Dreamy Bali Beaches for Every Traveller

Bali beaches are the stuff of dreams – and movies, and there’s one to suit the whim of every traveller.

The Island of the Gods is known for many things – its spirituality and culture, its luxury resorts and wellness experiences, its rice paddies and tropical jungle. But topping the list of attractions is its sandy shores – Bali beaches are some of the world’s best.

Here we’ve selected seven to suit the gamut of travellers, be they surfer, swimmer, sunbather, snorkeller or just plain old sightseer.

In short

Virgin Beach or Pantai Pasir Putih, East Bali — The entrance to Virgin Beach, or Pantai Pasir Putih, winds through dense vegetation. (Credit: Getty/GWMB)

If you only visit one beach in Bali make it Virgin Beach. For a sandy slice of old Bali, Virgin Beach, in East Bali’s Karangasem, is a southeast-facing white stretch of sand protected by rocky peninsulas at each end. It is accessed via a scenic winding road through Bukit Asah, a natural parkland featuring beautiful ocean views (It’s worth the small entry fee). The beach is well appointed with a small carpark, a stretch of coconut tree shaded grassland for camping, and a mix of Indonesian eateries, from a smart restaurant with a pool, to simple warungs cooking local fish on open grills. Fishermen Cafe, with recliners spread out on a grassy lawn and a covered pavilion set up with tables and chairs, is my favourite. Traditional reef boats along the shoreline add character to the place, so too the friendly warungs that rent out their recliners so beach-going parents can have a massage while the kids play in the gentle swell.

Jungut Batu Beach, Nusa Lembongan

Best for: Explorers

Jungut Batu Beach is the showstopper strip of white sand on Nusa Lembongan, the sleepy surfy getaway a 30-minute ferry ride away from mainland Bali. Boats travelling the 12 kilometres from mainland Sanur dock along Jungut Batu and visitors to the island don’t need to travel much further for the action.

Accommodation options line the foreshore, from four-star resorts and villas to basic beachfront huts and the main shopping strip, Jalan Jungut Batu, runs along the street behind. Surf breaks, including Lacerations, Playgrounds and Shipwrecks (named for the dilapidated rusty wreck just offshore), are accessible from the beach and are mostly suited to experienced surfers, but there are plenty of surf lessons on offer along the beach.

With views (depending on the weather) of cloud-topped Mt Agung, Bali’s highest mountain, this is an idyllic place to drink and dine with your toes in the sand, whether it’s under the shady tree at Ombak Cafe & Huts, in the beach chic ambience of Indiana Kenanga restaurant or under the fairy lights at Nyoman Warung.

Padang Padang Beach, Uluwatu

Best for: Romantics

Picture a pirate’s cove on a treasure island and you’ll have some idea what Uluwatu’s Padang Padang Beach looks and feels like. As seen in the ‘Eat, Pray Love’ movie, this paradisical slip of golden sand on the Bukit Peninsula, on Bali’s most southern tip, has rainforest-covered limestone cliffs on each side and a blue-green shoreline with rocky outcrops and coral reef.

Protected waters and surf lifeguards make it a popular choice for swimming closer to shore but mind yourself further out where it’s known for its currents, high swell and epic barrelling waves suited to guru surfers only.

Access is via a carpark on Jalan Labuan Sait in Pecatu Village where there’s a small cash fee payable for parking and entry. Plenty of vendors here sell beach supplies including sarongs and water. From the car park it’s a fittingly idyllic walk to the beach walk down a well-maintained cliff-hugging set of (very) steep stairs. It’s a tiny beach so it does get busy and mind the monkeys don’t steal your wallet!

Medewi Beach, Jembrana Regency

Medewi Beach at sunset — The volcanic black sand beach of Medewi faces the Indian Ocean on Bali’s remote southwestern coast. (Credit: Getty/LunaVista)

Best for: surfers

In Jembrana Regency in West Bali, this under-the-radar black sand beach backed by a tropical hinterland is home to Bali’s longest left-hand wave, a highlight that has attracted an easy-going surfer community.

The village is chill and slightly retro with surf-front cafes, surf shacks where you can rent boards and a laidback surf camp or two including Medewi Secret Surf Camp. The distance from the airport – about a three-hour drive, likely also helps keep the place on the down-low.

The main break is on a rocky point best accessed via a tricky swim-through channel at low tide (ask for directions at the beach warung). There’s an easier right-hand break south of this wave.  Bombora Medewi hotel is right on the beach and (to the right of the car park) Magic Hand Massage is good for a post-surf rub-down.

Echo Beach, Canggu

the main road of Canggu leading to the beach — The main road of Canggu leads directly to the beach. (Credit: Getty/Valeria Venezia)

Best for: Party-people

If there’s ever a beach that truly captures the vibe of Bali’s southern shores, it’s Echo Beach in Canggu. This touristy neighbourhood known for its traffic, tourists and a bustling array of shops, eateries and bars, also features a black volcanic sand beach and some of the island’s most popular waves.

Best accessed via Jalan Pantai Batu Mejan, Echo is home to La Brisa beach club along with casual warungs serving the likes of nasi goreng, pizza and sushi. Customers sit on squat tables and beanbags in the sand, the perfect place to watch surfers queuing for a wave and to admire the unbeatable sunsets. Echo’s pinky, lemony evening skies are some of the island’s most idyllic, whether sipping a cocktail or a coconut.

Melasti Beach

Best for: Families

Located in Uluwatu’s Ungasan on Bali’s most southern tip (the next stop south being Exmouth in Western Australia), Melasti is an all-rounder beach destination perfectly equipped for long Bali days in the sea and sun.

It is about 2 kilometres long with rock pools at its eastern end and limestone cliffs sitting behind it. But what swimmers, sunbathers and sandcastle-builders like best is access to calm turquoise Indian Ocean waters and a wide expanse of white sand.

Melasti is easily accessible with beachfront parking (where you pay entry fees) and practical for day-trippers who will appreciate toilets, changing rooms and showers.

Cruisy beachfront warungs have rows of umbrella-shaded recliners along the shoreline or upgrade to a beach club. The pick of them is Uma Beach Club, part of nearby Umana Resort Bali, which has an oceanfront pool and restaurant metres from the waves.

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Keramas Beach

Best for: Pro surfers

In Gianyar Regency, also in East Bali, Keramas Beach has a world-class right-hand wave that puts on a particularly good show in the wet season when professional surfers flock to the area.

The volcanic black sand beach feels wind-swept and remote, a feeling amplified by the magnificent views to Mt Agung, but in fact it’s spitting distance from Hotel Komune, a surfer-cool, family-friendly hangout whose poolside sun loungers and restaurant overlook the waves.

In the dry season, the beach is good for amateur surfers, daring swimmers and beach-lovers who will appreciate Bali’s wilder side.

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.

Bali’s best beaches for every kind of traveller