Phayo, Franche-Compte, Elounda, Jum

Sea. Sun. Fun?

I admit to not being a beach aficionado, so it takes an extraordinary beach to whet my appetite for sun, sand and salt.

We visited: A short stretch of the northern coastline from Singaraja to Seritit, the eastern and north eastern coastline from Manyar to Padangbai and from Candidasa to Amed. Thank goodness we made it there. It allows us to generate a certain intensity of enthusiasm for Bali’s shores….

On many of the beaches we visited, there was so much garbage- at the waterline, up on the beach and sometimes even in the water, that we didn’t even want to be there. The saddest was much-praised White Sand Beach. A lovely setting, (the access road is bad, not recommended for a sedan, motorbikes will be ok), near Candidasa, it had everything that makes for a magical seaside day- translucent turquoise water, powdery white sand, any number of free lounge chairs (provided you eat lunch at the warungs that line most of the beach), a wizened old man at the water’s edge, oblivious to the world, playing his gambang to the sea…. But swaying gently with the waves- a widespread, elaborate and colorful trash ballet!
(Disclaimer: Perhaps we were unlucky and the winds or currents were pushing floating stuff toward the shore on that specific day)

Padangbai– Small bay, a few warungs, clean water and sand, relaxed, enjoyable, reached by motorcycle from Ubud in about 1.75 hours

Padangbai

Candidasa: No beach to speak of and we admit we weren’t up for a boat hire and snorkelling deal. Luckily, we got away from the crazy busy main road for sleeping and eating. It felt like business owners in Candidasa were trying hard to make up for the town’s downsides, but business was regrettably slow, with only a handful of guests in each of the three, four resorts we looked at. Even the little boats looked a bit discouraged

Fishing boat

Amed: M went there alone and raved about the beaches and coves south of Amed. Here from another one  of those darn budget guesthouse rooms (Lipah 15$, including breakfast with a view)Room with a View

We drove to a few of the east coast beaches south of Padangbai. The ones we saw were mostly deserted and edged with litter, but of a certain forlorn dignity

Deserted East Coast

Once in a while, along this less-visited coast, we happened upon pockets of lively activity: Flourishing trade with Nusa Penida off the beach near Kusamba

Bottle Carrier

and lively people too- cool as per usual of course!

Cool guys

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