Padang Bai is a small village on the east coast of Bali. I think the village is mainly known for being the place where you can take the fast boat to the Gili Islands or the ferry to Lombok. That was also our plan when we got here. But actually, the village is so nice and easy to get around that we decided to spend a few days here. This is how we spent our days;
We start off with a great coffee at the Topi Inn. It is the very last restaurant along the beach while keeping the beach on your right hand side. They serve the best coffee in Padang Bai and the people are very friendly. Plus, they have free wifi, which is not always common here.
Then we walked up the hill just after Topi Inn in the direction of the Blue Lagoon. You go up the hill to the left at the end of the beach in Padang Bai, and then the first parking place at the right hand side leads you to some steps down to the beach. The Blue Lagoon is a beautiful, very small, white sand beach just around the corner of Padang Bai. The beach is surrounded by tropical forest trees on vulcano rocks and looks like a private beach. It is basically just one restaurant with some sunbeds on the beach (20.000 Rp per bed for a full day!) the waves are high, but not too high and it is very quiet. You can have lunch on the beach with a view like this…
If you would prefer a more budget option, you can go to the white sand beach on the other side of the village, Bias Tugel. No sunbeds there, just a few huts where you can eat (really great food for nearly nothing). Do not forget to bring your sarong to lie on.
Around 15h00 we walked back to the hostel for a little nap in order to get ready for a yoga class at 17h00. This yoga class takes place up on the hill on the right hand side of the village and is taught by an American lady, miss Kimberly, who lives in Bali for 8 months of the year and spends the other 4 in the States or in some yoga retreat in India. The view again was amazing. While doing the assana’s, instead of using our “right leg” or “left leg”, miss Kimberly asked us to use our “mountain leg” or “ocean leg”. You can see here why….
Feeling all relaxed after this great yoga class, we went for dinner at the Padang Bai bar, a very tiny restaurant along the beach. The restaurant has only 4 tables and I ate the best freshly grilled mahi mahi that they grill right on the beach!
After dinner we either went for cocktails at the Budda bar by the end of the beach (happy hour every night with cocktails at half price) or for a beer at the Napoleon next to the car park where they play reggae all night. Where to go really depends on your mood…
Then back to the hostel for a very good night sleep. The hostel we stayed in is called The Lemon House. It is run by a Brittish couple, Ben and Clare, who own a beautiful house up on the hill on the right side of the village. The rooms are spacious and have very comfy beds. Ben and Clare will answer all of your questions, give tips on where to go and can help organizing the rest of your trip. We bought our tickets for the fast boat to Gili Trawangan from them at half price.(www.lemonhouse.me).
Dutchies go Global 