• Selling Last and Love in Bali
• What to Do-Kuta and Seminyak
• The Hidden Life of South Bali
• The Struggle to Save Bali's Turtles
• Jimbaran-The Bukit
• What to Do-Impossible Surf at The Bukit
• Fair Trade in Bali
• Ubud
• A Dance for Every Day
• Balinese Painters
• Ubud-What to do
• A Word of Dance
• East Bali in a Nutshell
• The Hidden life of East Bali
• Klungkung
• Where to Stay-Padang Bay
• Where to Stay Candidasa
• First and Third World in Tenganan
• Amlapura-Tirtagangga
• Tirtagangga and Around
• Amed Beach
• Planning Your Trip: The Best of Bali
• South Bali in a Nutshell

 

Amed Beach

Living on Dry land

After passing the verdant rice terraces of Tirtagangga, the landscape changes dramatically as one reaches the northeast coast. Hidden behind Mt Agung and the small­er Mt Seraya on the easternmost tip of Bali , the east coast receives little rainfall, and bears a lot of resemblance to Lombok , visible across the strait. Clinging to austere slopes, small communities carve a tough living from peanuts, cassava and fishing. Tourism is sparse and provides only small additional income. It feels like another world as you drive along winding roads leading to black – sand beaches full of colourful jukung boats.

The area referred to by tourists as Amed Beach is a string of villages stretching to the east of the village of Amed . Tourism development started in this area only in the mid-90s, and in 1997, the Asian financial crisis put a halt to the building frenzy before it had a chance to ruin Amed like it did Candidasa and Lovina. Today, Amed has good choice of hotels and dive shops pleas­antly scattered along the coast. Several hotel owners are taking steps to preserve their environment, working with fishermen to clean the beach or organizing waste recycling. This as area to relax, walk in the nearby hills, swim, explore great coral, and perhaps spot a dolphin.

Candidasa and Lovina

jukung boats lined

Indonesian for playing

the road climbs