It’s a common complaint from first-time visitors to Bali (we were guilty of this ourselves) that Balinese beaches are just ordinary. I remember the first time I stepped onto a Balinese Beach — staying at Villa Kresna in Seminyak, I strolled down to check out the surf I’d heard so much about and found a … read the full post

Taman Festival is a vast yet never completed entertainment complex a 20-minute bicycle ride north from Sanur beach. While the park had a soft opening in 1997, it closed its doors in 2000 and has been abandoned ever since. According to Bali news site BaliDiscovery, the park was a joint venture between the local government … read the full post

You can go quite a while in Bali without stumbling across true Balinese dishes on a menu: your nasi goreng, cap cay, mie goreng and even most sate are imports from China and Java. Yet Bali’s is a delicious, rich cuisine and it’s not only worth tracking down babi guling and ayam betutu while you’re … read the full post

I enjoy going to the beach — even if it is Kuta Beach. I love the people watching, the smell of sunscreen and the general feeling there are about 50 things I really should be doing while I’m laying around doing none of them. For me, it’s a relaxing time out and makes for very … read the full post

Reading through the newly-published Kids in Bali book which I reviewed here, I stumbled across The Organic Farm Bali and thought it would make a good spot to take the kids. We initially tried to stay overnight last Saturday, but a ceremony at Munduk Lumbang, the village the farm calls home, meant no one would … read the full post

Sometimes there is nothing worse than getting stranded on a tropical island — the boss is never going to believe your concoction about some volcano on Java blowing its top … he knows what really happened. Anyway, if you’ve found your Jetstar flight from Bali to Australia to be cancelled or delayed, here are a … read the full post

Many first-time visitors to Bali find themselves a little underwhelmed by the beaches. It’s a response easy to imagine considering all the beautiful beaches featured on Bali brochures and the reality of crowded Kuta. Luckily, Bali is a big island with pretty beaches enough for everyone, and over the next seven days we’ll show you … read the full post

There are few points on Bali further from the airport than Pemuteran. Set towards the far northwestern point of the island and very close to the Bali Barat National Park, Pemuteran is a gently curving dark sand beach that is best known for its diving and snorkelling, and also for use as a base to … read the full post

Pantai Putih (White sand beach) is set about a 20-minute drive north of Candi Dasa on Bali’s eastern coast. It’s one of those hidden away beaches that gets a mention in most guidebooks but few people ever actually bother getting to because it involves a bit of travelling to reach. That’s good news for you, … read the full post

Balangan is basically the next beach of any size between what used to be known as Dreamland (now fittingly referred to as “New Kuta”) and the Ayana Resort (and Jimbaran after it). The beach is down a steep staircase (easy to climb when not carrying two small, wet children) and an assortment of warungs and … read the full post