Welcome to Virgin Beach - the Bali tourists don’t know about
BEAUTIFUL sand, a lovely bay, little beachside restaurants selling fresh fish ... this is just like Bali was in the 1970s.
THE makeshift, slightly misspelt sign is a beautiful reminder of the days when Bali truly was a paradise.
“Welcome to Virgin Beach,” it reads. “For rent. Body board. Snokling (sic). Cheap sun chair. Toilets. Showers.”
What more could you possibly want for a perfect holiday?
We’d been driven to the beach by some expat Australians with inside knowledge.
“You’ll love this place,” they’d insisted. “It’s a bit of a secret. Beautiful sand, a lovely bay, great little beachside restaurants selling fresh fish. And hardly any tourists know about it. It’s just like Bali was in the 1970s when we first started coming here.”
The expats had called it White Sand Beach, rather than Virgin Beach, though its Balinese name is Patir Putir. It lies about 5km northeast of Candidasa. Later when I googled “White Sand Beach” I found travellers’ reports listing it as one of the greatest discoveries of their Balinese holidays. But there were also a few taking umbrage at the name.
“The sand isn’t white,” nitpickers complained. “It’s more an insipid shade of yellow.”
In fact, White Sands probably earned its name because most of the other beaches along this stretch of Bali’s eastern coast are volcanic, black sand.
I prefer the title Virgin Beach. Compared to the overcrowded, crassly commercial beaches of Kuta or Seminyak, Patir Putir is unsullied and pristine.
Please don’t get the impression that Virgin Beach is perfect, or that there are no tourists, hawkers or sea lice. It’s just here the tourists are quiet and respectful, the hawkers sell things you might actually want to buy (like fresh coconuts, wooden kites or a foot massage for $4), and the surf is as clean.
One of the reasons for Virgin Beach’s relative anonymity is that it can only be reached via a dirt track road or 10-minute boat trip from Candidasa. If driving, turn off the main road near the village of Perasi, follow the signs to Pasir Putih for about 2km and stop at the temple where locals will collect a visitor’s fee. From here, its a 600m, rather bumpy, descent.
The full beauty of Pasir Putih doesn’t hit you until you reach the white sands. The beach is protected by rocky outcrops and its crescent-shaped length is framed with coconut trees and fishing boats.
We took a dip, read our books on sun loungers provided by our chosen warung, then took a brief 30-minute stroll along the single dirt road back street of Virgin Beach, with its temple, free-roaming roosters and boats that look like they haven’t been in the water for several decades.
Lunch beckons. And our expats insist we must sample Virgin Beach’s take on nasi goreng. However, our warung hosts have other ideas, bringing out the freshly-caught snapper they are offering for lunch (along with mahi-mahi), both served grilled with rice and salad. It was absolutely delicious, and less than $A10.
Eastern Bali has long been regarded as the quieter part of the island, dominated by its highest mountain Gunung Agung. We had seen “the mother mountain”, constantly cloaked in mist, as we’d driven north from our base, the new Australian-owned surfing resort, Hotel Komune, a 30-minute drive south of Candidasa.
This part of Bali seems an age away from Kuta or Nusa Dua because it is so genteel and authentic. That’s not to say it is undeveloped. There are tourist restaurants and hotels all along the eastern coast, and its diving and snorkelling sites are legendary.
Candidasa is the main tourist hub. Sadly, there’s no beach any more because most of the sand was washed away as the hotels were built. But the views are still spectacular.
On the southern side of the bay known as Teluk Amak, you’ll find Padang Bai, popular with budget travellers because of its good beach and diving, its ferry connections to Lombok and Nusa Penida, and its plethora of great restaurants.
On our way back from Virgin Beach to Hotel Komune, we take a short diversion to Goa Lawah, literally Bat Cave, one of the nine most significant Sad Kahyangan temples in Bali. It’s charming, but a little odd. Be prepared for the stench of bat guano produced by the hundreds of tiny fruit bats which give the temple its name.
Our guide tells us the temple was founded a thousand years ago, in 1007AD, as the holy place to worship Maheswara, the god of these parts.
By chance, we stumble across a colourful, seemingly happy funeral procession snaking through Keramas as we are about to arrive back at Hotel Komune. Eventually the dead person’s ashes will be scattered on the ocean.
The funeral is a fitting finale to a splendid day. From Virgin Beach and perfectly cooked fish in a traditional warung, to a bizarre, temple and coincidental religious ceremony - it just goes to prove you can still find “old” Bali if you seek it.
The writer was a guest of Hotel Komune
GO2 BALI’S EAST COAST
GETTING TH ERE
Virgin and Jetstar are among the airlines flying regularly to Bali.
Hotel Komune is at Jalan Pantai Keramas, Gianyar - roughly an hour’s taxi ride from Denpasar airport.
STAYING THERE
Prices start from $A91 a night, with one hour of night surfing costing $A20. Massage costs $A15 per 30 minute session.
More information: www.komuneresorts.com Phone: + 62 361 301 8888. Email: info.bali@komuneresorts.com
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