The waiting is over, Benny’s beautiful picture of Far far Away Beach has attracted so many people wanting to know where the location is. I receive so many emails on regular basis from all over the world and most of them telling the same story : It’s their honeymoon, and the secret will only be kept for themselves. It was the period where our favorite weekend getaway is to find the non-touristy beaches in Bali, or if we do find ourselves in Kuta or Legian Beach, we wanted to make sure we are doing something fun and different than just sunbathing.
To date, this blog post of My Top 5 Favorite Beaches in Bali has hit more than 85,513 views (Thank you all!), making it the most read post beat the Dreamland Beach Tragedy post. Both of these have also received lots of ‘spicy’ comments, either on the way I tell the story to the I-am-begging-you-please-pretty-please to reveal the a Far far away beach location. Having been preoccupied with my main freelance job and now have Baby Geo in our life, this secret beach reveal has been put aside.
The reason why I don’t write the location and the name of the no.5 Far Far Away Beach is because I don’t want the Dreamland Tragedy happen again. For instant, Padang padang Beach who used to be one of a nap time beach for me and Benny back then has also now been on top of the list of Bali visitors. It’s like every secret beach is not a secret anymore now because everyone tweeted it, facebook it, foursquare it, pin it, the social media list could go on…oh, and one more: path it!
So here it is : White Sand Beach aka Virgin Beach, on Prasi Village, stretch along the Candidasa coastline, in Karangasem Regency, another off-the-beaten-path beach hidden between Prasi and Bukit Bugbug cliffs. Like any other secret beach in Bali, you need to get through a rough track towards the beach where it can become very muddy after a heavy rain. But once you get there, it all worth it..
My first visit to Virgin Beach was in 2004 where everything about this place felt magical, deserted, out of this world, postcard picture scenery. As the time goes by and people started to notice this piece of heaven and with the help of social media pictures, this hidden spot soon became just another popular beach in Bali with usual scenes : tourist and their guides, tourist cars, umbrellas, shops, more umbrellas, and cafes..This is not the pristine white sandy beach I’ve discovered anymore and became the no 1 most frequent asked question for the location by my dearly beloved readers..And with the big developer planning to build a high-end resort complex in this area, I’m telling you this is your last chance to enjoy the beach peacefully…
How to get there:
From By Pass Sanur, turn right on By Pass IB Mantra, pass Kusamba Village. When you get to Klungkung regency and pass the Goa Lawah, you will notice an intersection : take the Amlapura direction. Once arrive at Bug Bug Village, this means you are almost there. It’s a bit hard to find where to turn off the main road of Candidasa, but do notice on your left side (if you are from Denpasar) a balinese black stone gate elementary school SD Imbas Gugus 2, turn right on the small bumpy road, just across this school. A small wooden sign hanging and almost fall ‘White Sand Beach is ‘almost noticeable’!
Candidasa
Parking space : Two options. The one near village temple, spacious, but you need to walk approx.700m (to the beach and back!) Or park near by the beach under the coconut trees and watch out for the Coco-BOOM!
Trip duration : 2 hours drive from Denpasar. Hire a driver is advisable, so you won’t miss the turn-off from the main road of Candidasa.
What & Where to eat : fresh caught fish, icy cold Bintang, fresh coconut. First warung from your left: Ibu Maria (and she still hasn’t fixed the broken wooden toilet door since 2004!), but my favourite Warung Wayan Gede (two cafes to the right after Ibu Maria’s)
Near by tourist attractions : Goa Lawah temple and bat cave; Tenganan Village for Bali Aga community (the original Balinese); Amed – the fishermen village, Water Palace at Tirta Gangga (20 minutes northeast of Candidasa) and enjoy the beautiful scenery of rice paddy terraces.
Note :
– This post is based on my last visit in 2011 and we haven’t been there again ever since.
– All photos are by my husband Benny ‘bartcatapult Risanto, please do check out his beautiful photography work on www.risanto.com
– Thank you all for being patient with me during this long hiatus of pregnancy and maternity, our beautiful son Geo just can’t wait for his Bali’s secret beach adventure. I hope you enjoy the White Sand Beach, Virgin Beach..
I need a lift, please…
Hi there,
I am planning to make a present for my girlfriend birthday and i would like to give her as a gift a trip to bali.
My first question is regarding the weather. We have holidays at the beginning of July so I would like to ask if this is a good season to go or if it is raining to much?
My second question is about a Small villa I would rent. I ve find this one in Seminyak http://www.divinovillas.com/elegant_indonesia_accommodation_for_rent/profile.htm that I like very much. Do you know if the area is good? are there nice beaches in this part of the inslad?.
Thank you very much! your help is highly appreciated.
Ciao Giovanni! Woww what a lovely surprise gift for your girlfriend! I don’t know Divino Villas (I know only Divine Villas, also in Petitenget-Seminyak area), but Seminyak is the most preferred location for couples as it is close to almost everything you need : nice beaches (66-Legian Beach; Petitenget), clubbings, yummy food (Oberoi Street aka eat street), shopping haven. So you made the right choice regarding the area.
When you are in Seminyak, do check out : La Lucciola (one of the best sunset venue, nice food!) on Petitenget beach next to the temple; Ultimo (I know you don’t need to eat italian food in Bali, but you must try!) Restaurant on Jalan Laksmana aka Oberoi Street; The Candi, Down to Earth for healthy organic food – all on Oberoi St.
Coming to Bali in July means the accommodation price is higher than the low season because July is also the school holiday season. Unless you get the great deal from your travel agent. Hope this would help! Cheers!
Amazing blog! The stories and the photography always amazed me and interesting to read. Did you bring your adorable son when you visited this beautiful beaches, bee? Lucky Geo 🙂
Hi Gita!Thanks for your comment! Geo has never been to Candidasa unfortunately, he just can’t sit still in the car for more than 30 minutes. But he is blessed to live in Jimbaran with beautiful nearby beaches here.
Hi Gita! Nooo Baby Geo was still out of the picture on our last visit to Virgin Beach hehe..Benny has wonderfully captured the beauty of this beach on our two visits back then. Thank you for your support!
Ahhh finally you revealed this magical beach…. thanks. Luv your writing , always
Zully! Will we see your private boat passing by Virgin Beach? Did you finally get to Virgin Beach?
Great pictures and very detailed info on Pasir Putih! I was there in Nov. 2012 and for me it was a big shock to see how much it has changed. The first time we were there was in 2008 and at that time there was nothing! No sunbeds and only cold drinks from the ice-box available. We heard at that time that mostly guests from Alila Manggis spent an afternoon there and that was almost the only ‘crowd’ there. The lady selling us the cold coke told us that there was an Korean investor planning to build a massive hotel right at the beach, however there was a lot of resistance from the local community.
When we were there in Nov. the same story still goes. Hopefully the local community can maintain their wishes and demands and keep the beach as it is. Once a big investors gets this beautiful beach the little warungs will definitely dissappear!
You mentioned that the pictures were from 2011. So far it hasn’t changed a bit… Let’s hope it stays this way!
@Monico : Thank you for your comment!Glad you can still enjoy the Virgin Beach..
Hi Monico! I wonder if you have visited Virgin Beach again after your last one on Nov’12, would like to know how it looks like now, and hopefully it stays as it is. We have enough with big resorts that take over public access to beautiful hidden beaches but hey what can you say when it also means employment for the local people..Thanks!
Bee, any recommendation on “nap time beach” near Singaraja for my next month visit there?
@Papablanca : There’s Lovina Beach at Singaraja of which I’m not a big fan. You might want to check out Menjangan Island, 5 miles to the north-west of Bali..My fav nap time beach is still Padang padang and Bingin Beach – nothing beats Uluwatu and its beautiful beaches. Cheers!
Hi Bee..
What a beautiful place!
May I know the address, because a friend of mine from Porto is planning to visit Bali on June. Would be great if you could recommend best place for him to stay! Thanks a lot!
Cheers!!
@Vita : please refer to my blog post of Virgin Beach, at the bottom of the post you’ll see ‘how to get there’. Regarding Bali accommodation,all I can say is each area of the island has its own charm : Legian, Seminyak, even Kuta, or Jimbaran, Nusa Dua. West and North of Bali are as gorgeous as the South. Cheers!
nice beach, thx 4 the info, really wanna go there. one question: why Indonesian tourists from Java or Sumatra come to Bali beaches only to see and take photos of Bikini women instead of swimming or sun bathing? this is so annoying and strange for me, they come to beach with full dress and just taking photos of women on bikini! it’s happen to me and i was so angry about that. I heard that outside Bali island, wearing bikini on public beaches isn’t allowed according to their religious reasons. is it true? but why they always take photos of that taboo thing while they’re in Bali? so strange to me, i really wanna know why they behave like that.
Hi @RussianGalinBali – you made me smile. Some local tourists came to Bali from their origin place where bikini girls are the last thing on earth they wish they could see. This ‘culture shock’ made uncomfortable and inappropriate scenes you had to experience, and it happened to me as well, believe me! I put on my sarong, left the beach immediately, soon after a group of school bus arrived at Dreamland Beach years ago! And I never wear bikini anymore on that very popular beach. If you go to somewhere calmer where most visitors are surfers, and westerners such as : Bingin Beach, Suluban Beach (all in Uluwatu area), you’ll be able to enjoy your sunbathing time…Cheers!..
Hi Bee..i always love reading your every post,even when i haven’t made my own blog. decided to comment here as soon as i have my blog ready..and i did it..
i’ve visited another beach on the eastern part of Bali called Pantai Jasri.but i think this virgin beach is a must to visit someday.inshaAllah..
Hi Yuni! We’ve actually never been to Pantai Jasri and will surely check it out! Thank you for your support! We would love to visit Bromo one day when our baby boy is big enough for mountain adventure! Cheers..
Hi Bee…..No I haven’t managed to check out the Virgin Beach since Nov 2012. But I did speak to the ticket guy who you have to pay before arriving at the beach and he mentioned that there won’t be any development going on since the local people are against it. Hopefully the developers and policy makers will listen to the local people and leave the beach as it is. Otherwise it is the Balinese who will loose again when the big money players take over and kind of ruin the whole thing that makes this beach so wonderful…
Why complain about all the secret spots going popular and commercial and then reveal the location, tips on getting there and best wishes to all potential visitors? Bit odd, no?
Also, you complain about Indonesian tourists, but forget that it is their country. Surely they should be the first people to benefit for the beautiful scenery?
@Michael : hi, thanks for you message. Obviously you are one of the biggest fans of our Bali Travel & Food Blog. Part of the privileges having a blog is that we get to write what we want, how we want, and to whomever could appreciate our work (humm..what’s your award winning blog and listed on prestigious world-wide travel blogs communities like ours, again?). My husband,my son and I are Indonesians, living in this beautiful island for 13 years already, our blog has been helping and assisting many travelers and Bali Lovers getting the best tips and ideas to enjoy Bali. We receive 30 – 50 emails daily from our readers all over the world including fellow indonesians bloggers and travelers. We see that, instead of doing something great for our communities in my beloved country or giving the best tips for the travelers , unfortunately you are the only reader that perhaps, choose to spend your supposed to be a blessing day for yourself and others, chose a random blog and be cynical and totally misunderstood our writing. Those who continuously saying about the awful mass-tourism of javanese/indonesians tourists are in fact, the local vendors on the beaches, warung owners – comments that came from years of interviewing them in different beach locations. They addressed the same complaints to other bloggers/travelers/surfers, only a few of them listened and spoke up, like we did. Balinese are the first people to benefit their beautiful island, I am sure you agree with me.
I really enjoy your blog and I think your honesty in writing is what makes the blog feel real. But, I also agree with Michael.., and at times it seems like some of the contents in this blog do not appreciate or respect javanese/domestic tourists/ or ‘poor’ domestic tourists (perhaps I misunderstood, but I read one comment somewhere about Ibus and their crying babies, I found that disrespectful, not all of us are hispter or so called the ‘cool’ people). Although in all fairness, I do agree with some of your complaints (like the boys taking pics of the bikini babes, etc).
As Indonesians, we still have a long way to go to educate ourselves socially, politically. Perhaps we could consider what the chinese gov’t is currently advising their citizens on civilized tourism http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/revealed-how-chinese-tourists-should-behave-abroad-8853674.html ..
I do think that Indonesians should be the first people to enjoy the beauty of their landscapes regardless of their ethnicity, their education or their wealth. It is unfortunate that some or most domestic tourist are misbehaving. We can too advocate on civilized tourism to our fellow countrymen.
just my two cents 🙂
Apple (I wish you have the audacity to reveal your real name, with the link to some works-whatever it is-you’ve done):
– Yes, I’m confused. Firstly you said you like my blog because of “honesty in writing thus the blog feels real”, but you forget the fact that : Honesty or Truth sometimes hurts. My writing styles obviously hurts your eyes, but then you kept continue to read many posts afterwards.
– Yes, you misunderstood my writings.
– No, I don’t and never consider javanese tourists as poor people, note that my husband and I ARE javanese as well.
– Yes, you misspelled : “hispter” Turn your auto-correct spelling check on, Apple.
– Yes, agree that you still have a longgg way to go to educate yourself about “What to comment on other people’s blog”. Lesson no.1 : Post a comment related to the article not on the Author nor on the ‘writing style’, not even on the choice of words, unless you are one of the ‘Blogging Contest Judges’ I would never participate. Lesson no.2 : If you can’t help from criticizing someone else’s blog at least you could show us your own blog with much better quality of writing.
Thank you for reading this response and read all over again your most favorite Bali Travel & Food blog! Please do also visit our food blog on http://www.wisatakulinerbali.com Cheers!
Is that you in bikiniii?
@Titin : naaaah…that’s a random bikini babe Benny loved to shoot 🙂 Virgin Beach is not my bikini beach
Hi !
Could you help a couple with a 15 months year old baby who loves a calm , clean and peaceful beach with a modern design in our room. We seem to be stuck tons of information and would love to get some ‘expert feedback’ from you.
Thank you!
Hello Feast, not sure I understand what you want to know here : a tranquil beach in Bali, a modern hotel room? Virgin Beach is definitely an off beaten path beach, to get there you need to hire a car+local driver, that’s more practical for a family with a little boy..Cheers! Bee
Hi Bee! Me, husband and daughter (6 years old) are planning to visit Bali on 12 Jan. We are going to rent a motorcycle to go places in Bali. We’d like to stay at a beach hotel (I mean a real side beach hotel or guest house)…to enjoy anytime we want because our itin would be packed for sure. Which beach and hotel should we pick that is in the centre of anything (I mean anything is quite near to reach with motorcycle) to some kids tourist spots such as Sangeh, butterfly park, etc…I haven’t browsed enough).
Hi Happy, wow looks like you’re ready for Bali adventure 2014! Hmm..let me see, what you’ve described here is what everybody wishes for : an affordable place of stay that is located in a centre of everything. Me, my husband and our 21 months gorgeous boy are living in Jimbaran, where we only need 5 to 15 min to get to the nearest beaches such as : Muaya Beach, Tegal Wangi (I wrote about this on http://www.risanto.com/beeamazing/tegal-wangi-beach-my-backyard-hidden-gem/ ), Padang Padang, Bingin, Dreamland aka New Kuta Beach, Balangan, etc..etc. Your daughter will LOVE building castle on all the beaches I mentioned, Padang Padang Beach is a FUN BEACH: you can see small fishes swimming on the shore! I can’t recommend one hotel/guest house but try to check the Trip Advisor, it could come up with something surprising. Hope you enjoy your holiday in Bali!
Thank you very much Bee
Beach that looks like this virgin beach and also have facilities like jet ski, snorkeling and diving spot and gear rental
Beach with water so clear you can see fish swimming
nice article, great pic, great info. i also want to holiday at there 😀