Bali's Lovina & Pemuteran Beach Advice Guide

Around 40 minutes drive west along the north coast road from Lovina is Pemuteran. With a black sandy beach (although walk around the corner of the beach and "Wow, golden sand up here?!"). In fact, the entire north coast used to have golden / white sand, until Mt. Agung decided to turn it black in 1963. But amazingly with absolutely no beach hawkers (the hotels got together with the village to prevent this, just as other areas should do). And even more incredibly it has not just living coral, but exceptionally good living coral right off the beach, supporting a large range of colorful fish

This really is a lovely part of the island, where time does seem to slow down. It is also very convenient for trips into Bali Barat National Park, and snorkeling / dive trips to the incredible Menjangan Island. Without a doubt, the finest snorkeling / dive area of Bali. Although please, do not stay at any of the hotels that have been built illegally on National Park land itself / further along (e.g. Waka Shorea - who are quite possibly the nastiest hotel group in Bali).

About two thirds of the way from Pemuteran to Lovina, is the locally important market town of Seririt. Where Nesi Goreng and Gado Gado give way to more regional favorites, such as goat curry ("Goo-lai"). Although Seririt has little tourist resource, it certainly has enough visitor entertainment value for a day, and some very secluded beaches nearby. On these beaches, a small number of specialist accommodations have recently sprung up. Seririt also is where the mountain road starts to Medewi Beach in the south, via Papuan. As you start your journey up this road, there is a turning off to Munduk. Both Munduk and Papuan are covered in Other Bali Area Guides.

"Lovina" (an abbreviation of "Love Indonesia" believe it or not) is actually the generic name for an area adjoining the former capital Singaraja, of mainly 6 villages. Going from East to West, Tukad Mungga, Anturan, Kalibukbuk, Kaliasem and Temukus. While Kalibukbuk can be described as "Central Lovina" (with the most shops, restaurants, etc.), Anturan has most of the established and quality hotel offerings. The other villages either side of these two, may feel quite "out of it" for most people. Also hotels at the Western extremities, tend to be very close to the main road.

The area has three reputations / stereotypes. The first is that it is a backpacker area, which is not true. There are just as many, if not more regular hotels (and even some luxury offerings) as there are cheap and cheerful beach huts. Which, given the fact the regular hotels have many more rooms, makes backpacker rooms a minority.

The second reputation Lovina has, is large numbers of often aggressive hawkers (beach and street salespeople). This, unfortunately, is true. Around the central beach and shopping / restaurant areas in particular, they can be exceptionally rife and very oppressive. In fact, being in a hotel actually on the beach in the central area can be a disadvantage. As sellers of cheap (though expensive) sarongs and dolphin trip touts will think nothing of trying to get your attention as you relax in your hotel grounds / by the pool. And there is not much worse then seeing a deserted area of the beach from your hotel grounds, to start walking towards it and notice hoards of hawkers making a beeline to where you are heading.

The last reputation it has is for an ugly beach and dead coral. Unfortunately again this can be true. We doubt there is any living coral remaining except at the western extremes of Lovina. Also, the sand is black here (courtesy of previous eruptions of the far distant Mt. Agung). Although black sand often is just as nice as white / golden sand (as it often has a high silicone content that sparkles). But here the beaches are either "ugly" because of neglect or erosion. The later a result of the dead coral reef no longer offering it's protection.

This is all a real shame, as Lovina actually feels much more tropical then Kuta / Sanur. Not only is the weather better / drier in the north. It has a much higher concentration of swaying palm trees, and a lot lower density of buildings. It also has the hills / mountains close behind, making it feel, well, like "Bali". There are also a good number of really very nice beach front / side restaurants, and fashionable bars in the center. Finally, there are some really very interesting places locally to go and visit, like the hot baths or the market in Singaraja. There are even silversmiths and basket makers nearby. Making trips out a lot more trip, a lot less trek like in the south.

We donate all of our direct reservation earnings from the hotels and villas on our site to a charity in Bali, which helps deprived Balinese children. When you book with and then stay and pay a hotel or villa in Lovina / Pemuteran directly via our site you are basically making a donation to a very worthy cause at the same time, thank you (see our charity page).

If you would like to correct anything you believe is wrong or out-of-date here or provide extra text that could help others get the best out of Lovina and Pemuteran please feel free to contact us. If you would like more tourism information on any aspect of travel to / holidays in Pemuteran and / or Lovina, please visit our associated Bali Travel Forum.

If you have a favorite hotel or villa in Lovina or Pemuteran which does not have a direct reservations facility with us, please feel free to either contact us with a name and email address for that hotel / villa or ask them to visit our site and register. The more hotels and villas around Pemuteran and Lovina that join Travel Ethos, the more we can help needy children in Bali.