Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
About 1km from the main road, there is a
warung (food stall) on the left and a car park
on the right. Walk past the warung and along
the path for about 200m to the lower falls. The
waterfall is not huge, but the pool underneath
is ideal for swimming. The water isn't crystal
clear, but it's cooler than the sea and very
refreshing.
Clamber further up the hill to another wa-
terfall,
Singsing Dua
, which is slightly bigger and
has a mud bath which is supposedly good for
the skin (maybe if you're a worm?). This one
also cascades into a deep swimming pool.
The area is thick with tropical forest and
makes a nice day trip from Lovina. The falls
are more spectacular in the wet season, and
may be just a trickle in the dry season.
antly hot, so you might enjoy it more in the
morning or the evening than in the heat of
the Balinese day. You must wear a swimsuit
and you shouldn't use soap in the pools, but
you can do so under an adjacent outdoor
shower.
In a verdant setting on a hillside very close
to the baths, the rooms at
Pondok Wisata Grya Sari
(
A few hundred metres east of the temple, a
well-signposted 3km paved road leads to
Pura
Melanting
. This temple has a dramatic setting
in the foothills, and is gloriously devoid of
tourists and hawkers. It is dedicated to good
fortune in business. A donation is expected
as entry to the complex, although you're not
permitted in the main worship area. Look for
the dragon statue with the lotus blossom on
its back near the entrance.
PEMUTERAN
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0362
This resort enclave on the far northwest cor-
ner of Bali is something of an oasis among lit-
tle else. The once impoverished villagers have
realized that healthy reefs and sea life draw
visitors, so they've found relative prosperity as
good stewards to the local environment.
This is the place to come for a real beach
getaway. Most people do some diving or snor-
kelling while here.
do one or the other at the fabled dive sites at
Pulau Menjangan to the west (p282).
Pemuteran is home to the Reef Seen Turtle
Project, run by the Australian-owned
Reef
Seen Aquatics
(
93001; www.reefseen.com)
. Turtle
eggs and small turtles purchased from locals
are looked after here until they're ready for
ocean release. More than 6000 turtles have
been released since 1994. You can visit the
small hatchery and see Boomer, the turtle
who wouldn't leave, and make a donation to
sponsor and release a tiny turtle. It's just off
the main road east of Pondok Sari.
Reef Seen also offers diving, boat cruises
and horse riding. A PADI introductory dive
costs US$60 and dives at Pemuteran/Pulau
Menjangan are US$60/70 for two dives. Sun-
set and sunrise cruises and glass-bottomed
boat trips (per person 160,000Rp) are offered.
Horse-riding treks pass through the local vil-
lages and beaches (290,000Rp for two hours).
Simple accommodation is available (p270).
Easy Divers
(
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92903; fax 92966; r 90,000-150,000Rp, ste 200,000Rp)
are clean and have outdoor bathrooms. Treks
into the surrounding densely grown country-
side can be organised from here.
Overlooking the baths,
Restoran Komala Tirta
(dishes 8000-16,000Rp)
has the usual Indonesian
menu and an unpretentious mood.
It's only about 3km from the monastery to
the hot springs if you take the short cut - go
down to Banjar Tega, turn left in the centre
of the village and follow the small road west,
then south to Banjar village. From there it's
a short distance uphill before you see the 'Air
Panas 1km' sign on the left (on the corner
by the police station). From the bemo stop
on the main road to the hot springs you can
take an
ojek;
going back is a 2.4km downhill
stroll.
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Brahma Vihara Arama
Bali's single Buddhist monastery, only vaguely
Buddhist in appearance, with colourful deco-
rations, a bright orange roof and statues of
Buddha, has very Balinese decorative carvings
and door guardians. It is quite a handsome
structure in a commanding location, with
views that reach down into the valley and
across the rice fields to the sea. You should
wear long pants or a sarong (which can be
hired for a small donation; see the boxed text,
p42). The monastery does not advertise any
regular courses or programmes, but visitors
are more than welcome to meditate in special
rooms.
The temple is 3.3km off the main road -
take the obvious turn-off in Dencarik. If you
don't have your own transport, arrange it
with an
ojek (
motorcycle) driver at the turn-
off (10,000Rp). The road continues past the
monastery, winding further up into the hills
to Pedewa, a Bali Aga village.
94736; www.easy-divers.eu)
comes
well recommended and offers a worthwhile
five-day PADI open-water course for US$350.
Dive trips to Tulamben and Menjangan cost
US$65.
Pemuteran's hotels all have their own dive
operations.
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Sights & Activities
The extensive coral reefs are about 3km off-
shore. Coral that's closer in is being restored
as part of a unique project (see the boxed text,
below). Diving and snorkelling on the local
reefs is universally popular. Many people also
Seririt
This town is a junction for roads that run
south over the mountains to Munduk and the
central mountains (p252) or to Papuan and
West Bali (see the boxed text, p277). These
are very scenic drives.
The road continuing west along the coast
towards Gilimanuk is in good shape. In
Seririt, there's a Bank BCA ATM at the Lovina
end of town. There are many warung in the
market area, just north of the bemo stop and
you can find petrol stations on the main road.
Temple offering stalls here are bold visions of
orange flowers.
WANT A NEW REEF? CHARGE IT!
Pemuteran is set among a fairly arid part of Bali where people have always had a hard-scrabble
existence. In the early 1990s, tourism development began to take advantage of the excellent
diving in the area.
Locals who'd previously been scrambling to grow or catch something to eat began getting
language and other training to welcome people to what would become a slightly upscale col-
lection of resorts.
But there was one big problem: the reefs that were meant to bring people in had their clocks
fast running out. Dynamite and cyanide fishing was rampant but after a few fits and starts, the
community managed to control this. Then came the late 1990s and the El Niño warming of the
water, which bleached and damaged large parts of the reef.
A group of local hotel and dive-shop owners and community leaders hit upon a novel solu-
tion: charge a new reef! Not with plastic, of course, but with electricity. The idea had already
been floated by scientists internationally, but Pemuteran was the first place to implement it on
a wide - and hugely successful - scale.
Using local materials, the community built dozens of large metal cages which were placed out
among the threatened reef. Then they were literally hooked to
very
low-wattage generators on
land (you can see the cables running ashore near the Taman Sari Bali Cottages). What had been
a theory proved a reality. The low current stimulated limestone formation on the cages which
in turn quickly grew new coral. All told, Pemuteran's small bay is getting new coral at five to six
Air Panas Banjar
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0362
Not far from Brahma Vihara Arama, these
hot
springs
(adult/child 4100/2000Rp, parking 1000Rp;
Celukanbawang
Celukanbawang is the main cargo port for
North Bali, and has a large wharf. Bugis
schooners - the magnificent sailing ships
that take their name from the seafaring Bugis
people of Sulawesi - can sometimes be seen
anchoring here.
8am-
6pm)
percolate amid lush tropical plants. You
can relax here for a few hours and have lunch
at the restaurant, or even stay the night.
Eight fierce-faced carved stone
naga
pour
water from a natural hot spring into the first
bath, which then overflows (via the mouths
h
Pulaki
