
I was blessed with this beautiful sunset on my first night at Padang Bai
Feeling the crushing overwhelming press of the tourists in Ubud* I fled to Padang Bai on the East Coast of Bali. At this time of year the East Coast is preferable than the West Coast as the trade winds bring rubbish to the West. The East Coast is beautiful & pristine in comparison. Padang Bai is a quaint fishing village & the main port for transit to Lombok & the Gili islands. It has many diving schools for its small size, plenty of restaurants & stalls to buy snacks for your onward journey.
I got the
Perama shuttle bus from Ubud direct for 75IDR/£5 & it took approx. 2 hours. I stayed in
Bamboo Paradise which is a 2 minute walk from the Parama Bus Depot. The hostel is clean & chilled with a big outdoor area & friendly staff. Breakfast is a filling selection from a menu including pancakes, omelette, toast, tea/coffee & fruit salad.
The next day I had to check out (which was a shame because I had the larger lower bunk bed!). I moved to
Fat Barracuda on the beach front. It had sturdy bunk beds, wifi, plugs & a light at every bed & a great location. It is not so much a hostel as a dorm room & separate small reception area which serves snacks & drinks. Both hostels I would recommend & both cost around 100IDR/£7 per night.

Peaceful Blue Lagoon Beach
I thought the food in Padang Bai was average. I didn’t find a restaurant I really enjoyed & I didn’t have anything as tasty as the food I tried in Ubud. That’s not to say good food is not available. I’m really trying to be careful with how much I spend & the breakfasts included with the accommodation really set me up for the day.

The guacamole was wrong on too many levels
I’m on a shoestring budget & opted to stay on the mainland & explore rather than venture to the islands. They look beautiful though so hopefully I’ll be able to go next time! I noticed that prices for the boats dropped considerably in the evening for boats departing the following morning so if I return I will haggle the prices in the evenings rather than prebooking boats – however this was at the end of the season when the boats are crossing only partly full. Maybe in high season you should expect to pay more.
After 2 days in Padang Bai & without doing a diving course or crossing to the islands I was ready to move on.
*The ‘crushing, overwhelming press of tourists’ wasn’t even that bad to be honest. I’m being a bit dramatic.