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Lovina
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Lovina

Black-Sand Beaches, Dawn Dolphin Boats and Hot Springs

2 daysIdeal stay₹1,860From / night₹640Food / day₹800Entry

A string of quiet black-sand villages on Bali's north coast west of Singaraja, with calm water rather than surf. Outrigger boats go out at dawn to the spinner dolphins (in a crowd of other boats; pick a captain who keeps his distance); inland are the Banjar hot springs, the Brahmavihara-Arama Buddhist monastery, and the Sekumpul and Gitgit waterfalls. Cheap, slow and far from the south's traffic: three hours from the airport over the mountains, an hour below Munduk.

Highlights

  • Dawn boat out to the spinner dolphins
  • Banjar hot springs
  • Brahmavihara-Arama monastery
  • Sekumpul waterfall trek
  • Snorkelling the house reef
  • Black-sand sunset
  • Singaraja's Dutch-era harbour

Things to do

  • Dawn dolphin-watching boatMorning · 3h
  • Sekumpul waterfall trekMorning · 4h
  • Banjar hot springsAfternoon · 2h
  • Brahmavihara-Arama monasteryAfternoon · 1h 30m
  • Reef snorkel off the beachAfternoon · 2h
  • Sunset on the black-sand beachEvening · 1h 30m

Tours & tickets

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When to go

Best time: April – October

Plan around this

Nyepi: Bali Closes for 24 Hours

⚠️ On Nyepi (Monday 8 March 2027, from 06:00 to 06:00 on 9 March) all of Bali stops: Ngurah Rai airport is closed to every flight, roads, beaches and shops shut, the internet is switched off, and visitors must stay inside their hotel. Don't book a flight, boat or transfer for that day, and allow for full flights and boats on the days either side.

Heads up

Bali Wet Season

December to February are the wettest months: heavy afternoon and night downpours, humid days, and flash floods on low roads in Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and on Sunset Road to the airport. Mornings are often clear. Allow extra time for the airport, and plan beach days flexibly. Hotels are cheaper, except over Christmas and New Year.

  • Nyepi (Balinese Day of Silence) and the ogoh-ogoh parades — The Balinese New Year. On the eve, villages parade huge ogoh-ogoh demon effigies through the streets and burn them, worth seeing in Ubud, Kuta and Denpasar. Then for 24 hours the whole island stops: Ngurah Rai airport closes, no traffic, no lights, beaches shut, and visitors must stay inside their hotel (hotels keep serving guests indoors). Do not plan to land, leave or travel in Bali that day.
  • Galungan and Kuningan · Galungan 17 Jun, Kuningan 27 Jun — Bali's biggest Hindu festival, every 210 days: ten days when the ancestors are believed to visit. Every street is lined with tall bamboo penjor poles, families in temple dress fill the temples, and the island looks its most beautiful. Some shops and drivers take the main days off, and temples are crowded; wear a sarong and sash to visit.
  • Christmas and New Year peak — Bali's dearest fortnight: villas and resorts set minimum stays and gala dinners on 24 and 31 December, and Indian, Australian and Indonesian holidays overlap. Book rooms and the Gili and Komodo boats by October, and expect rain: it is the wet season.