Uluwatu: Padang Padang at low tide, kecak on the cliff, Jimbaran on the sand
12 playbooks shared · added to 30 trips
- 8:30 am1Scooter down the BukitUluwatu
70,000-80,000 IDR a day plus fuel. The Bukit's roads are steep, narrow and busy with surf traffic, and police checkpoints on Jalan Uluwatu do ask for an international permit. If you are not confident, a driver for the day is about 600,000 IDR and does the same loop.
18 min walk · 1.3 km - 9 am2Padang Padang Beach through the rock staircaseUluwatu
15,000 IDR at the top, then a narrow stone staircase down through a cleft in the cliff. It is a small beach and it effectively disappears at high tide, so check the tide table the night before and come on a falling tide. Monkeys on the stairs will take an unzipped bag. If the tide is wrong, Thomas Beach five minutes south stays usable all day and has almost nobody on it.
19 min walk · 1.5 km - 12 pm3Lunch at Single Fin, SulubanUluwatu
Sunday evening here is a full party with a queue for the road. On a weekday at noon you get the same cliff view over the Uluwatu break with a table you can just sit at. Go down the stairs past the bar to the Suluban sea cave afterwards — again, only at low tide.
10 min by train or taxi · 6.2 km - 1:45 pm4Balangan Beach and a warung napUluwatu
Twenty minutes north, a long strip of sand under the cliff with bamboo warungs selling cold Bintang and grilled corn. The alternative afternoon if Padang Padang was crowded or the tide was wrong.
11 min by train or taxi · 6.9 km - 4 pm5Pura Luhur Uluwatu cliff pathUluwatu
60,000 IDR for adults, 40,000 for children, and a sarong and sash are handed out with the ticket — purple if your legs are already covered, a full sarong if not. Walk the north cliff path first: it is longer, emptier and looks back at the temple on its headland. The macaques here are organised thieves who specifically take sunglasses, phones and hats; wear nothing loose, and if they take something, the temple staff will trade fruit for it — do not chase.
20 min walk · 1.5 km - 6 pm6Kecak and fire dance in the cliff amphitheatreUluwatu
A separate 150,000 IDR ticket from the temple entry, sold at the booth by the car park from about 17:00 — and it sells out in July, August and around New Year, so buy it when you arrive at 16:00 rather than at 17:45. Sixty minutes, no instruments, seventy men chanting 'cak' while the Ramayana is acted out and the sun goes into the sea behind the stage. Sit high on the left for the sea behind the fire. In peak months a second show is added at 19:00, which is the calmer ticket but loses the sunset.
15 min by train or taxi · 9.6 km - 7:45 pm7Seafood on the sand at Menega Cafe, Muaya BeachJimbaran
Thirty minutes north of the temple. You pick from the tanks and it is priced by the kilogram: get the per-kilo price and the weight written on the slip BEFORE they cook, because the bill is where Jimbaran goes wrong for people. Grilled snapper, prawns and a plate of sambal matah is the order. Book a table on the sand for after the kecak — the front row goes at 19:00.