We left Kuta on March 22 and headed further south to the Bukit, the southern tip of Bali. It consists of several beaches, all of which are famous surf breaks. Our taxi driver suggested we stay in Padang Padang because it's between all the beaches. Once we got there and started walking around, it was pretty evident that you need a moto to get around this area. You can get to the beach and a few restaurants but other than that, you need a moto to get anywhere. We went to Padang Padang beach our first day and watched the surfers. The reef is pretty intense here and these definitely aren't beginner waves. It's super shallow pretty far out and if you don't know what you're doing you can get slammed on the rocks. But we were just laying on the beach. At night we went to a cute little spot (can't remember the name) and the owner, Cacho, introduced us to some guys from Barcelona who we played jenga with.The following morning we went to Nusa Dua, an upscale beach community with private beaches for each hotel. We were pretty limited in where we could go since we weren't staying there, and everything was expensive. I'd say skip this beach if you aren't staying in Nusa Dua.
March 24 we finally rented motos to check out the other beaches in the area. We had a pretty shaky start and these motos were a bit touchier than the ones in Lombok. Both Jamie and Ianne almost ended up in a ditch. But they did some good off-roading with Kasey and I on the back. It took us awhile to find Bingin Beach, but after some crazy moto riding and walking through what looked like back alleys, we found it. By the time we found Bingin it was high tide and there basically wasn't any beach left. The waves were breaking right on the little restaurant we were at. We watched some surfers and body boarders here, and they were pretty damn good. Jamie has a great video of one of the better surfers.
Later in the day we headed over to Uluwatu which ended up being everyone's favorite destination in the area. To get to the beach you walk down a bunch of stone steps into a cave, crawl over the rocks and climb a rickety staircase built right into the rock to get up to an area called the sandbox, which is basically just a flat rock with some sand on top. It's right in the ocean and you're surrounded by rocks and small shops on cliffsides. From here we had a great view and Ianne and I did a little swimming in the shallows. This area is also pretty rocky and not for beginner surfers. The tide is pretty strong. Later on we watched the sunset from a bar called The Edge, which is on the edge of the cliff.
Uluwatu and Padang Padang are much more relaxed than the craziness of Kuta. It's got more of the surfer vibe and far less partying. Uluwatu should definitely be on the list of places to see in Bali.
Back to Kuta tomorrow for the last few days of the trip!
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