The last couple of weeks have seen me chilling in Bali, waiting on my new Kitas Visa to come through, and scouring the news for information about a potential Bali Reopening. As of right now, Denpasar airport has opened to selected and restricted international travel, which still includes quarantine. So with not too much to do and Jo still in Jakarta, I decided to head out to Suluban Beach at Uluwatu to try for a few nice photos.
The day was a nice one, and I jumped on the scooter around lunchtime with a view to catch the high tide. For those that aren’t familiar with Suluban Beach, it is an iconic surfing spot in Bali, and access to the water is through a large cave. On the high tide the surfers actually have to paddle OUT of the cave itself into the open air. So high tide, if caught at the right time, can be a great opportunity for some awesome photos.
I arrived to a half empty carpark, as is the case these days during the pandemic. Even the guy at the gate taking the parking fees was half asleep. This has been a common thing during covid-19, and we all really hope it changes soon. The reopening of Bali is hovering around, teasing us all at the moment, with no real momentum expected until the quarantine periods are dropped. Until then, even though it’s not as bad as it was a few months ago, things will remain rather quiet.
I made my way toward the stairs and down toward the warungs. Suluban Beach can be reached from a couple of different access points these days. The traditional one sees you negotiating a hell of a lot of stairs and brings you down to a point not far above the cave. I haven’t been that way for a long time, and these days I prefer to go in via the stairs just near Single Fin Beach Club. There are less stairs and a lot better view of the surf as you descend.
This way in takes you through the warungs and restaurants, weaving down the hill until you reach the top of the cave. Here, you descend the stairs into the cave itself.
Unfortunately, the high tide today was not a very high one, and I was about an hour early. No matter. Instead, I decided to make the most of that fact and changed my goal for the day to checking out some of the hidden caves that can be found on the lower tides.
Many visitors to Suluban Beach only really check out the iconic cave and beach itself. They then head back up the stairs into the restaurants and have lunch and a drink watching the surf. This is great, but they are missing some pretty awesome things in the cave.
Head over to one side of the cave and you will find that you can actually walk through to another beach. It involves hopping over some rocks or even crawling under some overhangs, depending upon the water levels. What awaits is a great little hidden beach on the other side away from the tourist crowds. Not that there are any crowds at the moment anyway.
Just beware of the tide, as at high tide you will get cut off from returning, and be stuck out there for a few hours. I can think of worse places to be “stuck” however.
On this day I wasn’t really interested in the beach, though, and was exploring the caves. The rising tide was pushing the water in, and with my gopro in hand I managed to get a couple of nice photos whilst exploring the numerous nooks and crannies. In the end, I almost got stuck myself, and was facing a rather wet wade back to the main cave once again. That was until a dog came to my rescue. He disappeared into a low cave off to one side that I hadn’t noticed earlier. On hands and knees I followed him and found myself back in the main cave of Suluban Beach again.
If you visit Suluban Beach, keep an eye on those tides!
I headed back up the stairs again and settled myself in at a warung with a nice cold smoothie to watch the surf for a while. But, my day wasn’t over yet.
On my last couple of visits to Uluwatu I had been eyeing off a gang that I was pretty sure went somewhere other than to a villa or two. I have no idea why. Just call it a gut instinct. So on the way back out again, I turned the scooter down the gang to see if I was right.
As it turned out, I was! There was a little hidden beach that not many know about down the end of the gang. But, there was one problem…
I was standing on the cliff above the beach, and the only way down was to descend some rickety and dodgy wooden ladders. This would not normally have been an issue, except for two things. One – I was alone and no one knew where I was. And two – during the pandemic it looked like no one had been down the ladders in months. Everything was overgrown, and I couldn’t even see the path.
This is an issue everywhere in Bali at the moment. There are a few waterfalls we have been to that required extra special care due to mossy and overgrown paths. A lack of foot traffic really is noticeable right now. There was even one waterfall up near Bangli that was totally inaccessible!
I opted against trying to climb down, also keeping in mind that with the high tide, who knew how much beach would actually be there to explore anyway? Instead, I headed across the cliff to my right where it looked like it opened up behind the temple I had parked in front of.
As it turned out, it did! I walked along the top of a wall and ended up on a stone clifftop that looked down past Thomas Beach and all the way along the Bukit to Balangan, Jimbaran and beyond. The view was amazing, and totally worth the effort. A great way to wrap up the day!
Later in the week I finally had the call from Immigration to come in and get my photo taken for my visa. I headed down the following morning early, expecting the normal issue of nowhere to park, and line ups out the door of the immigration office. To my surprise, there was only about 5 scooters in the carpark and the place looked like a ghost town! When I walked in, I was called straight to the counter before I could even sit down. A bit different to the normal hour long wait everyone expects at immigration, on a good day!
I only counted 10 people in the office, and most of the staff were so bored they were actually playing on their phones. Hopefully that bodes well for me to get my new visa and passport back soon, and then I can move on to meet Jo up in Jakarta!
On that note, Bali is getting noticeably busier, even if immigration says different. The traffic on the roads is increasing 3 fold from a few months ago. This comes as resorts reopen and ramp up operations with a view to tourists arriving soon. There is also a lot of domestic travel, and the number plates that indicate the cars are from places like Jakarta are becoming more common. Even in Kuta, which was a ghost town 6 months ago, there is actually traffic again!
Hopefully this all bodes well for Bali, and tourism is not too far away. As for me, I will be off to Jakarta next week, hopefully, and Jo and I have quite a bit planned, places to see and articles to write.
Talk to you all then!
J
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