Explore Kuta

Kuta Beach is a sandy beach several kilometres long on the west coast of Bali's southern isthmus, facing the Indian Ocean in front of the town of Kuta. A fishing village until the mid-20th century, it drew surfers and backpackers from the 1970s. Its gentle breaks are used for surf lessons, and the shore faces west towards the sunset.

Waterbom Bali is a water park on Jalan Kartika Plaza in Kuta, open since 1993. Its 3.9 hectares of tropical gardens hold 28 slides and attractions built by WhiteWater West, from steep body slides such as Climax and Smashdown to a lazy river, a FlowRider surf wave and pools and slides for small children.

The Bali Bombings Memorial stands on Jalan Legian in Kuta, on the site of Paddy's Pub, one of the targets of the bombings of 12 October 2002 that killed 202 people. Dedicated on the second anniversary in 2004, the carved stone monument holds a marble plaque listing the names and nationalities of the victims.

Jimbaran Beach lines the curve of Jimbaran Bay at the fishing village of Jimbaran, south of the airport at the neck of the Bukit peninsula, about 6 km south of Kuta. Outrigger fishing boats are drawn up on the sand, and in the evening seafood stalls along the shore grill the catch over coconut husks for diners at tables on the beach.

Pura Dalem Sakenan is a Balinese Hindu temple on the north-western shore of Serangan, a small island south of Denpasar and about 6 km east of Kuta, now joined to Bali by a bridge. Founded according to tradition by the priest Mpu Kuturan in the early 11th century, it keeps old walls of coral and limestone and draws a large festival every 210 days.

The Bali Museum is a museum of Balinese art, culture and history in Denpasar, Bali's capital, on the east side of the Puputan square. Built in the early 1930s to designs by P. J. Moojen, its walls and courtyards follow the royal palace destroyed in 1906. Pavilions named after Balinese regions show prehistoric finds, masks, musical instruments, textiles and ritual objects.

The Bajra Sandhi Monument stands in the Renon square in Denpasar, Bali's capital, in front of the governor's office, and honours the struggles of the Balinese people. Designed by Ida Bagus Gede Yadnya, it was built from 1987 and inaugurated in 2003. Its 17 gates, 8 pillars and 45-metre height recall 17 August 1945; inside are dioramas on Balinese history.

Pura Jagatnatha is a Hindu temple in Denpasar, Bali's capital, beside the Bali Museum on the Puputan square. Built in 1953, it is dedicated to Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, the supreme god of Balinese Hinduism. At its centre a tall stone padmasana, an open throne shrine, rises from a base surrounded by a moat, inside walls with carved split gateways.

Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park lies at Ungasan on the Bukit peninsula, south of Kuta. The 60-hectare park in a former limestone quarry centres on a 121-metre monument of the god Vishnu riding Garuda by Nyoman Nuarta, completed in 2018. Visitors walk between cut limestone walls in the Lotus Pond area and watch daily Balinese dances, with a Kecak in the evening.

Museum Pasifika is an art museum in the Nusa Dua resort area, south of Kuta, founded in 2006 by Moetaryanto P. and Philippe Augier in a building designed by Popo Danes. Its galleries hold more than 600 works by about 200 artists from 25 countries, arranged by region: Indonesian and European painters in Indonesia, Indochina, Asia, the Pacific islands and Oceanian tapa.

Sanur Beach is a stretch of coast on the east side of Denpasar, Bali's capital, facing east across the Badung Strait towards Nusa Penida and the sunrise. A reef offshore keeps the water calm, and a paved path runs along the shore past traditional outrigger boats. Dutch troops landed here in 1906, and Japanese forces in the Second World War.

The Le Mayeur Museum is the former beachfront home of the Belgian painter Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès in Sanur, south-east of Denpasar. He settled in Bali in 1932 and married the Legong dancer Ni Pollok, his main model, in 1935. The Balinese-style house and garden show about 88 of his paintings, along with carved doors and panels.

Water Blow is a rocky point on the coast of the Nusa Dua resort area, south-east of Kuta, where Indian Ocean swells strike jagged limestone. A narrow cleft below the cliff edge channels the surges, which burst upward in sprays several metres high, and far higher in strong swell; a path leads out to viewing points above the rocks.

Padang Padang Beach is a sandy cove about 110 metres long below tall limestone cliffs at Pecatu, on the Bukit peninsula in the south of Bali, south of Kuta. Visitors reach it down a flight of steps and through a gap in the rocks; the reef break off the beach is a surf spot where an annual surfing contest is held.

Pandawa Beach lies on the south coast of the Bukit peninsula, south of Kuta, reached by a road cut through limestone cliffs. Niches in the cliff hold statues of Kunti and the five Pandawa brothers of the Mahabharata. The shallow water in front is used by villagers for seaweed farming, and paragliders take off from the Timbis cliff above.

Melasti Beach is a white-sand beach at Ungasan on the southern coast of the Bukit peninsula, south of Kuta, lying below limestone cliffs some 70 metres high. At low tide a flat reef is exposed in front of the sand, and the shore is also used for the Melasti ceremony, a Balinese Hindu purification rite held at the sea.

Tanah Lot is a Hindu sea temple on a rock just off the coast of Tabanan, west of Kuta, attributed to the 16th-century priest Dang Hyang Nirartha and dedicated to the sea god Dewa Baruna. The rock can be reached on foot only at low tide. Its crumbling face was reinforced in the 1980s, and paths along the shore look out on the temple.