Padang Padang Beach
停止: 60 minutes
To reach the beach, head up along Jalan Raya Uluwatu. Around 30 minutes’ drive past the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park, a junction with signs that clearly read ‘Jalan Labuan Sait’ leads you along a hilly but smooth 3.5-km asphalt route. This region has developed a lot with its rise to fame as a surfing destination. It’s now lined with shops, surf lodges and neat, western-style cafés targeted at the surfing crowd.
Beach access is down the slope across the road from a large parking area. Before this is a bridge that connects the 2 sides of the limestone cliff, offering a glimpse down to the beach from up high. Halfway down the flight of stairs is a temple that overlooks the surf, and you’ll occasionally see playful grey long-tailed macaques playing around the stairs on the Balinese gapura gate or high up in the acacia trees. A fun fact: Padang Padang Beach was featured as a romantic setting in the 2010 big-screen adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love.