Padang Bai and the Blue Lagoon

The small community of Padang Bai can be found towards the north of the east coast of Bali on an offshoot of the main coast road.

When you first arrive it looks as though its nothing more than a ferry port, with a few large ships and a few shops and restaurants around all eager to sell you a ticket to the Gili islands or Lombok.

However, if you study the guides and the map carefully you will see there is a small network of roads off to the left of the port including a beach front road lined with hotels, restaurants and guest houses.

Although not too much choice, a lot of the restaurants have very tasty and affordable food including reasonable Pizza.

The real reason people visit Padang Bai though is a secluded cove called “The Blue Lagoon” which is a great place to go snorkelling in the relative safety of some pretty calm sea conditions.

The Blue Lagoon is a beautiful spot with very clear water which goes from less than 1m deep, out to a 3m deep spot. So you don’t have to be a super swimmer to enjoy a host of tropical fish varieties all without leaving your depth.

If you swim out to the 3m deep section, where boats are usually anchored, you will see large stretches of beautiful coral reef, some of which is still very much alive, along with some bigger fish. If you’re not a good swimmer you can hang on to the various boats for a rest before the swim back to shore.

The only downside at this point, at least when I went, was the litter floating on the surface of the water and washed up on the shore. The locals claim it just comes in every day and nothing can be done about it. But seriously, it would take about 2 hours per day to clean it up.

If you do visit, set a good example, like I did, and take a bag of litter away with you on your way out. Hopefully it won’t be so much of a problem on my next visit.