I found the Bali of my dreams (and it was only $45 a night)

By Julia D'Orazio

January 13, 2025 — 5.00am

Baby chickens running wild, “spider” boats and blackened coastlines – this is far from Bali’s typical hotspot scenes. Amed is a throwback to the Bali of yesteryear.

Unlike Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and digital-nomad magnet Canggu, you won’t see multi-storey hotels, corporate logos lining streets or Lycra-clad influencers. Non-stop car horns, congested traffic and thumping nightlife are left in the south. Instead, Amed attracts active types who are into hiking and the world-class snorkelling and dive sites nearby.

The shadow of Mount Agung looms over Amed.Credit: iStock

Landing at Denpasar International Airport at midnight, I was grateful that I had organised a pre-booked transfer. Amed is at least a two-and-a-half-hour drive north-east of the airport, and I can’t help but fall asleep in the taxi as I am chauffeured to the township.

On arrival at 3am, Amed’s narrow main street is dead quiet; there’s not a soul in sight. Under the moonlight, I walk with my driver down a long driveway towards the beach to locate my accommodation. The sound of my suitcase rolling over the gravel drowns out the gently lapping waves.

My prized find is a modest beach bungalow. At $45 a night, Tambun Sari Beach Homestay costs a fraction of what most coastal hotspots charge. Host and owner Putu Dian Amerta has kindly left the light on and the key in the door to make finding my room easier. It will be a few hours before I fully appreciate my location.

Tambun Sari Beach Homestay is a bargain.Credit: Julia D’Orazio

Amed rests in the shadow of Bali’s most active volcano, Mount Agung, and is a bit of a dark horse in the Bali tourism pecking order. Perhaps the fishing village fails to woo the masses because of that looming slow cooker, which last erupted in 2019, or its black volcanic shores. Still, the silhouette of Bali’s sacred mountain rising more than 3000 metres is a magnificent sight.

Amed’s beach is dotted with low-rise accommodation and a few beach bar shacks. My oceanfront homestay comprises two neighbouring villas, both basic at best. Each 26-metre-square bungalow features glossy white tiles, a four-poster bed and a semi-outdoor bathroom with cobblestone flooring (I will later discover that small crabs loiter there).

A rooster’s crow wakes me before 7am, but that’s not the only soundtrack on repeat each morning. Fishermen zoom past on motorised outrigger “jukung” canoes that resemble giant spiders creeping up the coast. I sip a coconut drink on my plastic lounge and watch the fishermen anchor their boats and converse while sorting their morning catch. Coincidentally, I’m about to see marine life up close.

Amed has some of Bali’s top dive sites, including thriving coral gardens and shipwrecks just flipper strides from the pebbly shore. I join scuba dive operator Dream Divers Bali to explore the World War II-era cargo shipwreck USAT Liberty in nearby Tulamben Bay. Conditions are perfect – the water is warm and visibility is about 15 metres. Colourful corals blanket the 130-metre-long wreck, and stingrays, groupers and turtles swim through the twisted metal.

The Japanese Wreck can be explored with a snorkel.Credit: iStock

A 20-minute drive south of Amed beach is the Japanese Wreck, which is wreathed with corals. Even if you’re not a diver, you can explore both wrecks with a snorkel.

Back on land, I enjoy how relaxed Amed is after dark. My “big night out” involves feasting on nasi goreng under festoon lights at Wawa-Wewe, a beachside bar and restaurant with live music. The crowd seems blasé as a three-piece band plays. Maybe travellers are worn out with daytime adventuring.

As I return to my beachside retreat, I come across a small community fair featuring amusements and a handful of street food hawkers. My eyes widen when I see chicken satay sticks tightly bunched together over flaming coals. I order six, and the vendor wraps my skewers with scribbled paper. Amed is the essence of Bali I was seeking.