Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The mainly flat land that makes up the south is among the most densely populated in
Bali. This is where you'll find the island's major tourist resorts: at Kuta and Jimbaran
in the west, and Sanur, Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa in the east. The area is a surfers'
paradise, pounded by some of the most famous and challenging breaks in the world. The
vast majority of visitors head straight for brash, commercial Kuta-Legian-Seminyak,
which sprawls down the southwest coast just 3km north of Bali's airport and is as fam-
ous for its shopping and nightlife - the most happening on the island by far - as its surf.
Bali's administrative capital,
Denpasar
, is also here, and while most tourists treat the city as
little more than a transit point for cross-island journeys, it holds the island's best museum and
makes an interesting contrast to the more westernized beach enclaves.
Across on the southeast coast, beach life is quieter and greener at
Sanur
and more luxurious
and manicured at
Nusa Dua
and
Tanjung Benoa
, where watersports are the draw. Offshore
lie three islands: escapist but little-visited
Nusa Penida
; tiny
Nusa Ceningan
; and resolutely
relaxed
Nusa Lembongan
, with access to exceptional diving and easy access from Sanur.
South of Kuta, the
Bukit Peninsula
offers peaceful, upmarket beachfront hotels at
Jimbaran
and fabulous
surf
and lively beach bases beneath the cliffs at and around
Uluwatu
, also the
site of an important clifftop temple.
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