.

• Confirm how the people travelling inside a vehicle are counted for your vehicle class when you book, rather than at the gate.
• Check that your rental contract and insurance permit taking the vehicle off Bali.
• Foreign drivers need a licence that is valid in Indonesia — usually an International Driving Permit alongside your home licence.
• On a motorcycle, secure your luggage properly: the deck is a working space and the crossing is long.
• Crew normally direct vehicle passengers up to the passenger deck once the ship is loaded. Take anything you need with you; the vehicle deck is not somewhere to spend four hours.

What foreign visitors should know

A public ferry in Indonesia is domestic transport, not a tourist service, and this one is used mostly by Indonesians travelling with a vehicle. English signage is limited, announcements are in Indonesian, and the terminal is a place to pass through rather than wait in comfortably. None of that is a problem — it just is not the fast-boat experience, and going in expecting the latter is what makes people unhappy.

The Lombok Strait is deep and can be genuinely rough, particularly in the windy months around the middle of the year. On a four-hour crossing that matters more than it does on a short one. If you are prone to seasickness, take something before you board rather than after you notice.

• Carry your passport, and carry cash — small purchases at the terminal and on board are not reliably card-friendly.
• Bring water and food. Onboard catering exists but is basic.
• Seating is unassigned. Boarding early gets you a better spot for a long crossing.
• You carry your own luggage. Porters may offer; agree a price first if you accept.
• Do not book a same-day onward flight from Lombok against a ferry arrival. The crossing has no arrival guarantee.

Arriving at Lembar and getting onward

Lembar is a working harbour on Lombok’s south-west coast, roughly an hour by road from Mataram and nowhere near anywhere a visitor is likely to be staying. Every onward leg from here is a road leg — Lombok has no passenger rail — so arrange the transfer before you arrive rather than negotiating it on the ramp with your bags in your hands.

The single most expensive mistake on this route is assuming Lembar is the port for the Gili Islands. It is not. The Gili boats leave from Bangsal, on the opposite corner of the island, around two hours away by road, and then you still have a boat to catch.

• Mataram and Ampenan: allow about an hour.
• Senggigi: allow around an hour and a half.
• Kuta Lombok and Lombok International Airport at Praya: allow roughly an hour and a half.
• Bangsal, for boats to the Gili Islands: allow about two hours, plus the crossing.

Mistakes travellers make on this route

Questions travellers ask

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