Why you should visit Pemuteran, Bali

Alternative Destinations

Worldwide, there are countless destinations that were once ‘undiscovered’ – not visited or relatively little visited by tourists – which now host visitors in droves. These destinations are perennially popular, having drawn travellers from far and wide for a long time. Many of us seasoned travellers sometimes find ourselves reminiscing and lamenting: “oh, Thailand is just not what it was like 20 years ago”. Well, yeah! But there are reasons that the popular places are popular, and popular doesn’t necessarily mean not worth visiting.

Even the most popular and crowded destinations – be it a country, city, monument, restaurant, or beach – are often still enjoyable. We can also plan our visits to match the times/days/seasons when there will be fewer people. Perfect! So far so good for visiting ‘popular’ places.

But then, there are other destinations in every country yet to discover: places that are well worth visiting, yet for some reason draw fewer tourists than other ‘more popular’ areas. Staying with Thailand for the moment, Phuket is just one example. You can either join the hordes on the ‘best’ beaches (which let’s face it, as mentioned before, are popular for a reason), or you can venture farther – sometimes a little, sometimes a lot – and be rewarded with a destination that still meets your needs and expectations, but with far fewer people. Those who have wandered north to places like Pansea Beach will know what I mean. And then there’s Phuket Town, far less visited than the beaches, but a treasure trove of historical Sino-Portuguese architecture, great value accommodation, cool cafes and galleries.

Bali is the same. Filled with those regular and crowded (but most of them still visit-worthy) destinations, yet still offering a seemingly endless number of other niches to discover. I’m surprised by how many of us though, novice and experienced travellers alike, hesitate to venture from the well-trodden tourist paths. Take a look just a bit further beyond, and many pleasant surprises await. Venture even further from the crowded south of the island, and the rewards increase exponentially.

As mentioned in the post Back in Bali, this still magical island presents a lot of choice, and at the end of one of these ‘venturings’ beyond the norm is the far north west of Bali, specifically the town of Pemuteran. There are many good reasons to visit this place. Yes, it’s still popular, but less so than other areas, and if you go at the right time of year it’s even more magical. Swimming, snorkelling, diving, hiking, eating and more are all available in abundance in this very picturesque little town, nestled between a clear blue sea and impressive surrounding green hills.

What to do in Pemuteran

Laze around the pool all day, or go on a long trek, and everything in between.

• Beaches and swimming. Just walk, sunbathe or jump straight into the lovely clear blue waters. The beaches aren’t stereotypical white sand places – more grey in colour – but still delightful and picturesque, and with a lot less rubbish than the beaches in the south of the island. Pemuteran Bay is long enough to contain variety, but not too long, so a walk along its entire length isn’t out of the question.
• Snorkelling and diving. Probably the main reason for the two ‘peak’ seasons here (see below): the excellent water-based activities. Several great snorkelling and diving sites around Menjangan Island – or deer island (Pulau Menjangan) – make for a great half-day excursion, with any of a large number of operators to choose from, sometimes right on your hotel/resort’s beach area. It’s still possible though to view good sea life directly offshore at a few points along the Bay. Which brings us to…

• Biorock. The story of restoration and conservation here is fascinating and inspiring. I’ll let the links below do the talking. Better still, jump in the water at the indicated safe entry points and see for yourself once you get here. Click on Biorock Indonesia to find out about the coral conservation projects across the country (http://www.biorock-indonesia.com/). Click on Biorock Bali and watch Reef reborn 2013 (https://biorockbali.webs.com/).

• Hiking. I highly recommend West Bali National Park (see the post Hiking Pemuteran). Otherwise there are several other possibilities for great walks in the area. The better known ones include Mt Beratan (Gunung Beratan), with a temple on the summit, with great views particularly for sunrise and sunset.

• Pemuteran Bay Festival. My second visit to Pemuteran coincided with the 2^nd Pemuteran Bay Festival, held over four days, 12-15 December, 2019. It’s an interesting mix of food and produce stalls from local businesses, traditional and modern stage performances of all kinds, and more. The next festival may be on next in mid-2019, so visit the Festival website for details http://pemuteranbayfest.com/.

When to go to Pemuteran

Most guides and blogs on Bali tend to paint the weather seasons with the same ‘wet vs dry’ brush. May – October is listed as the ‘dry’ season, November – April as the ‘wet’. Yet, every country has varying climate regions as well as areas of microclimate, and it pays to do some research into how the climate may differ from what’s given as the standard, for the time of year you’ll be visiting. This includes north Bali, which is known for sunny days year-round, so whatever time of year you’re there, just go! If however you’re more constrained by fixed holiday times, here are a couple of trends to consider:

December – January. Folks from the southern hemisphere will often find themselves with a chunk of time in the December and January school holiday period. Europeans also often have one or two weeks holiday around this time. While most of the rest of Bali experiences a rainy season during these months, north Bali is much drier than the south. It does get busy though around Christmas and New Year, but otherwise you’ll probably be staying in accommodation with the number of guests far below capacity (only around 40% as was the case for my resort). I’ve been twice during these months – but outside of the two peak periods I mentioned – and the vibe is very relaxed and peaceful. Sure, sometimes this means a bit more organising to get a group together for a hiking or snorkelling trip (the latter often only going with a minimum number), but it’s doable. December and January in Pemuteran = warm to hot days, calm seas, sometimes overcast and rainy, with frequent nice breezes that ease the heat. Perfect.

July – August. Official high season according to most sources. When travelling, I tend to start conversations with locals a lot – at accommodations, food places and elsewhere – often in their own language. Almost all of them tell me that there is pretty much not one vacant room anywhere in Pemuteran when it gets really busy. Not only that, snorkelling and diving operators also say that it can get quite windy in the middle of the year, making the seas choppy. Not that this stops large numbers of Europeans flocking here at this time!

Just a note about climate: Whatever part of Bali you find yourself in the ‘rainy’ season(s), whether or not rain is a bother to you at all will just be a matter of perspective and preferences. After a ‘fine’ time (both enjoyable and weather-wise) in Pemuteran, I headed for Ubud where it rained to varying degrees almost every day. Some days in buckets. A hassle? Maybe, if you’re on your scooter for example. But the abundant rain also means that the rivers are full, and consequently the rafting trip I did there was awesome, including gushing waterfalls from halfway up the cliffs on some sides of the ravines.

Again, it always pays to check not only your destination’s generic seasonal weather patterns, but also the regional and micro-patterns, as well as month-by-month reports, as weather patterns can alter from the norm anywhere, at any time, for a number of reasons.

How to get to Pemuteran

It’s the journey and the destination…

Yes, it’s a few hours from Kuta. But getting there is half the fun, and there are a few alternative routes to choose from. If you employ a knowledgeable driver-guide (see my recommendation below), you can spend a magical day visiting temples, hot springs and waterfalls either on the way there, on the way back, or both. Even if you just drive direct, it’s still a very scenic trip via a choice of inland and coastal roads. Just a few of the great things to see and do en-route from the south to the north of Bali include:

• Bratan Lake and Temple. Large lake and picturesque temple and grounds, highly popular with locals and visitors alike.

• Lake Buyan. Beautiful area, visitable at lake-level as well as from several stunning scenic viewpoints from the elevated road running along its length.

• Banjar Hot Springs (Air Panas Banjar). Only 5 km southwest of Lovina. Go for a hike then soak away tired muscles in a lush mountain setting.
• Gitigit Waterfall (Air Terjun Gitgit). 11 km south of Singaraja, the 40m high falls pound onto the rocks below, producing a refreshing mist.
• Rambut Siwi Temple (Pura Rambut Siwi). One of the many great stops if you choose the south west road, this historic seaside temple sits on a hilltop overlooking an amazing stretch of black sand beach. Definitely worth a visit.

I’ve used Kadek and his team at Pemuteran Menjangan Bali Transport for both my trips to Pemuteran. Click here for their website (http://www.pemuteranmenjanganbalitransport.com/) and here for the Trip Advisor reviews (https://www.tripadvisor.co.id/Attraction_Review-d12918526?m=19905)

Final Word

Another thing I like about Pemuteran is its strong community feel. Both locals and businesses alike have a long-term vision for sustainability, and they’d like  visitors to understand and respect that while at the same time enjoying all that the place has to offer. With that in mind, I hope you can make it there one day. Let me know in the comments below what you think of Pemuteran.

Perjalanan yang menyenangkan! (ID 🇮🇩 – “Happy travels!”)

Learn Indonesian and enjoy an awesome travel experience anywhere in this amazing archipelago.

Your trip to Pemuteran – or anywhere in Indonesia – can be enhanced by using the local language. Ready to try your hand at Indonesian? Check out two of my favourite methods for learning Indonesian: Pimsleur and Indonesian Pod 101.