Live'n Lovina Loca
Trip Start
Apr 28, 2011
1
18
20
Trip End
Jun 26, 2011
Where I stayed
What I did
Snorkel
Lovina, Bali, Indonesia
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The next day we got up bright and early to eat a big breakfast before we went snorkeling. I figured that a van would pick us up and take us to a bus where we would then head to Menjangan. Turned out a nice bus with leather seats and air conditioning picked us up and it took us there and back. The only other people from our hotel going were a Swiss couple who were in their 40's and making out the whole way there, so it was a pretty unfortunate ride. When we got there we waited a bit then hopped on a ferry with said inappropriate Swiss people and another couple around our age who were going diving. The first spot we went to had a "beach" which in reality was just some rocks. This location had a good current going on and was very choppy, to say the least I was pretty pissed because it was nearly impossible to snorkel. We weren't in the water for long before it was lunch time. After we ate we got back on the boat and went to the other side of the island where it was dead calm. Finally! We hopped in and it was magical. Truly magical.. Tons of coral all different shapes sizes and colors, same for fish. No jelly fish in the area so that was something we didn't have to worry about. We just floated around staring at the underwater world for a couple hours before we were called back to the boat to go home. My only regret is not having an underwater camera because it was indescribably beautiful and amazing down there in the crystal clear Bali Sea. We ferried back and got on the bus nice and soggy, the Swiss people behaved themselves on the way back and we enjoyed looking out the window. The instructors and boat people on the trip were very nice and helpful guys.
For the next couple of days in Lovina we literally just hung out. Took our sweet time getting up, had a nice view of the ocean while enjoying our huge breakfasts, took full advantage of the pool and tried different restaurants in the area. Suma had pretty terrible internet so we had to go somewhere else to upload photos onto the blog, sorry it took so long! They are also located a 25 min walk from the "town center" which is kind of a pain in the ass. I liked the hotel, but I think I would prefer being closer. There's a street with a ton of signs for restaurants and hotels off the main road which if your coming from Suma is after in Indomart and before the Alfamart which in fact does have a lot of restaurants. They're pricier a bit but have great happy hour deals. Normally they charge 35,000 for a large beer but for happy hour it's anywhere from 19,000 to 21,000. You can get a large at the mini mart for 22,000 or you can do as we did and bargain for it with a local shop. The one near our hotel initially asked 25,000 and we struck a deal at 22,000 if we brought back the bottles. Going 3 minutes from our hotel sure beat walking 20 minutes if we wanted a beer by the pool. Our hotel charged 36,000 for a large beer and was really pricey compared to other places for food so we didn't have anything there but the free breakfast. Even for water they charged 7,000 when it is 2,500 at the mini mart. Greedy!
We wanted to check out the hot spring but we spent a decent amount of money on snorkeling and didn't want to pay too much for a driver or risk renting a motor bike. There were lots of cops all over the place and even though it only costs 35,000 to rent one, we would end up paying at least 50,000 if we got pulled over and had to bribe the cop. So we skipped the springs. Lovina is much quieter as long as your not on the main road and it's nice for sure, but since it's not nearly as visited as other places in Bali people selling things can be pretty pushy. If you say no thanks to looking at what they have, they will either shove it in your face or they will make you promise that you will come look later. Not a fan of it. People in general are very nice though. There is a reptile zoo on our street, and the other day while walking to the store and huge lizard ran across the street conveniently right by the reptile zoo. The thing was huge and it looked like a adolescent komodo dragon. Nice. So, if you go to Suma watch out for that guy if they don't re-capture it! Also, on the street Suma is on there is a little restaurant that had just opened and they had a buffet for 10,000 per person! That's $1.17 for a buffet. And it was quite delicious I might add.
The day before yesterday we bought our tickets for 120,000idr per person from Lovina to Padang Bai, although when we went to dinner right after and saw it on the happy hour street for 110,000. Oh well.. We went to a place that we went once before and liked, turned out they were having Balinese dancing for free that night! So we had dinner, a couple of beers and watch Balinese dancing. It was a great way to end our stay in Lovina. This morning we got on our bus at 8:45am and had a very, very bumpy 4 and a half hour ride along the coast to Padang Bai. We got to Padang Bai yesterday and are already bored. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk around the whole town and there is not much to see. You can go diving and snorkeling here and they have a lot of fresh fish but thats about it. We were intending on spending 3 days here and leaving for Gili Air on the 21st where we have a room reserved the 21st to the 24th. We have decided to just leave tomorrow instead and spend one day on Gili Meno and the rest of the time on Gili Air. After the Gili Islands it's two days in Kuta then we hop on a jet plane California bound. Hard to believe it's almost over!
