Bali area guides.
Our Balinese vacation area guides are written not just to help tourists find the best location for their holiday in Bali, but also to raise awareness of which parts of Bali will bring them closer to and with it actually support the true Balinese. Bali, despite the claims of its pundits, really can not compete anywhere near with tourist destinations like Thailand for beach holidays, unless you are a surfer or after a cheap bar scene. The beauty of Bali is with its people, the culture, the landscapes, the sights and the sounds. Those statements made our ffollowing area guides should come as no surprise to you. Although we point out the worst aspects of each area, it is fair to say careful selection of the hotel itself is probably the most important aspect of ensuring a great holiday, and knowing the down sides of an area can help you avoid what is bad thereby allowing you to experience more that is good.
Kuta & Legian
Kuta and Legian are busy mass tourism areas generally for the
low to middle budget tourist. As the area is open to the
Balinese, there are some notably good restaurants and shops,
although much is about being loud while devouring beer and chips.
Several department and retail stores offer a good selection of
goods at low prices for those who need their retail therapy and one could even bargain for vouchers or discounts,
however much is about rip-off fakes and tacky Indonesian /
Balinese "art". The golden sand beach is sensational
but the waters are mostly very dangerous for anyone who is not a
very strong swimmer.
Pluses: Some truly Balinese accommodations
providers, a great range of restaurants and shops, the occasional
authentic cultural show, a very short distance from the airport
so a good starting point for people who want to go walkabout.
Superb beach.
Minuses: Unbearable numbers of street pimps
offering drugs and women, aggressive salespeople both on the
street and in shops, a multitude of crooks (from money changers
to timeshare sellers), loud often offensive tourists. The Tuban
area of Kuta suffers from aircraft noise, open beach sewers and a
proliferation of street pimps.
Sanur
Sanur is generally a middle budget tourism area which
straddles a long road lined with shops, restaurants and bars.
Less built up and in some ways a little more upmarket than Kuta /
Legian but without the range and even quality of places to shop,
eat and drink. The beach is generally very poor quality and a
haven for persistent "hawkers" (sellers) who absolutely
will not leave you alone. The beach has long suffered from
erosion when they used the coral for cement, polluted seas from
untreated sewerage (although they have improved this a lot, but
not 100%) and in areas as a rubbish dump where locals drop litter
where they stand. One part of the beach is a haven for young rent
girls with their "mamma" on offer to wealthy tourists
at the so called "prestigious" beach resort.
Pluses: A generally much quieter area than Kuta
/ Legian and with fewer aggressive sellers along the shopping
areas. Some very nice Balinese friendly hotels operate here and
you can still see authentic Balinese cultural shows.
Minuses: One of the worst beaches for a tropical
island (dirty, polluted, often smelly and a haven for both
hawkers and sex workers). Very close to the noisy, smelly bypass
road with some of the filthiest malaria and dengue carrying
mosquito heaven drainage ditches you can "hope" to
find; although this is craftily classified as
"Denpasar".
Ubud Area
Something for everyone including authentic Balinese culture
and art, but without a beach. Ubud has everything from backpacker
homestays to luxury resorts; though some of the later are at odds
with the local populous. Almost nightly cultural performances and
some excellent restaurants, a plethora of art with some actually
worthwhile and at good prices (recommend the real / western
Penestenan village for paintings and Mas for wood carvings). A
few hawkers but generally not so aggressive and no drug / sex
sellers to speak of. A generally very laid back and friendly
atmosphere, a chance to get to know real Balinese.
Pluses: Often described as the "Real
Bali" as rightfully so. Prices for cheap tourist art
generally much lower here than in the beach areas further south.
A good base for getting out to see the often spectacular Balinese
countryside and local crafts villages. Plenty of activities,
plenty of authentic Balinese food, often much cooler than the
resort areas further south.
Minuses: Very few though chose your hotel area
wisely as some parts of Ubud (e.g. Monkey Forest Road) may appeal
more to young singles and couples. Ubud often "enjoys"
sustained torrential downpours during the low / wet season.
Nusa Dua
Nusa Dua is a mass tourism enclave which is about as Balinese
as McDonalds. The Balinese are actually restricted from entering
Nusa Dua including the beaches, which are meant to be public by
law. Most of the hotels are managed by western hotel groups but
owned in part or full by members of the Suharto family via
anonymous jakarta based proxy companies; their father's
regime murdered thousands of innocent Balinese and requisitioned
this land and elsewhere at knock down prices by abusing
compulsory purchase legislation.
Pluses: The company of thousands of other
deluded tourists who believe they are experiencing Bali and the
false feeling of comfort all their combined bleating
brings.
Minuses: Overpriced restaurants, shops and bars.
Overrated accommodations. Bland food "favored" with
MSG. The vast majority of your tourist dollars leave Bali. The
realization that many of the hotel staff are Javanese. The
realization that every Asian guest to a man staying at the same
resort as you does so at a vastly lower room rate (probably 50%
lower); the real rate before it gets hyped along with the actual
quality of the hotels.
Seminyak to Canggu
Seminyak, OK yah! Lots of designer (often illegal) villas,
bespoke luxury resorts and lauded restaurants. A bit remote for
many given the number of neighbors hardly makes Seminyak a
"Balinese get away from it all" any longer. Where
Seminyak adjoins Legian, there is some shopping and other tourist
facilities, otherwise an over-developed green zone which has lost
its sparkle. Great beach but highly dangerous waves and rip tides
makes walking a pleasure, swimming suicidal.
Pluses: Generally upmarket with a huge range of
accommodation styles and choice, relatively close proximity wise
to shopping in Kuta and Legian. Great beach with large waves
breaking almost yearly. Some of the more upmarket restaurants in
Bali.
Minuses: Pretentious expatriates and visitors
frequently spoil the atmosphere in restaurants; some restaurants
are pretentious anyway; some upmarket restaurants have hygiene
problem allegations (allegedly diners contracting cholera once in
one) proving well cooked food is better then many forms of haute
cuisine in the tropics. Building zone heaven (villas gone mad).
Many villas here have been built illegally and operate without
the necessary licenses, so you may come unstuck if you are not
careful.
Amed
Amed is actually comprised of a number of villages on the
Eastern coast of Bali. Once a destination for hippies and
backpackers eager for the delights of a thatched bungalow in
Bali's hottest (temperature wise) area, now home to a large
and often exceptionally good low to middle price range number of
bespoke hotels and villas. Very little to do besides relax, dive
and snorkel, the land here is very poor which means there are
very few palm trees to shade the ground from the scorching sun.
Amed is not only the hottest but also driest part of bali, which
does make it a good choice for tourists during the wet / low
season, although expect humidity.
Pluses: A generally unspoiled area of Bali with
very few rowdy tourists and no hawkers, etc. A good base for
scuba and trips to some of the more remote areas of Bali,
including the Water Palace and handmade cloth producing areas
famous for songket and ikat. Very laid back, very quiet. Clear
calm sea waters with frequent dolphin pod and whale school
sightings. Very good locally caught seafood restaurants.
Minuses: A long way from the shops! For some,
too hot and / or quiet. Nondescript, small black sand
beaches.
Candidasa
Candidasa is an area of small villages collectively known as
Candidasa. Favored by those who want to avoid the excesses of
Kuta, the corporate generic nature of Nusa Dua and the hawkers of
Sanur and Lovina. Some shopping and a smattering of restaurants
mean guests are not totally beholden to their chosen hotel. Most
of the cheap beachfront bungalow operations have now been bought
out by group hoteliers, so it has lost its once unique
status.
Pluses: Much more laid back than Kuta and much
cleaner sea water than Sanur. Fairly tranquil if, and it is a big
if, you are not on the noisy dangerous main road. Candidasa is an
excellent base for one of the most picturesque areas of Bali and
where much of the traditional arts, crafts and fabrics are made.
As long as you do not require long stretches of sandy beaches,
Candi has some very good ocean views if you chose your hotel
right.
Minuses: There is not much of anything in
"Candi" and it has one of the most eroded beaches in
Bali, to the point the beach is nonexistent in most places. Blame
this on the selfish construction industry a few years ago who
thought it would be a great idea to use the coral reef for cement
to build the local oil tanker terminal (thankfully far enough
away from Candidasa). If you need an example of why it is
important to be pro-Balinese and environmentally friendly, Candi
beach (or the void that now replaces it) is it.
Tanjung Benoa
On the peninsula up from Nusa Dua, what used to be a fishing
village but has now given over to hotels and water sports while
still retaining some balinese authenticity. A long strip of often
seriously eroded coastline, due to the fact they stripped the sea
of the coral reefs for cement to build hotels only to see the
sand wash away as a result. Not a bad place to come and relax by
the beach (what there is of it) however.
Pluses: A good choice of hotels many owned by
Balinese. Prices generally much lower than Nusa Dua and with some
authentic restaurants to chose from. Sea breezes normally make
the climate ideal.
Minuses: The other side of the peninsula is a
well known illegal effluence dumping ground (together with a huge
sewerage treatment plant) which causes problems when the wind is
from the wrong direction and also encourages disease carrying
mosquitoes. Suffers from aircraft noise.
Jimbaran Bay
Jimbaran has everything from low to super high budget
accommodations and a fairly attractive beach / bay. Famed for its
beach restaurants, most of the seafood coming from well out to
sea (because of pollution issues with local waters) and Java
(there is no such thing as lobster from Bali). Still retaining
some authenticity, it is very convenient for the airport.
Pluses: Indian Ocean breezes, fantastic sunsets
and a laid back atmosphere generally free from the lad / red-neck
culture that afflicts Kuta the other side of the airport. Some
genuinely good value high quality accommodations.
Minuses: Cheating often dangerously so fish
restaurants (putting lead in fish where you pay by weight is
common, so is switching from the fish you chose to something a
little older), aircraft noise, no worthwhile shopping, everything
spread out, not much to do.
Lovina
Again, a former backpacker destination but now with a good
range of middle range hotels and villas. Not the best beach in
the world and suffers enormously from dirt, aggressive beach
hawkers and a thriving child sex industry; Lovina is an official
pedophile black spot although foreign tourist family groups need
fear nothing for their children, just the local residents. Lovina
has a single central area for shops and bars which can get a bit
busy and boisterous, but nothing like Kuta. Outside the center,
the line of hotel after hotel along the beach can provide for a
very enjoyable and relaxing beach holiday where the hotels have
got together with the local villagers to keep the beaches clean
and the hawkers polite and gentle going.
Pluses: Generally good value and an excellent
base to explore the unspoiled areas of Northern Bali. Some
excellent low cost restaurant options including some serving very
authentic Balinese and Indonesian dishes, often with local
artists performing traditional dances. Generally a good range of
facilities and much for for your money, mostly ending up in
Balinese pockets.
Minuses: Very annoying people on an insipid
beach. Some sections suffer from mosque noise. Long drive from
the airport.
Pemuteran
Near Menjangan National Park on the North Western coast of
bali, Pemuteran is a small village with a limited number of
hotels generally adjacent to each other on one section of the
bay. Ideal for those who simply want to relax on the beach
without being pestered by anyone, for those who want worthwhile
off beach snorkeling and those who want a very relaxed holiday
amongst everyday traditional and genuinely friendly
Balinese.
Pluses: One of the very few beaches in Bali
where you can relax and / or snorkel; very safe shallow waters.
You walk along the beach at night to whichever restaurant you
fancy; the distant fishing boats with their kerosene lamps make
an excellent backdrop. Very slow pace of life, very
tranquil.
Minuses: No shopping, no bar scene. People who
like crowds will not like Pemuteran.
