Below the high-tide mark: A dangerous place to build in Bali

Here is an interesting article from a local Bali website. The district of Jembrana, the mostly westerly part of Bali enjoys a long coastline. Friends of mine have told me they have been checking various parts of the SW out and expect to see a healthy rise in land prices. Buying land in a quiet area and building your dream house is a thing many people plan on. One thing to bear in mind is that you cannot legally build within 100 meters of the high tide mark.

Driving around the coast you have the impression that nobody is aware of the rule. I know people who own lovely properties very close to the waters edge. The situation is that people are willing to risk losing their property, believing it unlikely the government will confiscate everybodys place.

To me this is another piece of shaky ground you have to think about. Local will sell you beach front property and you can get it notarized etc. However the legal noose is there anytime the local authorities want your place. There is an Aussie guy in Balangan who is going to lose his place because of this.

If someone wanted to leans on you it might be the start of an endless ritual of you paying for licenses etc. that could be revoked.