South Bali
The sea is not doing the same thing at both ends of this page
Uluwatu and the cliff beaches, Jimbaran Bay and its seafood row, Nusa Dua and Sanur behind their reefs, and Nusa Penida across the strait.
Off the cliffs at Uluwatu the sea arrives as surf. Behind the reefs at Sanur and Nusa Dua it sits as a shallow lagoon you can stand up in. Which of them you were in is the first thing we want to know, so lead with that.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in south Bali with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the coast, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
A watch, an Oura ring, a chain, an earring, a phone, or glasses with metal frames, all belong here as much as a wedding band does. Metal, shape and size all matter to us, so put in whatever you can picture.
Answer the water question before anything else
Open by telling us what the water was doing where you were, or that you never went in at all. Surf off a cliff, a lagoon behind a reef, a jetty, a boat, or dry sand all afternoon: each sends the enquiry down its own road, and the town name does not settle it.
After that, give us the day in the order it happened, from the first thing you did to the moment you noticed. If you are still on the beach as you read this, nothing needs moving or tidying before you write.
The towns, beaches and crossings on this page
- Nusa Dua
- Geger Beach
- Tanjung Benoa
- Jimbaran
- Jimbaran Bay
- Muaya Beach
- The Jimbaran seafood row
- The fish market at Kedonganan
- Tegal Wangi Beach
- Garuda Wisnu Kencana at Ungasan
- Uluwatu
- Pecatu
- Suluban Beach, also called Blue Point
- Padang Padang Beach
- Bingin Beach
- Balangan Beach
- Dreamland Beach
- Pandawa Beach at Kutuh
- Sanur
- Segara Ayu Beach
- Sindhu Beach
- The Sanur beachfront path
- Nusa Penida
- Kelingking Beach
- Crystal Bay
- Atuh Beach
- Diamond Beach
- The snorkelling water at Crystal Bay and Manta Point
- Nusa Lembongan
- Mushroom Bay and Dream Beach
- Mangrove Point and Manta Bay
- Nusa Ceningan and the yellow bridge
From the cliff breaks round to the islands
The wording in these cards is worth borrowing when you write.
Uluwatu, Suluban and Padang Padang
The tourism ministry writes up Uluwatu as the home of the most famous waves in Bali, and says the spot offers several of them, working on different swells and tides. The Peak is most consistent in front of the cave, the Racetracks lie beyond it, and at Temple the water is very shallow. Suluban, generally known as Blue Point, lies along the same coast, and Padang Padang is hidden behind cliffs a little further on.
Bingin, Balangan, Dreamland and Pandawa
Balangan Beach is at South Kuta in Badung, with waves the ministry rates for surfers and restaurants nearby. Dreamland Beach lies next to it, soft pearly white sand and clear water, with waves the same source calls not swimming friendly. A map check puts Bingin Beach at Pecatu and Pandawa Beach at Kutuh. Name the beach rather than the peninsula.
Jimbaran Bay and the seafood row
Jimbaran Bay is protected by an unbroken coral reef, which leaves the water mellower than other parts of Bali, and the shore is lined with cafes, restaurants, bars and places to lie down. What the ministry describes as a former fishing village is now one of Bali's favourite spots for seafood, and when sunset arrives the coast fills with the smell of grilling and candle lit tables. Muaya Beach and Tegal Wangi Beach are on the same shore, and a map check puts the fish market along at Kedonganan.
Nusa Dua, Geger and Tanjung Benoa
Nusa Dua was built as one piece, an enclave of international hotels, spas, golf courses and convention centres, with shallow clear water and white sandy beaches around it. The Indonesian page from the same ministry calls the waves calm enough for swimming, and points to neatly laid walking paths and water activities from snorkelling to jet ski. Geger Beach and Tanjung Benoa lie along that shore, which a map check confirms.
Sanur behind its reefs
Sanur lies east of Denpasar, and its waters are protected by a long string of offshore reefs that make warm, shallow, clear lagoons, good for swimming, snorkelling and a whole array of water sports. A paved beachfront path runs the whole length of the district, from the Jalan Mertasari area in south Sanur north to the main beach at Jalan Hangtuah. Segara Ayu and Sindhu are beaches along that front.
Nusa Penida across the strait
Nusa Penida lies southeast of Bali, divided from it by the Badung Strait, and Sanur is the launching pad for visitors heading out to Nusa Lembongan and the islands beside it. Kelingking Beach is on the southwestern coast at Bunga Mekar, white soft sands under rock formations. Crystal Bay and Manta Point, on the southern side, are used for diving and snorkelling, and a map check puts Atuh Beach and Diamond Beach at Pejukutan, with harbours at Toyapakeh and Sampalan.
Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan
Nusa Lembongan is the small island southeast of Bali that the motor boats run out to. The ministry sends snorkellers to Mangrove Point on its northern side, where the water is very clear and the current calm, and to Manta Bay, where manta rays pass. Ashore there is Mushroom Bay, quiet at sunset, Dream Beach, and the yellow bridge over to Nusa Ceningan. If it went at a snorkelling stop, name the stop and the boat.
How this end of it works
Writing from another country is normal here
A gap of days or weeks between the loss and the first message is the ordinary case here, not the awkward one. Distance changes nothing about how we read what you send.
Your own photographs do the work
Nobody photographs the spot where they are about to lose something. The pictures taken that morning for other reasons still put you on a particular piece of beach, and that is what the detectorist opens.
Uncertainty is welcome if you label it
Set down the parts you are certain of and the parts you are only half certain of, and label them as you go. Anything shaky can stay in, as long as we can see that it is shaky.
What our answer contains
Our reply tells you how the ground you describe looks to us and what we would need next. You read that before anything else happens.
Surf water, lagoon water and the way down
What is underfoot and what is around you both change along this coast.
Surf on the cliff side
Uluwatu is a surf coast, and a day there is arranged around the water rather than around the sand. Say whether you were out at a break, in the white water, or standing on dry land at the time.
Reef under shallow water
The reefs around Sanur can be very shallow at low tide, and beyond them there are more consistent waves. Whether your feet were over sand or over reef is worth a line of its own.
Limestone, steps and log ramps
Suluban is reached through narrow gaps in the rock by steps and log ramps. The way down is ground in its own right, so describe it apart from the beach at the bottom.
Questions about south Bali
A watch is gone after a surf at Uluwatu.
Send it as the session rather than as a spot. Where you paddled out from, which way the water carried you, where you came back in, and the last moment you knew the watch was on you. Uluwatu has more than one break along that cliff, so name yours if you know it, and otherwise describe what stood above you on the headland.
An Oura ring is gone after a swim at Sanur.
Start with the ring itself, in as much detail as you can manage. Then the water. Segara Ayu on the Sanur front is written up for waves calm enough for children and for snorkelling, with local fishermen working off the same sand, so tell us how far in you had got and what you were doing out there.
A bracelet went at the seafood tables at Jimbaran.
Those tables are set out on the sand, which makes the ground under a dinner a different proposition from open beach. Say which end of the row your table stood at, what was in view from your seat, and whether the water came into it afterwards. People watch the planes take off over that shore, so which way you were facing helps place the table.
Something went over the side on the boat to Nusa Penida.
Tell us which part of the crossing you were on. A jetty, the steps, or the shallows where people wade out to the boat are each worth naming on their own. Out in the strait, that is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
My phone is somewhere in Nusa Dua and I cannot narrow it down.
A day spent there is a route as much as a beach, since the enclave gets crossed and re-crossed between where you sleep, where you eat and where you swim. Write out the places you went into and the order you went into them, then say where you stepped onto the beach. Geger Beach and Tanjung Benoa lie along the same shore, so say if your day reached either.
A chain went at Padang Padang and we had climbed down to get there.
The stairway belongs in the account. You reach Padang Padang through a narrow gap in the rock and down a stairway to the shore, so the chain may have gone on the way down rather than on the beach itself. Take us through it from the top, where you stopped and what you were carrying.
An earring went at the night market in Sanur.
That market stands at the northern end of Jalan Danau Tamblingan, where it meets Jalan Pungutan, so a street comes with it straight away. Work back along the row from the corner you came in at, and name the stalls you stopped at.
We fly home tomorrow. Is there any point in asking now?
There is, and the message is better sent before you pack than after. With the island still under your feet you can photograph the spot, ask at wherever you were staying, and check what you are unsure of. If you only find this page once you are home, write anyway and give us the dates.
South Bali
Lead with the water, then let the day follow
WhatsApp is where the whole of it happens.
Put the water you were in at the top and the town underneath it, then let the rest come out in whatever order it returns to you. Whatever is missing, we will ask for it when we reply.