Attractions In Bali

Amed

Amed refers to a long stretch of coast running from the village of Culik about 14 km eastwards incorporating the seven villages of Amed, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah,Selang, Banyuning and Aas. The pace of life here is slow and the coastal scenery quite stunning making Amed the perfect place for a relaxed holiday in Bali.

Amed is the most recent tourist development area in Bali. It was only in 2000 that tarmac was laid on the roads. Telephone lines were installed in 2003 and it took until 2007 for a bridge to be built over a section of the main road that regularly washed away during the rainy season.

This is the most commonly used base for visitors wishing to dive the USS Liberty wreck atTulamben and that area is also covered by this article. There are other good dive sites close at hand and a thriving dive industry has developed all the way along the coast here.

Amed's inhabitants live from fishing, salt-making and tourism. The lack of tourism-based revenue, its remote nature and the generally harsh environment for farming, meant that this area was very much one of the poorer areas in Bali. Amongst others, the East Bali Poverty Project [1] drew attention to the plight of the local villagers in this area and that, together with recent tourist development, has gone a long way to improving general standards of living, health and education.

Amed Beach 

Bedugul

Bedugul is the name used to cover a large area of the central highlands of Bali around the villages of Bedugul itself, Candikuning, Pancasari, Pacung andWanagiri (amongst others). This is an area of great natural beauty. The focus point of the area centres on the three crater lakes of Bratan (Beratan), Buyan andTamblingan, and the nearby botanical gardens. The whole area is at an altitude of 700 metres or more, with the tallest mountain peaks above 2,000 metres, and it can be distinctly chilly here.

Bedugul Lake Temple

This article covers the Bedugul area as well as the village of Munduk to the west, and areas between Bedugul and Mount Batukaru to the south west. Mount Batukaru itself is covered in the Tabanan article.

Bedugul Botanical Garden

Bukit Peninsula

This is a large limestone peninsula which, bar a sliver of land just south of the airport, would be a separate island. It is rugged and dry, and pre-tourist development this was a real backwater of Bali.

The Bukit (as it is commonly referred to) includes the famous cliff-hanging temple at Uluwatu, a number of Bali's very best beaches including Balangan, and the top surfing spots on the island. As is so often the case, it was intrepid surfers who really opened up the eyes of the world to this part of the island.

The two main towns with strong local communities on the Bukit are Pecatu and Ungasan.

This article covers the whole of the Bukit Peninsula south of Jimbaran and west of Nusa Dua.

Bukit Penisula

Kintamani

The area of north-eastern Bali at the Mount Batur caldera, and which encompasses Penelokan, Toya Bungkah, Batur, Kedisan, Abung, Songan and Kintamanivillages, is known widely as just Kintamani. Kintamani, Batur and Penelokan villages sit on the rim of the huge Batur caldera about 1,500m above sea level, and offer dramatic views of the active volcano Mount Batur and serene Lake Batur. Toyo Bungkah village is down at the lake edge.

As well as the lake and the volcano, Kintamani is home to Pura Ulun Danu Batur, one of Bali's key nine directional temples.

Batur Volcano In Kintamani

Note :

The people of this area are very traditional Balinese, please show the upmost respect to the people by not walking on their farm lands, entering their temples (unless you wish to pray). Woman should cover their legs to the knees. The people of this area are warm and friendly when visitors to this amazing area show them respect.

Mount Agung

Towering 3,033 metres above sea level, Mount Agung is the highest mountain on the island of Bali and the fifth highest volcano in the whole of Indonesia.

Mount Agung has huge spiritual significance to the people of the island, and is home to the 'Mother Temple' of Besakih. It forms part of a chain of volcanos that make up the back bone of Bali.

Balinese legend has it that Agung was created when the Hindu God Pasupati split Mount Meru (the spiritual axis of the universe) and formed Mount Agung with a fragment.

Mount Agung

Nusa Dua

The place name Nusa Dua can be used in two ways: either it can refer to the entire eastern side of the Bukit Peninsula at the southern tip of Bali, or it can refer to the purpose-built, safe and rather sterile tourist enclave (Kawasan Pariwisata, quite literally Tourism District) at the southeast side of this peninsula.

Nusa Dua

This article covers everything in the Nusa Dua enclave plus the Tanjung Benoa peninsula and a few points west of the enclave to the village of Sawangan. Everything on the Bukit Penisula to the west of Sawangan is covered by the Uluwatu article.

As well as a host of luxury hotels, Nusa Dua is home to the most popular golf course in Bali and the main convention centre on the island.

Bali National Golf

The beaches here are glorious - white sand, deep, long and safe for swimming. The public beach at Geger is the best to head to if you are not staying at Nusa Dua. This is also home to one of the best museums in Bali. The museum is nearly always empty.

The Nusa Dua enclave has three manned gates and everyone entering is subject to a security search. This can have a slightly claustrophobic effect according to some points of view, and in other points of view makes guests feel more secure. While some may criticize this for creating the sense of an "artificial location", given the prior acts of terrorism in Bali some guests do appreciate the fact that security checks are made to enhance their safety.

Nusa Dua Water Sport

Nusa Lembongan

Nusa Lembongan is a small island off the southeast coast of the main island of Bali. Quickly becoming one of Bali's most popular attractions, this island paradise is a world away from the hassle and hectic pace of South Bali. Neither hawkers nor traffic mar the magnificent scenery; this is a fine place to just put your feet up and relax. Main activities include surfing, diving and snorkelling. The water is some of the clearest you will find anywhere, and a vivid aqua blue in colour.

Nusa Lembongan Island

Nusa Penida

Totalling some 200 square kilometres, Nusa Penida is much larger than the better known Nusa Lembongan. However, tourist infrastructure is verylimited here. It is, though, an island of stunning natural rugged beauty, and tourism-related development plans have been rumoured and mooted to no effect for many years now.

Due to a lack of natural fresh water, little is grown or produced on Nusa Penida, and even some basic foodstuffs come in by boat. Visitors should therefore expect higher prices than in Bali, and not bank on any tourism-related luxury items being available for purchase here. Plan accordingly — this is as off-the-beaten-track as you can get and still be in the Province of Bali.

Nusa Penida Island

Nusa Penida has also become an unofficial bird sanctuary for endangered Balinese and Indonesian bird species, including the critically endangered Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi). In 2004 the Friends of the National Park Foundation (FNPF) started an introduction program onto Nusa Penida of the near-extinct Bali Starling. Over 2 years from 2006, 64 birds were released into the wild. By the spring of 2009, 58 chicks had successfully hatched in the wild and in 2010 there were estimated to be over 100 birds. Despite many similar release bird projects in the West Bali National Park that have failed because of poachers, this has been by the far the most successful project to prevent the Bali Starling from becoming extinct and is because the Nusa Penida population actively protects the birds. In 2006 all villages unanimously passed a local regulation making it an offence to steal or threaten the life of the birds.

West Bali National Park

West Bali National Park (Taman Nasional Bali Barat in Bahasa Indonesia) is the most north-westerly point of Bali. It includes the whole of the Prapat Agung Peninsula, and large swathes of land around the towns of Gilimanuk, Cekik and Banyuwedang. The official area inside the park boundaries is 190 square kilometres, with a further 580 square kilometres of protected reserve in the highlands to the east. In total this accounts for some ten percent of Bali's total land area.

West Bali National Park

Wild Life In West Bali National Park