Padang Padang Beach, Uluwatu, Bali

Padang Padang Beach, is on the western coast of the southern part of Bali. It is probably most commonly known for making an appearance in the Julia Roberts film – Eat, Pray, Love.

So on my first proper day in Bali, I decided to go and visit it.

Transport

I am staying in a hostel called Bali Beats House, which is about a 20-30 min car or scooter ride away. I tried a scooter for 5 mins and changed my mind! Trying to learn how to ride it, and follow google maps at the same time, was not a safe option and it is safe to say, I didn’t feel super comfortable. Therefore, I decided to use the app GoJek to get me to the beach. GoJek is basically an Indonesian version of Uber. The trip there cost around 50k Indonesian Rupiah (£2.75). However on the way back GoJek couldn’t stop at the beach so I had to take a more local taxi. Intially they wanted a fee of 250k which I managed to haggle to 150k (£8.62).

Just wanted to put this in so people are aware of how to get there and also to be aware, don’t always settle for the first price!

So the Beach itself

To enter, there is a small entrance fee of 15k (82p) for adults and 10k (55p) for children. There is then a beautiful walk down to beach, with beautiful temples and sometimes monkeys. Sadly I didn’t see any on this occasion.

Once on the beach, you realise that it’s quite a small area but it’s never super busy apparently. I decided to pay 100k (£5.50 – which was very steep!) for an umbrella; I didn’t want to become a lobster on day 1! I also needed food, so I grabbed a grilled corn on the cob for 20k ( £1.10). This was really yummy and hit the spot. I then went for a little walk around the beach and the famous boulders. It was beautiful and the water temperature was lovely – this is coming from someone who is always cold!

Other things to note about the beach is that there is free wifi and you can also rent surfboards for about 100k (£5.50).