Legian Beach, One of the Most Popular Beaches in Bali

Legian Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Bali other than Jimbaran and Kuta. The beach has white sand and calm waves, perfect for surfing. Foreign tourists are interested in visiting the beach because it has complete facilities, like hotels, spas, bar, restaurant, and art shops. Visitors of the beach can shop souvenirs in the art shops when they go home. The popularity of Legian is always compared to Kuta. However, the beach is not too crowded just like Kuta. In addition, in Legian there is no road access toward the beach. Hence, the beach is quiet with fewer visitors than Kuta. For those who love peace, the beach is suitable for relaxation. 

Picture Blog.dibali.web.id

Location

          Legian Beach is situated in Legian Village, Kuta District, Badung Regency. It takes about 20 minutes driving from Ngurah Rai Airport and 13 minutes from Denpasar City. The beach lies next to Kuta. Thus, if you are in Kuta, you can go to Legian on foot. The beach is near Seminyak as well. You can also go from Seminyak to Legian on foot. As previously mentioned, the beach is not as crowded as Kuta. However, over the years, many visitors are interested more and more in this beach. Thus, visitors increase year by year. The government now is trying to develop more facilities for tourists. And so does the local people. They try their best to serve the tourists, which come either from around Indonesia or all over the world. 

Activities

          You can surf, dive, swim or snorkel in this beach. However, the most popular activity you can do here is bungy jumping. This is one of extreme sports offered by this beach. You can jump from a tower with the height of 45 meter. There is one mode of Bungy Jumping, namely AJ Hawckett, near Club Double Six. You can do bungy jumping in the morning, afternoon or evening. Ask your friend or family to take a picture of you when you jump. This will be the best remembrance of your visit to Legian. In the evening, you can prepare yourself to find the best place to enjoy the sunset. You’ll see the beautiful sun setting in the west. The sun will look like it touches the horizon.

Accommodations

          When you visit Legian, you can stay in Legian Beach Villa. The villa offers various rates for visitors. You can adjust your budget with the rate of the villa. If you have enough, you can select the most luxurious room. The rate also always changes depending on the season. At low season, i.e. at the rest of year, the rate is about Rp6,675,000 ($695.00) per night 8 persons. At high season, i.e. June to October, the rate is Rp7,635,000 ($795.00) per night 8 persons. While at peak season, i.e. December to January, the rate is Rp8,600,000 ($895.00) per night 8 persons. 

          Overall, Legian offers the best service for visitors coming to the beach. Hence, you will not find any difficulties to find various facilities, such as ATM, taxi or bus. Legian Beach should be your destination when you visit Bali.

Gili Meno, a Tranquil Island With Beautiful Panorama In Lombok

Gili Meno is one of beautiful small islands in Lombok. You may ever heard about Gili Trawangan in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. Gili Meno itself lies between Gili Trawangan and Gili Air. But the beauty of the island is comparable because you can enjoy the natural beauty here, such as the a small lake, diving and snorkeling spots. Beside that, the lining coconut trees standing along the beach and looks like the bodyguard of the beach. As you come, you will admire the crystal water on the seabed, fine and white sand. You can rest for a while to enjoy waves of water under the trees.

The atmosphere in the Gili Meno is so tranquil and peaceful. It can be a perfect place to escape from the hustle because there is no vehicles here. Most of visitors who just already arrive at the beach, they cannot wait and directly jumping into the water to swim. You will love to stay longer here because the island offers you a great sensation of vacation and you will meet friendly local residents. 

Picture berbagifun.blogspot.com

Location

Gili Mene lies between Gili Air and Gili Trawangan. Precisely, it lies at the North Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. To reach the island, you can take public transportation or rent a boat. If you decide to take a public transportation, you need to pay around IDR10,000 or US$1 per person and IDR175,000 or US$17.5 to rent a boat from Bangsal Port.

To cross the island, it takes around an hour. But, the schedule is available only in the certain conditions. From Bangsal Port, usually the boat departs at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. If you start your journey from Mataram City, it needs around 45 minutes to reach Bangsal Port. If you take a boat, you need to pay IDR25,000 or US$2.5. But, if you start your trip from Gili Trawangan, you can take a boat at 9.30 a.m. and 4 a.m. From Gili Air, the boat departs at 8.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. by paying IDR25, 000 or US$2.5.  

Accommodations

The transportation in Gili Meno is only cidomo. Thus, you can imagine how quiet is it here. But, you can spend your holiday longer because there are many lodges, such as Tao Kombo Travel Lodge, Gazebo Meno, Manta Dive Gili Air Hotel in Gili Air and Ombak Sunset Hotel in Gili Trawangan.

Activities

The first activity you can do as you arrive at Gili Meno is take a tour by cidomo. Cidomo is just like a wagon and if you intend to enjoy the scenery around the island, you need to pay IDR150,000 or US$15. If you have talent to bargain, you can get friendly price because they may give you IDR100,000 or US$10. 

If you come to Gili Meno in the low season, you can rent a boat so that you can go to many diving and snorkeling spots. Usually, they will charge you around IDR350,000 or US$35 per trip, including life jacket and other equipments. The underwater scenery in Gili Meno is so beautiful. Even, you still can meet big turtles, colorful fish, and coral reef. When you dive, don’t miss to explore marine life, especially the coral reef at the east of the beach. If you are lucky, you may meet the groups of fish. Because the water very clear, the vision underwater is quite good.

After you explore underwater life in Gili Meno, you can continue your journey to visit Turtle Sanctuary. This is an area to breed the turtles. Then, you can go to Bird Park. This park collects birds from Indonesia and other countries. By paying iDR50,000 or US$5 per person, you can see many species of birds. At the west of the island, there is a shallow lake that produces salt in the dry season. Thus, there are many things you can do when you visit Gili Meno.

Tidore Island, Visiting Historical Tourist Destination In North Maluku

Tidore Island is one of islands in North Maluku, Indonesia. The location lies at the west of Halmahera Island and close to Ternate Island. As a historical island, Tidore has many interesting spots for tourist destinations. Besides that, the panorama in Akesahu which lies on the coastline looks so stunning because it has a background of Tidore Mountain and Maitara Island. This area becomes more popular because all of Indonesian people recognize Maitara Island on the banknote of IDR1,000.

As natural and historical tourism, the local government has been trying to develop the infrastructure and facilities here. It is not surprising because Tidore Island has potential tourism in Eastern Indonesia. With the natural scenery, beaches, peculiar tradition and culture, it makes Tidore becomes one of tourist destinations in Indonesia.

Picture Tharaes.blogspot.com

Location

Tidore Island doesn’t have an airport. If you start your journey from Jakarta, you can take a flight to Babullah Airport at Ternate Island. You can take Garuda, Lion Air, or Sriwijaya Air that takes around four hours. As you arrive at the airport, you can continue your trip to Bastiong Port for about 10 minutes. From Bastiong, there are two options to go to Rum Port in Tidore Island, i.e. by a speedboat and ferry. If you choose a ferry, you need to pay IDR5,000 or US$0.5 per person for about 30 minutes. If you choose a speedboat, you need to pay IDR8,000 or US$0.8 per person for about five minutes.

After you arrive at Rum Port, you can take local transportation to Soasio City, the capital of Tidore Islands by paying IDR9,000 or US$0.9 for about 30 minutes. Along the journey to Soasio City, you will see the coastal area with beautiful scenery and witness Gamalama Mountain in Ternate. The easier way to reach Soasio City is by riding a bentor or motorcycle. for this, you only need to pay around IDR4.000 or US$0.4.

Accommodations

The accommodations in the Tidore Island are adequate. When you decide to stay in Seroja Hotel, you need to pay IDR200,000 or US$20 per night. Besides that, you also can stay in the guest houses. If you want to taste local dishes, you can come to Waroeng Alriska.

Activities

As you come to Tidore Island, you can visit many tourist destinations here. First, you can go to Keraton Tidore or Tidore Palace. In this place, you can see a luxurious Tidore Palace with the background of Kie Matubu Mountain that has altitude 1,730 meters. On the first floor, there is a museum. The museum collects the journey of Kesultanan Tidore and the arrival of colonizer to search condiments.  

The next destination is Gura Bunga. Gura Bunga is a village on the slope of Kie Matubu Mountain. This village is so popular as the residence for sowohi or the connector between Kesultanan Tidore and the spirit of the ancestors. As the residence of suwohi, you will see six houses there. The age of the house is considered about hundred years. 

But, don’t think you will find modern houses, electricity and sophisticated appliances because you will only see simple houses. It was made from bamboo, ground floor, and the roof made from sago leaves. To reach Gura Bunga, you can take public transportation and you need to pay around IDR10,000 or US$1 from Soasio Terminal. If you want the easy way, you can rent a car and pay IDR150,000 or US$15 per day.

The last destination is visiting Tahula Fort in Soasio City. The fort was made by Spanish sailors. To reach the fort, you need to come up on the stairs. Then, you can continue your trip to visit Tore Fort. The fort was made by Portuguese. Generally, it is easy to find these forts. As you come there, you can see the scenery of beaches that separates Tidore Island and Halmahera Islands.

Kaliantan Beach, A Remote Beach With Bau Nyale Festival In Lombok

Kaliantan Beach is a popular beach for the white sand and middle waves of water. The small hills surrounds the beach creates beautiful scenery. Around the hill, the shape of sand just like the small pepper resemble to Mandalika Beach or Kuta Beach in Central Lombok. Kaliantan is not as famous as Senggigi Beach or Kuta Beach. But, the beauty of the beach is comparable. The golden sunset in the sky will invite anyone to enjoy their vacation here. This is one of an exotic panorama and that is why some people call this as the golden sunset.

The atmosphere around Kaliantan Beach is so quiet because this is one of a remote area. We can say if the beach still virgin with clear water and calm waves. The texture of the sand and the coral reef become the main attractions for tourist who visits the beach. They can snorkel and surf because the waves of water very supported. Kaliantan also becomes a choice for one who wants to escape from the hustle. It looks more stunning as the pasture stretches widely behind the beach.

Picture Gururidho.blogspot.com

Location

Kaliantan Beach lies in the Jerowaru sub-district, East Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. You can reach the beach from Mataram City to the east to East Lombok Regency for about an hour. Then, you can go to the south to Sikur sub district – Sakra – Keruak – Jerowaru – Pamongkong – Kaliantan for about 1.5 hours. If you start your trip from the airport, it takes around 2.5 hours by a car. Because there is no public transportation, you can rent a car or motorcycle. If you want a practical solution, you can rent a car with a driver. Thus, along the trip you can enjoy the green scenery.

Accommodations

In Kaliantan Beach, there is no food stalls, hotel or lodges. Thus, you have to bring your snacks and drinking water before you go. Besides that, please come earlier because it gives you the chance to explore the area of the beach and back home earlier as well.

Activities

As mentioned above, when you come to Kaliantan Beach, you can do many water activities, such as snorkeling, diving, and swimming. In the certain occasions, the waves of water are powerful and strong. This is very good for surfing. Even, if are an amateur surfer, you still can try this one. Beside it has an amazing panorama, one of the main attractions in Kaliantan is a cultural tradition named as Bau Nyale Ceremony. This is just like a public party to catch the sea worm.

The tradition is organized during February to March. It can be said that all of the residents in Lombok Island will come to Kaliantan Beach to participate the tradition. The nyale or kind of sea worm has benefit of medical and blessing. The ceremony is held annually and it has become one of a favorite rite in Lombok.

As you are in Kaliantan Beach, you can explore the area around the beach. You can visit Tanjung Bloam. This is a location for turtle conservation that stretches from the south to the north of the coastline.