First of all, I think Sidemen may just be my favourite spot in Bali! I know that's a big call, but there is something super special about this place. It is a genuine Balinese farming village with a few lovely guesthouses and warungs. Sidemen ( rhymes with cinnamon) has green views in every direction with Bali's active volcano Agung also choosing to peak through the mist from time to time. Sidemen sits at 500m above sea level, with temperatures close to perfect, being a few degree's lower than coastal area's. Walking through the rice terraces is a must do activity and hard to avoid while you are here. You can walk along the roads, but if you want to cross farm lands, you will need to take a local guide with you. There are plenty of different day walks available and if you are a keen hiker, there are walks up nearby Mt Agung. There is something special watching the locals go about their day, tending crops in the fields, walking their cows down to the river and building structures which my guess will turn into a plethora of new guesthouses. I hope Sidemen doesn't expand too quickly and it's secret is kept a little longer. It is worth noting that this isn't where you should come if you are looking for bars, shopping or getting your nails done. You will not find any of this in Sidemen.... thank God! There is a daily market in the local township you can visit in the early morning. Within half an hour's drive, you can visit Tukad Cepung waterfall or Besakih mother temple of Bali. From Sidemen, it is an hour's car ride to visit Ubud, Tirta Gannga Water Palace, and Penataran Lempuyang. We loved our stay at Alamdhari Resort. All rooms have impressive balcony views and the family rooms were comfortable for 4 people and clean. The breakfast was delicious with a lovely restaurant on site. We have also stayed at Abian Ayu Villa. It is nestled into the valley with a more down to earth feel than Alhamdari. It has a nice pool area and simple pool side restaurant for breakfast. The rooms were stunning with tiled floors, wooden windows and impressive bathrooms. 2022 UPDATE:
Sidemen is getting back up and running following the pandemic. We found Sidemen very similar to 2019 tourist numbers and even noticed 1-2 more restaurants open. This was in drastic contrast to Sanur, Kuta and Jimbaran which were frighteningly quiet.
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Nusa Lembongan is a really easy getaway from mainland Bali for those who have just a short holiday planned or those with less intrepid travelling styles. It is just a 30 minute fast boat trip from Sanur beach, and a incredible change of pace from the crazyness of Bali's main beaches. We chose to stay in Sanghyang Bay, or Mushroom Beach, as it is referred to locally. For us, it had the perfect mix of relaxed beachy charm, and enough restaurants, shops and activities to keep it interesting. The main street had a handful of villa's and restaurants as well as 2-3 shops to buy souvenirs or icecreams. You can easily book a snorkelling trip, taxi or buy a new sarong. A handful of beachside cafe's provide the perfect location for a sundowner drink in the magic light pre-sunset. Our favourite restaurants were Mola Mola at the west end of the beach, and Alam Nusa on the main road. Tourists numbers were really low and while we were there (October 2019) all villa's had vacancies even though it was Aussie and NZ school holidays at the time. Our Villa was actually closer to Tamarind Beach, which was sweet, but a little ugly at low tide. But a super bonus for us was close access to secret beach, which was one minute's walk from our villa. a perfect untouched beach with very few people and absolutely no tourism. To find this beach, take the first road to the left out of Mushroom Beach walking toward Tamarind Beach. Once you pass Nanuk's Bungalows, turn left up the hill and take one bend to the right and then turn left immediately toward Lotus Bungalows on the top of the hill. A sand path then meanders to the cliff edge and down to secret beach. Bliss. Dream Bay is situated on the west side of the island. It is the perfect spot to enjoy sunset with views back toward Bali's south coast. The sea swell ripping into Dream Beach was huge on the days we visited and totally unsafe for swimming. For this reason, we would definately recommend visiting this beautiful bay, but staying somewhere else. If you book a table for dinner at The Sandy Bay Beach Club, they will pick you up and drop you back to your accommodation for free. This helps offset the price of the meals, but nevertheless we spent a super special evening here celebrating the dutchmans birthday. Jungut batu is the main area of Lembongan and where many of the boats arrive in to. The water colours here are simply devine, with shallow calm waters, and views up to Mt Agung, Bali's active volcano. Ceningan Island is well worth a visit. We crossed the yellow bridge to Ceningan 3 times during our stay, as we loved the ambience over there. It reminding us of some of the quiet beachside villages we loved in Sri Lanka and Cambodia. The hard working locals harvest seaweed, which is used to make ice cream. When the tide is high, the views along the shallow channel is simply stunning and sunsets can be enjoyed from the handful of bars along the waters edge. Ceningan may just be a little too quiet to stay at for a family, unless you had access to motorbikes to get around, but certainly well worth a magical sunset stroll. From Lembongan, there are numerous snorkelling trips out to Nusa Penida. Most offer the chance to see manta rays and the deeper diving trips occasionally see molamola, which would certainly be an experience. Sadly on the days we were there, the sea was choppy and unless the see is calm, there is little chance of snorkelling with Manta Rays. The fish were certainly amazing and water beautifully clear! But on the whole we found the Penida snorkelling experience much more challenging than previous trips. Between the currents at Mangrove point and the waves at Crystal Bay, we were keeping a close eye on the children at all times. I even got sea sick while snorkelling, which was a first for me and had to sit up on the boat for the last half hour. Our children have snorkelled a lot over the years, and I wouldn't recommend taking children here for their first snorkelling experience unless the conditions were super calm. I actually wish we had taken a day trip to explore Nusa Penida rather than the snorkelling trip. We hired a golf cart and spent a day exploring Lembongan island, which isn't actually all that big, so we were back at the villa's again by lunch time. We checked out Jungut Batu first and the impressive Mahagiri Resort at the northern tip. Back via the yellow bridge (which FYI, you cannot drive golf carts on), Dream Bay and then the coastal road back to Mushroom Beach. You can hire golf carts or motorbikes from most villa's on Lembongan. We have chosen twice now to travel with Scoot Fast Boats and have been very happy with their service. We stayed at Nanuk's bungalows which was sweet, small and offered a family bungalow. The breakfasts were delicious. If picking accommodation in Mushroom Bay I would choose any of the villa's along the road between Damara and Nanuk's.
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