Padangbai - fishing village and ferry port on bali's east coast

Padangbai is a seaside village and ferry port. Traditional fishing boats line the beach and various sized motor boats are moored to the shore. At the middle part of the bay is a small jetty where boats leave for the Gilis, Senggigi and Nusa Lembongen. Further down is a boat for Nusa Penida. The south end of the bay is dominated by a large ferry terminal for ferries to Lombok. The large ferries arrive and leave frequently.

Beach

The beach at the middle and north end of Padangbai is white sand. The water is clear and reasonably clean for swimming with a sandy bottom.

Accommodation

The town has various levels of accommodation. The more up market hotels are at the north end of the beach. The road in this section is more like a small boulevard. Some hotels in this area have pools available for guests only.

Restaurants

There are a small number of nice restaurants. The food is good and varied. Whole fish with whatever you want is cheap and good. Cheaper food is available in the middle and south end of Padangbai and the more up market restaurants are at the north end.

Sights

At the north end of the bay and to the right is a nice temple with great views if you follow the steps or walk through the small jungle on the point (lots of mosquitoes here).

The north end of the bay and to the left takes you after a ten minute walk to blue lagoon. There are two restaurants with reasonable food, showers, chairs and snorkeling gear. The coral reef is right up to the shore and is very pretty. Entry into the water is best at the north end as it avoids stepping on coral.

Walk past the ferry terminal on the south end of the bay and partly up the hill and you will come to sign directing you to little beach. A 15 minute walk through the bush gets you to a beautiful white sandy beach. Good for swimming though the currents can be strong. There are several restaurants to eat at but they are not very good. Drinks are okay.

If you continued over the hill and follow the road, you will eventually come to a long, black sand beach. The fishing boats come very close to the shore and with Nusa Penida as the backdrop it can be a very pretty scene, especially very early in the morning.

Pick a spot to sit and watch the local Balinese people in their daily lives. The beach, the small wharf and the ferry terminal provide a variety of daily life scenes.