Bali on land activities

[pughio83]

Just get yourself a local driver from any decent tourist agency or rotter via your hotel. Can highly recommend bebek tepi sawah....absolutely beautiful accommodation in ubud and well priced and suitable for kids. Great pools wifi. I love ubud and great places to dine.

Highly recommend my batur climb to see sunrise with my rinjani on Lombok in the distance!!
Also rice terraces at jutiluwih are nice, tanah lot can give good photos but expect a lot of tourists! Monkey forest worth a stroll, silver and art shops, batik etc all interesting from ubud. Bought myself some paintings to bring bk.

The bird park is great for kids and v interesting. The zoo is there and in the rainy season white water rafting is good. You can also jungle trek through Bali barat park though a bit off beaten path.

Living beach in north offers dolphins, lembongan u can snorkel with manta rays. Enjoy.

 

[lamarpaulski]

Great advice here on SB. We enjoyed Bali a great deal esp Ubud for land activities. Kawi temple and many others were beautiful. Higher volcanic lakes were great. We used escapes unlimited who have US office in santa ana california and had a great guide and driver based from Ubud Mr. Suhk, who also was a local artist. Do not drive yourself around...traffic and roads are too much for tourists IMHO. I found Denpasar hectic and crowded but there is a youthful energy there if you like partying. Tripadvisor was a good source too. It was good to have tour outfit meet us at airport for first trip as its a bit chaotic and infested with touts. You will have a great time...get a message...relax. Take in their music and plays and art.

 

[joebran]

All of the above. Biggest hint I could offer (and we're off to our second visit to Bali in a little over 2 weeks.....going for a month), is to spend as little time as possible in the big cities in the South (Denpasar/Kuta/etc). It's just a beautiful country with very nice people, fairly good diving, and beautiful sites. We did Amed (Dove Tulamben from there), Pemuteran (dove Menjangen from there) and Ubud for 3 weeks last year. We added Gili Air (to dive there) and Munduk (in the mountains of the north) to add up to a month this year.
Also, someone suggested Tripadvisor forums.....excellent. Great source of information for Bali.
Enjoy

 

[gekodivebali]

Get out of the main touristic spots as much as you can. Bali is full of great genuine experiences and opportunities if you avoid the crowded areas. To me, a motorbike may be the best way to go about Bali. Make sure you get lost on those side roads where no tourists go and where locals look seriously surprised at the sight of foreigners. Sidemen, Munduk and Bedugul are areas I warmly recommend.
If you do drive, take it slow, expect people to pull over from side streets without looking and keep a Rp 50,000 note for the "friendly" cops you will meet.
If you do not want to drive your own motorbike, the cycling trip mentioned above is a good way to discover the real /hidden Bali.

 

[Shasta_man]

Sorry all, just getting a chance to get back to my own thread.

WOW, these are all fantastic suggestions and quite a breadth of choices.

I've been to Bali before and from my own experiences I agree wholeheartedly with how wonderful the people are there. From talking directly to craftsman making a carving to locals in the area, it's such a wonderful experience. We had similar experiences with the craftsman and it is so interesting to see how they do so many things and, often, their simple way of life. I always come away thinking how much I could learn from these people about enjoying life.

Thanks all. Scubaboard members are great. Thanks for everyone's time.

 

[boletus1973]

Get out of the main touristic spots as much as you can. Bali is full of great genuine experiences and opportunities if you avoid the crowded areas. To me, a motorbike may be the best way to go about Bali. Make sure you get lost on those side roads where no tourists go and where locals look seriously surprised at the sight of foreigners. Sidemen, Munduk and Bedugul are areas I warmly recommend.
.

i totally agree... in our 3 holiday in bali we do this everytime... we go every time some days in bedugul-munduk area... and with the motorbike is our favorite non-diving place for stay.... great landscape.... nature.. activities.. wow!!!