Full day trips from the Bali retreat

Print this page, or save it as a PDF Staying on before or after Back to the free afternoon tours Retreat information page The islands Evenings out Your last night in Bali

Want a copy for the car? Tap the button above and your phone will offer you Save as PDF. It saves just the words, and it works with no wifi at all, which matters once you are out on the road.

Flametree retreat · Pondok Pisang, Candidasa · the bigger days out

East Bali is a very good base. Almost everything on this page is reachable from the front gate of Pondok Pisang in a morning, and most of it is somewhere the average visitor to Bali never gets to at all.

These are not part of the retreat, and Flametree does not pay for them. The free half-day tour in the middle of the week is a different thing entirely, and it is covered in full on the free afternoon page. Everything below is at your own cost, and we have priced it honestly so you can see what you would be up for before you decide.

Who these are for

Partners and companions. If someone has come with you and is not doing the yoga, these are how they fill a day while you practise. They can go out after breakfast and be back for dinner.

Anyone staying on. A good number of people add a night or two at either end of the retreat. Almost nobody realises how much is within reach of Candidasa, so they end up in Kuta or Sanur instead. This page is here to fix that.

Anyone who wants a proper day out. Some of these are simply too far for the four-hour free afternoon. That does not make them worse. It makes them a different sort of day.

We are very happy to help you arrange one. Talk to Chris while you are there, or to us in Darwin before you fly. We can tell Wayan what you want, get you a proper price, and help you find other people to share a car with. You do not have to organise it from scratch on your own, and you will get a better price through him than off the street.

About the money

Every trip below shows two things: what the car costs, and what you pay when you get there.

The car. We have used about AUD $10 an hour, roughly IDR 125,000 an hour, fuel included. That is Wayan’s rough rate and it is a planning figure, not a quote. The final price comes from him, so ask before you commit. A car takes up to four people, so the cost per head drops sharply once you fill it.

What you pay on the ground. Entry fees, tickets, lunch. All cash, all rupiah.

Rupiah figures here use about 12,500 to the Australian dollar. Rates move, so treat the dollar figures as a guide.

Sketch map of Bali showing the six full day trips from Pondok Pisang, with drive times and an index of the trips — How far each one goes. The honest distances are the point of this map: it shows at a glance why Handara and Lake Batur are full days and why the Liberty wreck is not.

Open this map for your phone The twelve free afternoon tours

Saving a map to your phone. Every trip below has its own map, with the schedule and the costs written on it. Tap Open the map and the picture opens on its own. Then press and hold it and choose Add to Photos on an iPhone, or Download image on an Android. It then sits in your photos like any other picture, so you can show it to your driver with no signal at all.

A. Lake Batur: the hot springs, the lake and the crater

Mount Batur and the caldera lake seen at sunrise from the Kintamani rim, with cloud lying in the valley below — Lake Batur from the Kintamani rim. The hot springs are on the far shore, at the foot of the volcano.

People sitting in the warm spring fed pools on the shore of Lake Batur, with the caldera wall and cloud behind — The springs themselves, on the lake shore. Warm water straight out of the volcano, and you sit in it looking back up at the crater.

Bali has one place where a crater lake, natural hot springs and a volcano you can walk on all sit together, and this is it. You drive up through Rendang and over the rim at Kintamani, and the whole caldera opens up below you.

At the bottom, on the shore of Danau Batur (Lake Batur), the village of Toya Bungkah (Spring Water Village) has ten geothermal pools running right down to the water. Some of them look straight out across the lake. The water comes out of the ground at about 50 degrees and reaches the pools at a comfortable 37 to 40.

You can take a canoe out on the lake, and you can walk the lower slopes of Gunung Batur (Mount Batur) far enough to look into the crater. It is an active volcano and it still steams.

The day. Leave Pondok Pisang 7.30am · 2 hr 30 drive · Toya Bungkah 10.00am to 2.30pm, hot springs, the lake, the crater walk and lunch · 2 hr 30 drive · back at Pondok Pisang 5.00pm. About ten hours.

What it costs. Hot springs IDR 200,000 at the gate, or IDR 120,000 booked online beforehand, so about AUD $16 or $10. Towels and lockers are included and it is open 7am to 7pm. Canoe or boat hire is arranged at the lakeside and is not published anywhere, so agree the price before you get in. Car for the day about IDR 1,250,000, roughly AUD $100 for the car, so about $25 each with four sharing.
Around AUD $50 a head all up with four in the car, plus lunch.

Route map for the Lake Batur day, Kintamani rim and Toya Bungkah, with times and costs — Day A. Up through Rendang and over the Kintamani rim, then down to the hot springs on the lake shore.

Open the Lake Batur map

B. Golf at Handara

The carved stone Handara gate standing across the road at Bedugul in the Bali highlands, with forested hills behind — The Handara gate. The golf course is through it, in an old volcanic crater at 1200 metres, where it is properly cool.

A course laid out inside the crater of a dormant volcano at Bedugul, at altitude, in cool mountain air, with the ridge rising all the way round it. It is regularly rated one of the best in Asia and it looks nothing like the rest of Bali.

The drive is the surprise. It goes inland through Kintamani rather than down the coast, so it misses Ubud and Denpasar traffic completely. It is slow because it is winding, not because it is jammed, which means the timing actually holds.

Eighteen holes

Leave 5.30am · 3 hr drive · tee off 9.00am · 18 holes with a cart, about five hours, finishing around 2.00pm · lunch at the clubhouse and the Handara gate photograph · leave 3.00pm · 3 hr drive · back at Pondok Pisang 6.00pm, in time for dinner. Twelve and a half hours.

Green fee including cart and caddy IDR 2,000,000, about AUD $160 · caddy tip, minimum IDR 200,000, about $16 · car for the day about IDR 1,560,000, roughly AUD $125.
Two sharing the car, own clubs: about AUD $242 each. Four sharing: about $210 each.

Nine holes

Leave 6.30am · 3 hr drive · tee off 10.00am · 9 holes, about two and a half hours · lunch and the Handara gate photograph · leave 1.30pm · 3 hr drive · back at Pondok Pisang 4.30pm. Ten hours, and home in good time.

Green fee including cart and caddy IDR 1,200,000, about AUD $96 · caddy tip, minimum IDR 200,000, about $16 · car for the day about IDR 1,250,000, roughly AUD $100.
Two sharing the car, own clubs: about AUD $162 each. Four sharing: about $137 each.

Club hire is IDR 500,000, about $40, if you are not bringing your own. The Handara gate photograph is IDR 50,000, about $4. There is also a sunset rate from 2pm at IDR 950,000, about $76, but it puts you home well after dinner.

The other courses are all in the south, three hours or more away through Denpasar traffic: Bali Beach Golf at Sanur, which is nine holes and the closest of them, Bali National at Nusa Dua, New Kuta at Pecatu, and Bukit Pandawa at Kutuh. They suit a night or two down that end at either end of the retreat rather than a day trip from Candidasa. Ask us and we will help you work one out.

Route map for the Handara golf day at Bedugul, with times and costs — Day B. Inland through Kintamani rather than down the coast, which is why the timing holds.

Open the Handara map

C. The Liberty shipwreck and Amed

Yellow striped sweetlips and other tropical fish swimming over the coral covered hull of the USAT Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben, Bali — Sweetlips over the Liberty. The hull is a reef now, and most of it sits shallow enough to see with a mask.

Aerial view of the black sand beach and village at Tulamben in east Bali, with snorkellers and divers in the clear water over the wreck — Tulamben from the air, which answers the question everybody asks. The wreck is about thirty metres out from that black sand beach, and the specks are people already on it.

The USAT Liberty is a United States army cargo ship, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942 and pushed into the sea by the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung. She lies on a black sand slope about thirty metres off the beach at Tulamben, starting only five metres down and running to thirty.

You can snorkel her. That is the unusual part. There is no boat, no charter and no dive ticket. You walk in off the beach in your own gear and she is right there, covered in coral and fish.

A little further up the coast at Amed there is a second, smaller Japanese wreck in even shallower water, and a row of warungs on the sand for lunch.

The day. Leave 8.00am · 1 hr 20 drive · Tulamben and the Liberty 9.20am to 12.00 · 30 min drive · Amed, the Japanese wreck and lunch on the beach, 12.30 to 3.00 · 1 hr 30 drive · back at Pondok Pisang 4.30pm. About eight and a half hours.

What it costs. Take Pondok Pisang’s snorkel gear with you, or hire on the beach for IDR 50,000 to 100,000. If you are a qualified diver, a guided dive on the wreck runs from about USD 85 to 90 a person, minimum two. Car for the day about IDR 1,060,000, roughly AUD $85 for the car, so about $21 each with four sharing.
With your own gear and four in the car, about AUD $25 a head plus lunch. The cheapest day on this page by a distance.

There is a half-day version of this one too. Tulamben on its own is a five-hour afternoon, and it is Tour 11 on the free afternoon list, which means Flametree pays for the car.

Route map for the Tulamben and Amed day, with times and costs — Day C. Straight up the coast to the wreck, then half an hour further on to Amed for lunch.

Open the Liberty and Amed map

D. The underwater helmet walk at Sanur

Two people wearing clear underwater helmets standing on the sea bed at Sanur, surrounded by sergeant major fish and coral — The helmet walk. You breathe normally, your head stays dry, and you do not need to be able to swim.

You wear a clear helmet with air fed into it, you go down a ladder, and you walk about on the sea floor breathing normally. You do not need to swim, and you do not need to dive. People who have never put their face in the water do this quite happily.

This is the best day on the page for children. One parent can take them off for it while the other practises, and it is the thing they will talk about for the rest of the year.

The day. Leave 7.30am · 2 hr drive · Sanur 9.30am · briefing and the session, about two hours on site, 10.00am to 12.00 · lunch on Sanur beach 12.00 to 1.30 · 2 hr drive · back at Pondok Pisang 3.30pm. About eight hours.

What it costs. The walk itself is 25 to 30 minutes underwater and runs IDR 830,000 to 1,060,000 a person depending on the package, so about AUD $66 to $85. Minimum two people. Children from about nine. Car for the day about IDR 1,000,000, roughly AUD $80 for the car, so about $20 each with four sharing.
A family of four: roughly AUD $86 to $105 a head all up.

Route map for the Sanur helmet walk day, with times and costs — Day D. Two hours down, the walk and lunch on Sanur beach, and home by half past three.

Open the Sanur map

E. The Denpasar markets, very early

A rendering of a busy covered Balinese produce market early in the morning, with baskets of tropical fruit and vegetables and women carrying baskets on their heads — The produce market at first light, which is the only hour worth going. A rendering rather than a photograph.

Pasar Badung is the largest traditional market in Bali and it is a genuinely remarkable place. Four floors of it: produce, spices and meat on the ground, then cloth, kitchenware and everything a family needs for a temple ceremony above. Across the river, Pasar Kumbasari is the art and craft market.

This only works as an early start, and that is not a detail. The real trade at Pasar Badung runs from about 3am to 8am. Arrive at two in the afternoon and you are looking at the quiet upper floors and wondering what the fuss was about. Leave Candidasa at six and you walk into the middle of it.

The day. Leave 6.00am · 2 hr drive · Pasar Badung 8.00 to 10.00am, while it is still properly trading · walk across the river · Pasar Kumbasari 10.00 to 11.30 · 1 hr drive · Goa Gajah (the Elephant Cave) 12.30 to 1.30 · 1 hr 30 drive · back at Pondok Pisang 3.00pm. About nine hours.

What it costs. Both markets are free to walk into. Goa Gajah IDR 50,000, about AUD $4, which includes parking and a sarong. Car for the day about IDR 1,125,000, roughly AUD $90 for the car, so about $23 each with four sharing.
About AUD $27 a head with four in the car, plus whatever you buy.

Goa Gajah is on the way home and is worth the hour. It is a ninth-century cave with an entrance carved as a demon’s open mouth, and it is one of the places that is genuinely too far for the free afternoon.

Route map for the Denpasar markets day, Pasar Badung, Kumbasari and Goa Gajah, with times and costs — Day E. The two markets while they are still trading, then Goa Gajah on the way home.

Open the Denpasar markets map

F. Fishing

Several traditional jukung outrigger fishing boats moored in calm shallow water off the beach at Candidasa, with palms and low sun behind — Jukung off Candidasa beach, which is the stretch of water you can see from the yoga room. These are the boats, and these are the fishermen you would go out with.

Three ways to do it, and they are not the same experience at all.

A local jukung, off the beach here

The jukung is the traditional Balinese outrigger, and there are dozens of them pulled up on the sand within walking distance. Ask Wayan and he will arrange one for a morning with a local boat owner, and agree the price for you.

This is the one we would choose. It is the cheapest, it is five minutes from your room, and it is the version where you are out with somebody who has fished this water his whole life. Price is agreed on the spot, so ask Wayan.

A proper charter out of Candidasa

A custom-built boat taking two to six people, going out for a full day from 6.00am after mahi mahi, snapper, grouper and barracuda. Pelagic fish are released after the photograph.

About USD 79 a person, or USD 158 for the whole boat if there are just two of you. Beginners are explicitly welcome, and children from three with life vests. Hotel pickup is included.

Amed at sunrise

Jukung trips out of Amed, about an hour up the coast, usually going out at first light and often finishing with breakfast on the beach. Worth combining with the Liberty wreck if you are going that way anyway.

Open the fishing map

All six, at a glance

	The day	Out and back	How long	Roughly, per head
A	Lake Batur, hot springs and the crater	7.30am to 5.00pm	10 hrs	about $50, four sharing
B	Golf at Handara, 18 holes	5.30am to 6.00pm	12.5 hrs	about $210 to $242
B	Golf at Handara, 9 holes	6.30am to 4.30pm	10 hrs	about $137 to $162
C	The Liberty wreck and Amed	8.00am to 4.30pm	8.5 hrs	about $25, four sharing
D	The underwater helmet walk, Sanur	7.30am to 3.30pm	8 hrs	about $86 to $105
E	The Denpasar markets and Goa Gajah	6.00am to 3.00pm	9 hrs	about $27, four sharing
F	Fishing, local jukung	a morning	3 to 4 hrs	ask Wayan
F	Fishing, full charter	from 6.00am	full day	USD 79, or 158 for the boat

Every car figure on this page needs confirming with Wayan. They are honest planning estimates built from his usual hourly rate, and they are there so you can work out whether a day appeals before you ask. They are not quotes. Ask him, or ask us to ask him.

Where to next

The free half-day tour in the middle of the retreat, which Flametree pays for, is on the free afternoon page. Twelve itineraries, all of them close to home.

Adding an island at either end, the Nusa islands, the Gilis or Lombok, all of which leave from Padangbai twenty minutes down the road, is on the islands page.

What there is after dark, from a drink in Candidasa to a live band in Sanur, is on the evenings out page.

Everything else about the retreat is on the retreat information page.

Cart