Another beach I spent my day at is Padang Padang beach. This trip to Bali had me spending most of my days at the beaches in the southern point near Uluwatu area. I kinda missed the beaches of black sand in the Lovina area on the other side of the island. You can see the beautiful black sand beaches on my Bali horse riding post.
Most people feel that Padang Padang isn’t as pretty as dreamland because it has a rather narrow strip of beach but the more secluded spot still belongs to the locals and has a irreplaceable relax vibe to it.
Padang Padang is another pro-surfer beach and only the best come here for the surf as the waves breaks on a shelf of reef, coral, and sharp rocks. While you get to see many surfers in surfing in gigantic barrels scoring hollowed waves, it’s extremely technical to navigate the waves at Padang Padang and only those who can surf well should try. A strong rip tide and undertow with a big swell over 6 feet gives the surfers plenty of challengers. The direction that this wave breaks is a left-hander, and can be ridden from 50-150 meters on a normal day and 150- 300 meters on a really good day. I think Rip Curl just organised an international surf competition there!
I’ve tried my hands on surfing before. In the Alantic Ocean when I was in Florida… and while surfing was fun, I find most of my energy was spent trying to get out into the water! I’ll take 3 steps forward and be swept 2 steps back when the wave hits me. It doesn’t help that I’m carrying a huge surf board that’s twice my height and size.
Padang Padang is a scenic place and here spotted is a couple doing their wedding photo shoot.
So what does one do on a pro-surfing beach if one doesn’t want to surf? Well, just enjoy the place! Swimming in the clear waters and exploring the cliffs . There are many caves and holes at the cliffs on the side which are accessible during low tide.
All it takes is a keen adventurous spirit and my trusty pair of ballet crocs. I had to keep my shoes on cause the rocks and the reefs can be rather sharp. It might take a bit of climbing too! Some of the caves contain hidden reservoirs of clear water with white sandy beaches while others are bat caves.
I can stay at the beaches day in and day out and not get sick of the sun, sand and sea. It’s such a pity my little sunny island of Singapore can’t have cleaner waters and beaches.
Walking around the coral reefs and with such clear water, you could see the corals up close even without snorkeling! There were quite a few glow in the dark ones and in the little crevices, there are sea urchins and crabs!
After my swim, I put on a singlet dress and went around taking more photos before the tide rose again.
I also bravely went to explore the bat caves. It’s extremely noisy!
And explored into more serene caves that look like a secret hideaway! It’ll be fun being a kid again and having all the imagination with such a place.
With all these beaches just 20 mins from Kuta, I wonder why Kuta beach is still so crowded!
I spent the last moments of the beautiful sunlight basking on the beach. Just lying around and resting… drying off from my swim while watching planes fly by.
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The twilight hour on the beach was almost magical. Everyone just went back to the beach to admire the setting sun and the glorious rays.
I was absolutely reluctant to see the sun go down!
But soon it was getting too dark to be on the beach any longer and it was time to head off.
Here’s the video of my adventures at Padang Padang Beach.