Bali Beach help
 

Hi,
I am starting to plan my Bali trip for september of 2010. Yeah, I know it is a tad early! Still, I already have a very nice rental villa in Ubud and I am now working on the beach portion of our trip. I am so confused. Went to Thailand in 2007 and loved the beaches there. Sort of hoping to find the same in Bali. Here it goes, this is what I am looking for: white sandy beach, clear water, mild surf, minimal tide and sunset over the ocean ( in order of importance.). Also, it would be nice for the beach not to be super crowded but more on the quiet side. I know it's a tall order, but maybe someone can help. I will be thankful for any input!

The beaches in bali are not as wonderful as those in Thailand, but they are pretty good. If you want sunset rather than sunrise, the west beaches of Bali would suit. Seminyak gets good reviews. Kuta is the happening beach, but is overrun. We stayed in sanur and loved it. Whatever you do, don't stay in Nusa Dua. It's sterile and no fun whatsoever.

Frankly, I don't find the Bali beaches to be as nice as the Thai beaches. The beach area I like to stay in is Sanur, which has a nice but not fabulous beach. I think Lombok has much nicer beaches, so if you have some time in Bali, you might take a few days to stay on Lombok (Qunci Villas is my place of choice there, with a lovely, uncrowded beach and a view of the sunset over Bali).

The one place I'd warn you against is Nusa Dua. It's a sterile tourist enclave with nothing I can see to recommend it.

kirsten, Bali beaches are very different from Thailand's, especially compared to the locations on the Gulf of Thailand. You won't find the complete combination you're looking for anywhere in Bali. The closest would probably be in the next island to the East, Lombok, which is easily "commutable" from Bali.

On Bali the east coast beaches come the closest -- Nusa Dua and Sanur. They are relatively white and sandy with mild surf; however water is not "clear" and you get sunrise not sunset. On the Westcoast there are also some nice sandy beaches, but they are not white and the surf can be aggressive. Great sunsets though. None of these is particularly quiet as South Bali is a tourist area.

When you get to the north, the beaches are mostly volcanic black sand. Here you may find the rest of your wishlist.

Just curious, what do you mean by minimal tide?

Thanks all for the quick replies. I sort of had Sanur in mind, but now I am seriously considering Lombok. How easy is it to get there and how does one get there?? My "tide" question: how long does low tide last and how far out does the ocean "go"? When we went to Thailand ( Koh PhiPhi) the ocean all but dissapeared by mid afternoon ( no swimming from then on) and did not return until the next morning.
Kirsten

Lombok is a short flight from Bali.

Take a look at our photos of Lombok and Qunci Villas at www.marlandc.com The great sunset photos were taken from our balcony and from the grounds of our hotel and the beach in front of the hotel.

Kirsten, no apologies for planning early. We started planning our Bali/Lombok trip (slated for May 2010) a few months ago. No judgment here--we're all travel addicts...welcome to the club!

We're Thai beach addicts ourselves (been to Phi Phi and Ko Racha in the past 3 years) and, as most have stated, you won't anything even close to that in Indonesia. Lombok and the Gili Islands are about as close as we've found (that are on the beaten path.)

We chose Lombok and will be staying at Qunci Villas as well--it's quite an amazing place and a steal for some of those villas. But just know going in that you're just not going to find that powdered sugar sand beach or that turquoise water readily outside of Thailand (unless you head to Malaysia.)

Best of luck planning...let us know what you decide!

OK...this is a very late reply :)
We ended up going to Lombok after Bali. Great Hotel (Qunci Villas) and service, but just OK beach. Sand was dark and grainy. Ocean was clear, but lots of coral....very sharp. Not much around the hotel and the nearest town was dismal. Just FYI. Nice stay but will not go there again.

crap....did not intend to sound so down :) It was a nice experience, really :)))