Charlie Sellers’ view of Padangbai Bali

If you arrive by bus, you will be met by a small throng of locals pitching their guesthouse/hotel/homestay/losmen/bungalow, ranging from a little lower in price than you will see in Kuta to a maximum of just moderate in price – I find that talking to them can be a good way to start looking for a place, at least until you settle in and can look more closely. Padang Bai has only a few dozen small accomodations and they are mostly in the “budget” category (<60,000 rp for a good sized room and bed with fan, private bathroom with cold water, light breakfast) – the funky Zen Inn (30,000 rp for rattan covered rooms with a garden and outdoor shower, near the ferry terminal) and Parta Inn (30,000-80,000 rp, near the Ozone Cafe) are typical – good basic housing but ask to see the rooms first so you can check out the exact amenties not offered. Hotel Puri Rai may be the only place in town that has A/C available and a pool (175,000 to 300,000 rp), as well as a nice restaurant. All over the one street, along the harbor, where tourists roam you can find good Indonesian food, locally caught seafood, and an occasional pizza – no fast food, coffee shops, medical services, or ATM machines here. Try the warungs right on the beach, if only for the scenery. And there are a few places that offer it all – Made's and Kerti for example each have rooms, a restaurant, money changing and tourist services, and decent internet facilities. The internet is not fast or cheap here (300 rp per minute), but at least it is available.

Most people seem to come here either for the ferry, the diving (+4 dive shops are in town), the great beaches, or the quiet. If you include the town harbor beach (not really suitable for recreation, except by the local kids) there are a total of 4 distinct beaches – proceed all the way through town and you'll find the sign to Blue Lagoon beach, just up over the headland and back down. I has a good solid floor of soft and hard corals and is great snorkling just a few meters from shore (gear can be rented in town or right at the beach, between the small cafe and the warung – 20,000 rp). White Sand beach is at the other end of town, down the paved "road" beside the police station (then turn right down an unlikely looking path on the left, just past the used bookstore, then up and over the hill) and it is as nice a place as I have seen lately – just great sand, beautiful waves, coconut palms, shade, and 5-6 warungs to keep you fed and watered. If you keep going down that paved trail, then over the hill, you will eventually find Black Sand beach – gorgeous black sand and almost no people. No amenities (and nothing for sale!) but if you follow it away from town you will find a fishing village. None of the beaches has too much of the washed up or floating detritus (either natural or man-made) that you see in Kuta at this time of year – a real plus in my book. One of my favorite activities is fishing with traditional outrigger canoes – the fishing may not be exceptional (using hand lines with many hooks – we just caught a few small mackerel) but the view of the shore and volcanoes is great, the big herd of dolphins that swam with us was spectacular, and the weather is always great cruising offshore. It is not a normal tourist activity, but you can also ask at the harbor beach – boats usually leave both very early in the morning and again at ~4 PM, and the initial asking price is ~50,000 rp.

You can also fish for people – I trolled by walking along the highway, moving slowly enough so that people had plenty of time to notice me. There is an art to evaluating quickly the people who beckon to you from stores and homes – even when you are away from the tourist areas there will be those who want to take poor advantage of your time and are not worth the trouble. One good way to answer the people who call out "Where are you going?" (a cultural thing in Indonesia – like Hello in other places) is with "jalan jalan", which means "just taking a walk" and this is usually sufficient most of the time. I usually get lucky with kids – digital cameras are a great way to entertain them – and stopping at the innumerable roadside snack shops for a cold one is another way to meet people; English is not necessarily common at these, but they will be happy to see you. Be patient and wait for the ratty chicks and scrawny kittens to come back out of hiding – see Bali like it really is. Cockfighting is very popular here and you can usually just drop in on one if you enjoy this kind of thing. And as is true all over Bali, the religious festivals are another way to "localize" and see the real culture – I was there for Kuningan and they weren't going to all that trouble just for the tourists!

At night the town is dark and quiet – there is usually a movie at Made's Warung, the reggae bar on the beach might have some action, there may be a band playing somewhere, good conversation can be had (the few dozen tourists in town tend to become your acquintances quickly), and there are always the stars; by 10 PM things are pretty quiet and at 11 PM everything may be closed.

Padang Bai has a managable size – you can figure out where everything is, none of it is every very far away, and the number of options seems to be good enough for a visit of a week or so. The quality of the beaches really makes a difference – many of us are drawn to Bali by the prospect of great beaches, and we chase from place to place looking for that spot where we can read in the shade on that perfect one; it would be nice if the ones here were bigger, but quality is more important than quantity.