Winding Roads & Never Ending TalesFamily trips, wrong turns and the places we still talk about.
Seminyak and South Bali: Beaches, Villa Days and Toddler Pace
A private pool sounds like a small part of a Bali itinerary until your child gets into it. Then suddenly the sightseeing has competition! For the last part of our anniversary holiday, we stayed in Seminyak and explored the southern beaches. There was plenty outside to tempt us, but between the heat and our daughter's enthusiasm for the villa, we were learning that a good family holiday does not have to mean being out all day.
Days 5-7 took us to Seminyak and the South Bali beaches before the flight home.
In this article
A note on this archive story
From the travel archive, first published 4 Mar 2017. This is our experience at the time, not a current price or booking guide. Check opening hours, access, fares and services before making your own plans.
Can you use Seminyak as a family base for South Bali?
We stayed in Seminyak for the final part of our week and combined villa time with southern sightseeing. The practical lesson was to keep a shorter alternative ready when the afternoon became too hot for our daughter.
Day 5: Seminyak Beach and Villa
How exciting it is to have a room at the edge of the cliff overlooking blue waters, and then a morning where the sun literally wakes you up with its majestic orange light and a painted sky. This was our last day on the island and bidding farewell to awesome caretakers of the place we again started our journey back via the boat to the main island of Bali.
After being in the midst of township last time in Rama Beach Resort we wanted a more private option and have chosen Astana Batubelig Villa with private pools for last two days of the trip. Bali is full of some of the world’s most beautiful Villas and one should definitely stay here to enjoy the lavish lifestyle that comes with it.
The area we were staying was Seminyak that is known for its nightlife and some of the best clubs.
Bali is a land of some exquisite restaurant which serve food on your table in the middle of the jungle to places with live crocodile and other wild animals sitting right next to you. In fact, in Marine Wildlife safari you can get your pictures clicked sitting next to a lion under watchful eyes of the trainer. Although the marine park has a night safari which should be taken to experience wildlife in a new light(sic) and costs 75 USD with dinner.
Back to the villa, it was a treat for eyes and body with some tastefully done bedroom, huge washroom and full Jacuzzi fitted private pool. My baby had a blast playing in the pool and the bathtub. Overall a taste of exclusiveness. The place although does not have any attached restaurant but that won’t matter as we have a rich mix of food serving places all within a walking distance.
Sardine was one of the bigger restaurant names nearby, but I found my favourite dessert at a small place called Apples. Tried it once and then kept going back after dinner. So much for trying somewhere new every evening!
Unfortunately I did not note the dessert's name. I remember liking it enough to eat it again during the same short stay, which probably tells you more than another long restaurant review.
Day 6: South Bali Tour: Hidden beaches
This was our last day in heaven, Heaven yeah I think it’s an apt synonym for the place. So what more can you expect from your last day? But it seems destiny has saved the best of the lot for us. Originally this day was supposed to be a different plan but within last few weeks due to extreme heat and baby over my shoulders, I had to do a reshuffle of the same. This lead to this day where we were supposed to visit Tanah Lot temple, Pandava beach, Padang Padang beach and finally the Uluwatu Temple or Pura Luhur Uluwatu.
So first stop was Tanah lot also called as the sunset temple as you have some awesome view with the sun setting in the backdrop of the temple. The setting itself is perfect it is situated on a remote cliff in the middle of the sea like protecting it from invaders and only an Indonesian can set foot in the main premise that too with the help of a boat.
Balinese architecture is quite evident here as well adding to the grandeur of the place coupled with black lava coloured ground. After centuries of large waves persistently crashing at its rock base, Tanah Lot faced the constant threat of erosion, reaching a significant decline in 1980. The authorities carried out preservation efforts to Tanah Lot and other historical sites island-wide with aid from the Japanese government.
Fully restored, a third of the present Tanah Lot is actually artificial rock. Only on the low tide, the path made of stones to the temple is visible and one needs to be careful even then to cross it. This somehow reminds of the rumoured bridge between India and Sri Lanka by Lord Ram and Hanuman.
Our car drove straight to a long ride to the southernmost beach of the place called pandawa beach. Once you start the ride down the beach road the first thing you notice is unlike any other beach huge idols of all the Pandava brothers and their mother Kunti who are treated as heroes of Mahabharata. It’s all made of natural limestone cliffs that have been carved to create a road. This was actually a hidden beach till 2012 when this road was made.
From here we took right as we wanted to explore the area with a calmer beach. One can also go left to have a stone filled beach ideal for some surfing. And wow what a sight it was in middle of all those cliffs lay the most picturesque, exquisite and exotic beach whose water is a combination of green and blue. The secret story of green colour is from seaweed farming by the locales nearby. The look is eventually elevated to unfathomable natural sea panorama with the presence of white sand, blue sky and Surf.
We had some amazing time playing in pure white sand and crystal clear water. We really cursed ourself in not choosing to stay more at this place. Next time maybe our resort will be nearby. As we moved on we crossed a small bridge with a small beach view in distance. We were about to ask about the place when our driver announced there is our next destination, a really well-hidden beach named Padang Padang.
Once it was discovered engineers had to blast through the cliff and carve around 100 steps to reach this place. And wow its like coming out of a cave in a brilliantly lit paradise of your own. It’s a very small beach but just the nestling of it between cliff is breathtaking. Bali, wow you can make someone fall in love for you, again and again, pulling out a rabbit out of the hat every time.
The final stop of this wonderful and fulfilling journey was Uluwatu Temple, or Pura Luhur Uluwatu, one of six key temples believed to be Bali's spiritual pillars, is renowned for its magnificent location, perched on top of a steep cliff approximately 70 metres above sea level. 'Ulu' means the ‘top’ or the ‘tip’ and 'watu' means a ‘stone’ or a ‘rock’ in Balinese.
This temple also shares the splendid sunset backdrops as that of Tanah Lot Temple, another important sea temple located on the island's western shores. The Balinese Hindus believe that the three divine powers of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva become one here. That belief results in making Uluwatu Temple a place of worship of Siva-Rudra, the Balinese Hindu deity of all elements and aspects of life in the universe.
You have to keep your lower half covered before entering the place and you get them on rent while booking the tickets to the entrance. Beware this place has acres of forest area which are inhabited by yes you guessed it Monkeys. The entry guys will actually warn you to take out any necklace or loose shining objects and keep them well hidden to avoid the encounter.
Day 7: Final Adieu
So with every great thing coming to an end, we headed back to our villa still lost in the dreamland. A night sleep and morning breakfast put the curtain to the Bali trip. A place which by no means is ever captured in 7 days but nevertheless always remains at your heart forever because of not only the beauty of the place but by friendly faces all around, some excellent service all around. Hope we can come again sometime. Good Bye Bali and thanks for making our anniversary so special. The final view from Aircraft was still inviting as we flew back to India.
What I would keep in mind
- Check the actual steps between your room, restaurant and beach before booking.
- Keep a shorter alternative for a hot afternoon with a toddler.
Looking back: Animal rides or handling encounters mentioned in this old diary are part of what happened then, not recommendations for a future trip. I would choose observation without rides, feeding or handling.
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