Breezing Through Lovina Beach

I’m not sure that Lovina Beach is all that it’s cracked up to be. We had just finished our tour of Bali’s ancient capital, Singaraja, which had been the object of riots, burning of buildings, looting,-all in the name of dissatisfaction over the winner of the presidential election. About 10 miles west of there, lies Lovina Beach with its black volcanic sand, and nary a dolphin in sight, the reason for which most people come here.

Our bus tour intended for us to stop here for lunch and not do any exploration of any kind; to add insult to injury, the lunch was pretty awful, despite the fact that we had an interesting view of the ocean, and eating in the open air is always a joyful experience. The water appears to be calm and fairly shallow; a woman peddler accosted me as I was wetting my feet and wanted to sell me saris at any cost. I positively refused although she continued to follow me as I dug my toes in the black sand, kicked up some water and ran back to our table to join the others.

Lovina is reputed for attracting water sportsmen (people if you prefer) who can do all the things I refuse to do such as as diving, snorkeling, and water skiing. The village itself is surrounded by rice paddies naturally, as well as fields; for commerce, there are shops who sell furniture and textiles complemented by the services provided by the hotel and restaurant industry.

I suppose if one were to wish to escape the pervasive touristy Kuta Beach to the South, this might offer a peaceful alternative. They indicated that parallel to the coast runs a long coral reef, so divers and snorkelers would certainly be tempted to come to Lovina. I would be hard pressed to recall the name of the restaurant that served us lunch, but consider that a blessing since I don’t really recommend the food here. It’s served buffet style, as customary, with bus tours and the food did not appear nor taste very fresh.

If you do come to Lovina for a few days, they do have some lovely hotels in the area that are very inexpensive due to the distance from Ngurah Rai airport in Tuban. Also in the area is a natural hot spring, a waterfall, a monkey temple and those are always fun, a traditional market and some ancient temples as well. The pictures below depict denizens of Bali waters.