Seminyak/Legian Vs. Nusa Dua
 

Hi,

We need to decide where to spend our last 2 nights in Bali and I'm having trouble picking between Seminyak/Legian or Nusa Dua. The main thing I want is cleanliness - a clean beach, clean sand, no garbage/litter (or as less as possible) and calmer waters that we can swim in. I understand that Nusa Dua is very "sterile" as some say and was leaning towards staying at the Padma Resort in Legian, however, became hesitant when I read about the debri/dirt on the beaches and the strong waves/currents.

We are not opposed to going into Seminyak in the evening for sunset or even to a good traditional restaurant for dinner (def. don't want pizzas, burgers and fries!) and then a beach bar, but the main priority for us is a good, clean, hawkers free, beautiful swimmable beach. All resorts we were considering in Legian or Nusa Dua have good pools etc., so that is not a decider. We like night life, but not a big fan of clubbing. More the beach bar variety with music night life.

Also, we will be returning from Nusa Lembongan and want to be closet to the airport, so thought we should pick between these two areas.

Please help!

Thank you!

Sounds like Nusa Dua has more of what you're looking for than the west coast beaches. Nusa Dua is a large and expanding area; you want to make sure that whichever resort you choose is located on the beach, not on the cliffs above the beach. The ocean at Nusa Dua is generally calm, but can be shallow and rocky at low tide.

I'm not a fan of Legian, Double 6 or any of the beaches around the Padma. If you decide to go with the west coast, I would suggest you look further north in the Petitenget area. In August the west coast beaches will be trash-free, but the surf can be rough at times of high tide and big swells, though at other times it's as still as glass.

The weekend of August 17-20 will be one of the busiest of the year in Bali, and traffic will be problematic. Be aware that "commuting" from Nusa Dua to the west coast for sunset or dinner will take about an hour each way, sometimes more. There are plenty of good restaurants in Nusa Dua, Benoa and Sanur.

Definitely Nusa Dua!
Great beaches, clean and safe area.

If you want to have dinner and drinks in Seminyak area, while staying in Nusa Dua, you are going to spend a lot of time in taxis. The traffic in Bali (heading to Seminyak, Legian, Petitenget and around those areas) is abysmal. Even taking short taxi rides in the evenings within the general area can take an annoying long time - and you're paying money to just sit in traffic.

I have stayed in Nusa Dua and I have stayed in Seminyak. I did not think much of the beach front outside the Hotel in Nusa Dua. Along that stretch there are a lot of operators selling rides on jet skis and rides on various blow-up apparatus towed behind speed boats. I didn't rate the swimming. Most people seem to just swim in the hotel pools,

I recently stayed in Petitenget, and thus could walk or take a taxi to Jl Raya Basungkasa and various streets in the neighborhood of Seminyak Village where there are plenty of restaurants and shops. That was very convenient. Getting around in certain parts of that area was a nightmare as there is a lot of through-traffic to Potato Head etc.

All in all, I think I preferred being closer to Seminyak for what I wanted to do and because I hate the long stop-start taxi rides where you feel like you go nowhere

Nusa Dua is a purpose-built tourist enclave. It is sterile, with no sense of Bali. I would never choose t stay there.