About Bali

BALI ISLAND

Bali’s longitude and latitude: 8 degrees 20’ South and 115 degrees 00‘ East. It’s Time zone is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Median Time and is the same as Singapore and Hong Kong.

Each year more than a million tourists visit Bali and it boasts of more than 25,000 hotel rooms.

Bali has not only been called “The Island of the gods,” but also Jawaharlal referred to Bali as “the morning of the world.”

Bali is 5,700 square kilometers and has a population of 3,000,000 people. The local population is friendly and quite comfortable with western visitors and tourists from other parts of Asia as they are quite accustomed to seeing new faces every day.

Bali has ancient customs and rituals and the Balinese people are dedicated to keeping alive the ceremonies and beliefs of their Hindu ancestry. This however does not prevent them from possessing a healthy attitude towards digital cameras, laptops, voice recorders and the hi-tech accouterments of the modern traveler. 90% of the population will smile when you point a camera in their direction and those that dislike being photographed will simply turn away. In general Bali is very tolerant of cultural differences and oriented towards pleasing tourists as it is their number one industry. English is spoken and if you take the time to communicate and lay out your plans and ideas, you will probably find locals amenable to assisting you in achieving them.

Bali’s most famous beaches are Kuta [for the beginner to advanced surfer] Sanur, which requires a kilometer walk to get to the breaking waves which is ideal for those who are not strong swimmers or dislike large waves; Uluwatu which has monster waves and is popular among advanced surfers and those with excessive bravery and Lovina which has no waves to surf but volcanic black sand which warms and massages the soles of your feet. There are many beaches in Bali and if you describe what you are looking for, someone can refer you to the one that matches your needs.

If you click the link here or at the bottom of this page you will be able to see a scan of the Bali tourist map which contains DIVE and SURF cartoon images depicted near the beaches which are ideal for such activities.

There are hundreds of traditional dances and rituals but the three most celebrated are the Barong dance which depicts the struggle between good and evil and of good triumphing over evil. Click this link to see a photo of the barong monster which is the good force that devours the evil witch Rangda in this ceremony. The next two are the Puputan margarana and the traditional Kechak Dance. For more information click the link below to the Bali Tourism Authority or point your browser to http://balitorismauthority.net [Check this because is spelled torism NOT tourism in the latest Bali and Beyond magazine]

Bali is a close boat ride away from the famous Komodo dragon and the Island of Lombok which is preserved in its natural form without much real estate developing and has only one main strip of hotels so for the Antiquarian or explore, Bali is ideal because it is situated so close to attractions suited for such and Bali serves as a good home base for the explorer who seeks these and other adventures that Indonesia has to offer.

The two dominant mountain peaks in Bali’s skyline are Mt. Agung (3,014 meters) which has not experienced a violent eruption since 1963 and Mt. Batur (1,717 meters) which still experiences minor activity.

Bali has two seasons, a wet season between November and March and a dry season between April and October.

As you know, our site is dedicated to scuba diving in Bali but we want to offer you links to other activities in Bali ranging from antique Asian textiles to photographing birds, monkeys and other wildlife. Please check our site regularly and feel free to request information by email and our staff will research and provide it.