This area has a lot to offer, not the least of which is its distance from the southern honeypots. The beach is better than Candidasa’s and the uphill areas inland are some of the prettiest on Bali. To get there, flag down a ‘bemo’ from Singaraja anywhere on Jalan A. Yani, which turns into Jalan Seririt heading west out of town.

Actually, Lovina Beach was the first seaside resort to appear in the mid-70s, taking its name from a restaurant that operated from 1953 to 1960 where Permata Cottages is today. Anak Agung Panji Tisna, the ruler of northern Bali, named this stretch of coast after the English word “love” in 1953. He is buried today not far from the first hotel he founded, Tasik Madu, “Sea of Honey.” The few ‘losmen’ that existed in the sleepy early 1970s were demolished in a 1976 earthquake.

The resort began anew and during the 1980s, new ‘losmen’ and beach inns appeared. Lovina has since become the generic term for a whole line of six small villages and palm-fringed beaches that it has, touristically speaking, devoured. From east to west, these include: Pemaron, Tukadmungga, Anturan, Kalibuk strip, Kaliasem and Temukus. The strip starts at about the six-km mark west of Singaraja to about five km past Kaliasem. Kalibukbuk has the highest concentration while the fishing villages of Anturan and Temukus are less densely packed with restaurants and accommodations and thus are quieter.

Generally, the restaurants, stores, and services are on the inland side of the road, with accommodations to the north. Most are only a short walk from the beach or main road. Services include myriad moneychangers, convenience stores, used bookshops, bank, postal agent, Perumtel office, and vehicle rentals.

Though not as scenic as the southern coastline, Lovina attracts refugees fleeing the rip-offs, frenetic pace, and drunken Aussies of Kuta. It’s about as far away (100 km) and as completely opposite Kuta and Sanur as you’ll find-no flash menus, no surfies, few motorbikes, little music, few dogs, comparatively cheap. True, there is some prostitution, the north shore is not immune to thieves, and assertive, longhaired gigolos prey on female travelers.

Just a few years ago, you could easily live on small amount of money. Today, the tourist economy makes accommodations and food less than the super-bargains they once were. Lovina keeps growing and changing, with prices rising and falling as demand changes.

In Lovina, enjoying beautiful sunsets involves simply walking out on your veranda. You can dive and swim safely in glass-clear water off the eight-kilometer-long unbroken black-sand beaches, find good trekking paths, temples, and hot sulfur pools in the hills, and use centrally located Lovina as a base for day trips to Tulamben Barat National Park, Pulau Menjangan, Yeh Sanih, and the lakes and volcanoes of the central mountain range. Bring anti-mosquito weapons (nets and repellent) as the beasties can get pretty bad in the rainy season.

If you time your visit for Independence Day (17 August) you can see Sapi Gerumbunjan (kerbau races) on a track near Kaliasem. The only other place this hair-raising event is held is in Negara in Jembrana District.

Accommodations
From the road, it appears Lovina hasn’t changed much over the years. A great number of new accommodations, however, have crept in on lanes out of sight of the roadside hotels. The rooms offered are ranging from basic beachfront accommodations to four-star luxury. You’ll also be offered cheap rooms, but these will be rather old digs without a nice view of the sea or garden, usually facing the wall of the next bungalow.

There are two types of resort accommodations: the upstart, splash “beach inns” or resort hotels, which have sprouted up along the eastern beaches, and the venerable resorts of Kalibukbuk and Kaliasem that have been around for a while. Well-established, older places like the Rambutan and the Banyualit are more picturesque, offer more shade, and have more character than the newer hotels. Since these hotels are small, with but 10-15 rooms, they’re able to provide friendly, personal service. A basic breakfast of toast, butter, jam, fruit salad, and coffee or tea is almost always included in the room rate.

The small street leading to the Banyualit is lined with seafood restaurants, garment and convenience shops, and different classes of hotels. It’s less congested than most of Lovina, yet all you really need can be found on this street. If you stay in a hotel too near the main highway, mornings and at nights could be noisy. Closer to the beach is quieter; some units of the Kalibukbuk Beach Inn nearly touch the water.

Mid-range accommodations-upscale but not four-star international-offer the most value for the dollar. They offer relative security, beautiful bungalows, nice gardens, full services (laundry, postal, safe-deposit boxes, free storage), phones and faxes, rooms cleaned daily, attractive restaurants with decent sound systems, free breakfast, stone and tile pools, cheap marine tours and snorkel gear rental-they even take plastic.

Reservations for the most popular accommodations are critical during the high season (July and August) and over the Christmas holidays. Ask for a discount in the off-season, or if you’re staying more than three days.

Food
In Lovina most social events involve food–which leans heavily to the mediocre side–and many accommodations woo the traveler with on-site, low-price restaurants, snack bars, cafes, or pubs. It’s easy to find restaurants serving whole grilled tuna steak. Magic mushrooms are served everywhere. Lovina’s least expensive eateries are the beachside ‘warung’ where the menu is limited but you can enjoy ‘lontong’ with sate, fruit juices, omelets, soda and pancakes. In the high season you’ll want to start out for dinner early, as the best restaurants are swamped and orders can take a while.

Competing restaurants try to outdo each other with huge buffets. Tables groan with curries, grilled meats, salad, noodle dishes, fruit. After dinner most eateries sweeten the deal with rather amateurish Regog or Legong. These buffets can be good deals, but pay attention to the menus-soy sauce and ‘krupuk’ do not constitute an entree. Both the food and the performance will be charged, which must be one of the all-time bargains of Asia. The open-air Rambutan Restaurant in Kalibukbuk presents a Legong and Balinese Banquet at 1930 every Sunday and Wednesday night featuring professional dancers performing traditional dances. Also look for fliers advertising all-you-can-eats at the Puri Garden in Temukus and the Semina in Kalibukbuk.

Entertainment
Kuta-like nightlife spots on the north coast include the Malibu Bar, Restaurant & Disco in Kalibukbuk next to the New Srikandi, a meeting place for singles and travelers. Eat dinner while watching a big-screen movie (starts at 1910), followed by live singers or Balinese reggae music-the same tunes night after night.

The disco serves every kind of drink imaginable, and the menu consists of Western tourist dishes. Malibu will pick you up if you call (tel. 62362-41.671); stays open until the wee hours. The other “downtown” nightclub, the open-air Wina Restaurant on the northwest corner of Jalan Seririt and the road to Nirwana, also features big screen movies, bar, pool table, and live music until midnight, but has really expensive, lousy Chinese-style food. Made’s Warung is a favorite gathering spot with an interesting but slightly expensive menu. Toto Pub in Lovina, run by Jro Sriasih, is another popular hangout so close to the water it’s in danger of being swallowed by the sea.

Recreation
Laze on the beach and watch the sky turn red, yellow, and orange as the sun sinks behind the towering volcanoes of Java, which appear on the horizon rising purple from the ocean. At night fishing fleets head out in their ‘jukung’, luring fish into nets with kerosene pressure lanterns swaying and glowing yellow all along the waterfront. You can join them for a two- or three-hour late afternoon trip. Or hire a freelancer and go out on a sailing excursion, with sailor.

The bay is great for swimming: Lovina’s warm sea laps lazily at the gray-sand shore during the dry season, quite tame compared to the volatile southern coasts. Although a little dirty, the wide expanses of sand are good for sunning (especially at Kalibukbuk), and beach masseurs are available.

For a reef so close to the beach, the snorkeling, diving, and boat fishing are above average. The docile sea and the shallow lagoon make this coast ideal for beginners and young divers to safely explore the specialized marine communities of plant and animals, which live in the intertidal zone. The Palmas Hotel has a nice pool where nonguests may swim.

You don’t need to venture far for good snorkeling, but the best spots are two to three km from shore where the sea is shallow. The best dive sites lie closer to Singaraja, where the reef juts farther out from the beach. Rent a motorless outrigger to take you out; you can see fascinating reef life right from the boat just by sticking your head underwater.

When snorkeling you’ll feel as if you’re swimming inside an aquarium with moray eels, tropical fish, and pastel corals. As the offshore water is over your head, use the boat as your island. Wear sneakers, and watch out for the sharp coral, sea urchins, and catfish-like fish with poisonous spines. Get used to wearing your mask in shallow water before venturing out deeper waters. Start early before the water gets cloudy: the sand is so dark it can be difficult to see the bottom. In February or March no snorkeling or dolphin trips are offered due to heavy rain and dirty water. The skippers wait on the beach for customers; they may provide snorkeling gear. You can rent ‘perahu’ from the hotels, or simply swim out to the reef.

An experience with mixed reviews is “Breakfast with the Dolphins.” It’s easy to buy a ticket the day before from boys on the beach; the length of the tour varying from 2.5 to three hours, depending on season, boat, captain, and luck. Determine in advance how many hours you’re going to spend snorkeling versus hours spent dolphin-chasing. If you don’t, you may end up having to bargain on the boat, paying an additional charge to see dolphins. When you buy your ticket, give the vendor your room number and someone will wake you with a knock on your door 15 minutes before the predawn departure for the 30- to 60-minute trip to dolphin territory (one to two km).

Dolphin-watching is very competitive, with dozens of boats going out at dawn. Most of the motorized boats can fit four to six people; big wooden outriggers can carry up to seven people and are less likely to pitch and roll than smaller craft. If you’re lucky (about 75% of the time) for a few miraculous moments your boat will be surrounded by hundreds of leaping, flipping, blowing dolphins. Sometimes you find yourself in the midst of 500 or even 1000 dolphins. Watch for different species, particularly the large, slow swimmers that can weigh up to a ton. In any event you’ll get a boat ride, tea and ‘pisang goreng’ breakfast, and snorkeling on the return trip. Don’t let the boatman go in before the agreed upon time.

A good place to obtain diving information and arrange trips is Spice Dive (tel./fax 62362-23.305) which has an office in Arya’s restaurant in Kalibukbuk. Staff is conscientious, honest, experienced, and properly qualified. See the photo albums of various dive locations (Lovina reef, Tulamben, Menjangan). Scuba (PADI) certification courses, at all levels, are also offered. Baruna (tel. 62362-23.775), on the main road in Kalibukbuk, rents snorkeling gear by the hour, offers surf canoes, and sponsors cruises to see dolphins, snorkeling trips and Sunset Cruises, but no courses. Make reservations at your hotel. Perama Tourist Service, tel. 62362-21.161, in Anturan, also organizes marine excursions.

Permai Dive Sports, tel. 62362-23.471, Permai Hotel, Tukadmungga, offers a dive trip to Pulau Menjangan to the west, one of the best dive and snorkeling spots in Indonesia. In the off-season Permai may offer a dive to Menjangan plus one night’s free accommodation. The beginner’s course includes two dives, all equipment, guide, transport, food, and drink. Also check out Barrakuda (tel. 62362-22.385) in the Bali Lovina Beach Cottages for CMAS courses.

Made Utama Jaya of Khi Khi’s, tel. 62362-21.548, offers high-priced, quality half-day snorkeling and dolphin-viewing tours (includes transport, equipment, breakfast, lunch). Using big ‘jukung’ with outboard motors and sails, he sets out at 0530 from Banjar. Usually around 0900 you sight pods of dolphin, and by noon Pak Made is cooking the day’s catch on the beach. After a native-style nap under a tree, caressed by sea breezes, you return to Lovina at 1300. The Cadillac of dolphin-watching outings. Khi Khi’s also offers deep sea fishing tours and tuna fishing tours.

Shopping & Services
Women, with stacks of sarong and blankets on their heads, sell their wares cheaper than in Lovina’s shops, but you have to work on them. The Air Brush T-shirt Shop sells some really unique garments and some funny postcards. Beach people offer magic mushrooms but you hear of a lot of bad trips.

A little east of Arya’s, across the road, is the Tip Top Shop, selling bus and shuttle bus tickets at good prices, snack foods, drinks, sundries, English newspapers, guidebooks, maps, medicine, waterproof cameras, cheap water, and clothes. Best prices in Lovina; it also has a telephone and a postal service (stamps, postcards). Open until 2300. Another useful retailer is the Penny Shop, opposite the street to Angsoka cottages. Extensive used book library, Fujichrome, and one-day film processing. Also a cheap laundry service including ironing. A concentration of used bookstores is along Jalan Ketapang in Kalibukbuk. The best and cheapest supermarket is Tiara Dewata, Jalan A. Yani 192 A, Singaraja, tel. 62362-23.492. One km from the center of Singaraja and five km from Kalibukbuk (if heading into Singaraja). Extremely well-stocked groceries and dry goods. Open 0900-2200.

There’s a very helpful tourist office on the beach side of the main Singaraja-Seririt road in Kalibukbuk; open Mon.-Thurs. 0700-1730, Friday 0700-1300, Saturday 0700-1730. A clinic lies south of the Lovina Beach Hotel in Kaliasem. The tourist office can recommend doctors. The police share the same building as the tourist office. Make international credit card telephone calls from the front desk of the big ritzy Palmas Hotel. Lovina has its share of moneychangers, several right on the main road. The moneychangers here offer rates about 10-15 rupiah lower than Denpasar’s or Kuta’s.

There’s fax service and postal agents where you can send letters and parcels for the same prices charged by the post office. The postal agent (tel. 62362-41.392) on the main drag is open 0800-1800. The only poste restante office is at the Perama office in Anturan (c/o Kantor Pos, Perama, Anturan, Lovina 81151, Singaraja, Bali. The Wartel (daily 0900-2300) is west of Jalan Bina Ria in Kalibukbuk. The moneychanger at the Wartel is open 0800-1700; The Perumtel office (tel. 62362-41.101) on the beach side of the road in Temukus is open 0900-2300. Lovina’s telephone code is 0362.

Vendor Overkill
Granted, the Lovina Beach strip is still not as overrun with tourists as the southern beaches. But, like Kuta, it’s no longer Bali. In recent years, local entrepreneurs competing for tourist money have appeared en masse. Vendors will run from all directions the minute you alight from a ‘bemo’ or park your car, asking if you’d like to rent a room, attend a buffet, see the dolphins, go snorkeling. Children beg, or ask to practice their English. On the beach, pushy hawkers offer dance tickets, massages, fruit, sarong, cigarettes, coconuts, magic mushrooms. Lovina sellers are more familiar and more likely to joke than Kuta’s all-business vendors, but they’re just as persistent and will hassle you even when you’re lying on the beach with your eyes closed.

What to do? Deal with a limited number of the pests. Buy a few batik from X, go snorkeling with Y, buy a pineapple from Z-someone else approaches you, say you already have your own supplies. Other vendors usually accept this and will leave you alone.

Women need to be especially wary of Lovina’s underhanded beach boys. There are dreadful tales of the scams used to part Western women from massive amounts of money. Women-or anyone for that matter-who wish to totally avoid vendors and beach boys should hang out at the lovely pools at Angsoka Cottages. Here, sellers are not allowed on the grounds.

Getting There
On arriving from Kuta, the shuttle bus lets passengers off at Perama Tourist Service in Anturan, where passengers are taken to their hotels free of charge. The Perama shuttle leaves Kuta for Lovina at 0830 and 1600 (4.5 hours via Ubud). Public ‘bemo’ from Denpasar’s Ubung Terminal arrive at the Banyuasri station; from there hop on a ‘bemo’ to Lovina. Tell the driver where you’re staying and he’ll drop you off as close as possible to it. If coming from Amlapura, the Isuzu bus arrives at Terminal Penarukan to the east of Singaraja; from there get a ‘bemo’ through Singaraja to Banyuasri Station on the western edge of the city. From dawn to dusk ‘bemo’ travel regularly from this station to Lovina on a road lined with huge trees and emerald-green rice paddies. If coming from Surabaya on a long-distance bus, ask the driver to let you off along the highway at either Lovina or Kalibukbuk.

Getting Away
Buses to Singaraja stop in front of Arya’s. To Gilimanuk or Bedugul take a ‘bemo’; there’s no shuttle service. If you’re heading to western Bali or East Java, you don’t have to go into Singaraja to catch a bus-buy tickets at Arya’s or wherever buses to Surabaya stop to pick up passengers. Three travel services can be found in Anturan on the Singaraja side of the bridge. Perama, tel. 62362-21.161, sells direct bus tickets to Jakarta. A dangerous ride of pure hell is broken only by three meal-stops. The bus leaves at 0630, arriving 28 hours later at 1000. The air conditioning usually doesn’t work. Night buses leave for Java at 1900; you get into Probolinggo around 0300 and Surabaya about an hour later. Order air tickets from Perama, too, brought back within 48 hours by shuttle from Denpasar. To reach Mt. Bromo in East Java take the public van-bus to Gilimanuk, a great scenic ride, then take ‘bemo’ to the ferry and for the ferry to Java. From Ketapang, ahead to the Bromo turnoff, then to Cemoro Lawang on the outer crater rim.

Shuttles and Rentals
Shuttles run to Ubud, Denpasar’s Ubung Station, Sanur, Kuta or the airport. Shuttles leave for Kuta at 0700 and 1300 (2.5 hours). For four or five passengers, drivers offer service direct to Candidasa or Padangbai via the east coast. Or catch the shuttle to Kuta where you transfer to another shuttle heading for Candidasa. Kuta is the transit point for shuttles to Senggigi or Mataram.

Most hotels and homestays can arrange tickets and provide pickup service. Ask about Perama’s “Stopover Service” offering southbound travelers up to two nights in scenic Bedugul at no charge. For guests, most Lovina hotels organize minibus tours of culture-rich Gianyar Regency; some rent cars. You can rent Jeeps, car, motorcycles (though good machines are hard to find), scooters with automatic clutch, bicycles and mountain bikes. Rent from virtually any homestay, hotel, or travel/tour agency.