The seaweed farms

For a long time, before the boats full of visitors, many families on Lembongan and Ceningan lived from seaweed. It still matters here, and it's one of the most beautiful things to see on the island.

How it works

Farmers plant small cuttings of seaweed on lines tied between stakes in the shallow, sheltered water between the islands and along Lembongan's coast. The tide does the rest: seawater washes nutrients through the plots twice a day. At low tide the farmers walk out to tend the lines, clean them and, when the seaweed is grown, harvest it.

The harvest is spread out to dry in the sun, on tarpaulins and on the ground, and then sold on. Most of it isn't eaten as it is: it is processed into carrageenan, a natural thickener used in foods, toothpaste and cosmetics around the world.

Where and when to see it

Come at a morning low tide, when the plots are uncovered and farmers are out working. Good places:

• From the Yellow Bridge, looking along the channel.
• The Ceningan side of the channel, where drying racks often line the road.
• From the air: the plots make the patchwork you see in the film on the home page.

Check a tide table before you go. At high tide the plots are under water and there's not much to see.

An industry that changes with the island

As tourism grew, many families moved into boats, guesthouses and restaurants, and by the late 2010s seaweed farming had nearly disappeared. When the visitors stopped during COVID, families went back to the water and the plots returned. Since tourism came back, fewer are farmed again. What you see today is a working farm, not a museum.