Candi Dasa: The gateway to East Bali
Chris and I are heading out to East Bali and will stay a night or 2 in Candi Dasa, the last big tourist place on the main road heading east before its all small villages.
My Rough Guide says "Candi Dasa is a laid-back holiday resort at the eastern end of Amuk Bay, a good center for snorkeling and diving with a wide variety of accommodation and restaurants to suit every taste and every pocket. It's also a relaxed and pleasant base from which to explore the east of Bali, with easy road access to many of the main sights. Candi Dasa grew around its attractive lagoon, but the tourist developments have now spread west around the bay, through the villages of Senkidu, Mendira, Buitan and Manggis, where the beach is still a respectable size."
There are also a couple of nice beaches to the immediate east and west of Padangbai's main beach that are good for snorkeling.
By Nick | Permalink
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Candi Dasa: The Gateway to East Bali
Candi Dasa (pronounced Chandi Dasa) is the biggest tourist development on the east coast of Bali. It lies on the main road past the turn off for Padangbai and was once more of a happening spot than it is now. What basically happened was the strip along the beach that surrounded the lagoon was developed. Wall to wall guests houses and restaurants. Unfortunately the beach washed away after locals dynamited the reef to make cement. Nowadays Candi Dasa is left with some visitors, but most people there probably wish the good old days were back.
One tourist made the comment to me once that now that Candi Dasa has been spoilt and made obsolete, it is just a blot on the face of the island. I agreed, but after some thought I began to have other ideas. Candi Dasa does have a great location, one might even call it 'The Gateway to East Bali'. Certainly if you are staying further east you might swing through Candi Dasa to use an ATM, grab a good meal and refresh. I can see a smart investor buying up some of that beachfront land and building a smaller, low-level version of the Conrad Benoa. If you offered package tourists a quieter location, great accommodation, 2 hours from Kuta, with access to exciting East Bali, they might go for it. Sounds weird right now to say that but East Bali is going to open up once the coastal highway is completed. Places at the end of it will see a lot of people passing through and Candi Dasa is ideally placed to take advantage of it, with a change of face in certain areas. I wouldn't mind betting that in 20 years Candi Dasa will be the Sanur of the East, a low key beach resort, with restaurants and nightlife, where long term expats choose to live.
By Nick | Permalink |
7 comments | June 13th, 2005 | Trackback
Related Posts
- Candi Dasa: The gateway to East Bali
- Downtown in Candi Dasa East Bali
- Snorkeling in Candi Dasa in East Bali
- Candi Dasa: A place to be explored
- Food in Candi Dasa
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