Beaches In Bali

The beaches in Bali are all around the island. The most popular is, of course the Kuta beach where most of the tourists are. A few kilometers north is the Legian beach and further than that is the Seminyak beach. These are the popular public beaches in Bali. Other beaches are those off Nusa Dua, Jimbaran, Sanur, but these beaches, although open to the public, are more often than not taken up by the large hotels and accommodation establishments for the use of their guests. One can also go to other beaches further north, east, or west of the island, but if it is the normal beach activities that one is looking for, there is no need to go further than those areas I mentioned above. If diving is of interest there are specific areas that one can go to for good dives like, Candi Dasa, or Lovina beaches located some 50 and 90 kilometers respectively from the city of Denpasar or Kuta. Ram does not fancy going for dives so there was no need to visit Candi Dasa. I would, though, if I had gone alone. There is also one beach area, to the south, called 'Dreamland Beach'. It is a somewhat private beach that one can patronise by paying a fee. As it is not 'public' like the ones in Kuta, Legian and others, it is not always crowded and beachgoers are quite free to indulge in whatever is fancied. The place, with high waves, is also very good for board surfing.

The main activity at the beaches is of course showing off your bodily assets, male muscles (protruding tummy paunch for some, I mean!!) and female curves, covering as little of what you have as possible. Quite a few go topless. Next comes sunbathing or some call it sun-worshipping while many others go surfing the waves. It is quite interesting, watching these board surfers. They swim out into the sea to catch that big wave and surf on it to shore. It is to me an exhausting sport but I guess the adrenaline rush one gets with that big wave is something one cherishes no matter how tiring it is. The others spend time frolicking in the water and playing/ following the waves. Ram does that but only remained thigh deep in the water, afraid that she may fall and get herself immersed in sea water which can be disastrous for her eye. The water lapping up the beach every time was just irresistible and she had to get at least her feet wet. I went along with her, ‘in sympathy’ of course.

Beach traders, most of them allocated specific areas to look after by the proper authorities, are all along the beach. They have to keep their allocated areas clean. These traders provide various services some of which are the rental of beach benches, umbrellas, towels, surfboards, and other beach equipment. They also sell drinks and snacks and provide all sorts of services including body massage, hair plaiting, body painting and so on. There are also the small-time traders or peddlers who will pester the beachgoers, and persistently too, to buy the stuff they sell. One will just have to persistently say no to them if one is not interested. In fact these peddlers are everywhere, not only at the beaches, but also at all the tourist attractions all over the island. The trick is not to touch the stuff they sell as doing so is to indicate to the peddler that you are interested, and he/she will go all out to sell.

I do my early morning walks and exercises at the beach daily and spend about 80 to 90 minutes walking and slow jogging. Many others, tourists and locals, were also doing the same thing on the beach. The beach hawkers, peddlers and service providers were up very early too, all busy with their chores of cleaning the beach and preparing the areas allocated to them for the ‘onslaught’ of sunbathers, sun-worshippers and other tourists later in the morning and continuing until dusk.

MKI Ramblings Unlimited
Petaling Jaya