Kuta Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Kuta is the largest tourist resort on the island of Bali in Indonesia.
Contents |
Understand
With a long, broad beach on the Indian Ocean, Kuta was originally discovered by tourists as a surfing mecca. Alas, today's Kuta is a showcase of excessive development gone wrong — a chaotic, tightly packed mass of concrete and congestion, the beach is overrun with touts and most serious surfers have headed elsewhere.
Get in
By plane
The misnamed Denpasar Airport is in fact directly south of Kuta, just 10 minutes away by taxi. See Denpasar for airport details.
By car
By taxi
By bus
Get around
By taxi
Taxis are ubiquitous on the streets of Kuta and the best way of getting around, especially at night.
Some taxi-drivers charge you more than you should pay, especially when the meter is off. Be sure to bargain before you get in if it is not a metered taxi.
The 'Blue bird taxi' always uses a meter and will not overcharge you. If you have complaints with a taxi-driver anyway you can call the taxi-center and they will take measures to their own taxidrivers (who charge you too much or drive unsave).
There is a bit of envy from other taxi-companies because of the good service from Blue bird. That is why you don't see Blue Bird taxis at night near the disco's in Seminyak etc. They may pick a fight with these people.
WARNING: Traffic jams occur most days around lunch and dinner. It is much better to park your car just before you reach Kuta area and walk. Kuta area is only about 1,5 kilometer length by half kilometer wide. But when stuck in traffic, you might spend 30 minutes to travel the 1,5 kilometer.
See
Surf, shopping, party
Do
- Surfing — Kuta is an well known destination among surfing enthusiasts. Sandy beaches and a lack of dangerous rocks or coral makes the areas an attraction for beginners and more advanced surfers alike.
3-day surfing course in an accredited school costs approximately 100 USD. Bali learn to surf is one of good schools, that offers equipment in good condition and premises for surfing introduction in calm water (swimming-pool). The lesson lasts 2.5 hour, the students are offered transfer from/back to hotel and fresh water. 5-day course includes also "surfari" to some other surfing spot. It is also possible to rent the equipment on the beach for approximately 80 000 IDR/half a day. The equipment quality is worse than in surfing-schools. The people in such points can also offer you surfing lessons.
- Enjoy the sunset. In the evenings plenty of people come to the Kuta beach or seaside cafes to watch the wonderful sunset
Learn
Work
Buy
- There are a lot of shops of popular surf brands Volcom, Rip Curl, Rusty selling surfing clothes, accessories and other staff.
- A lot of brands (such as Levi's, Polo, Rip Curl etc.) have outlets on the island.
- Kuta Square, Jl. Kartika Plaza. A shopping complex that is so popular. There are small shops on both sides of the street and a big Matahari department store, with a cheap and utterly wacky collection of T-shirts on the 3rd floor.
- Discovery sopping mall located across from Waterbom Park on busy Jl. Kartika Plaza in Tuban is a big mall with plenty of shops of international brands and cafes/restaurants with wonderful seaview.
Eat
|
Great balls of fire Bakso ("BAH-soh", meatball) soup is cheap and tasty any time of the day. The vendors wander the streets with their steaming wooden food carts, and are easily located by the 'tink-tink-tink' sound of a spoon hitting a soup bowl. The soup is a small-ish bowl of MSG-laden meaty broth with some thick yellow egg noodle, meatballs, and the optional extras of: fried wanton, fried tofu, hard-boiled egg and occasionally some others. Add some mild chili sauce and sweet soy for a bit more flavour. |
Budget
Beach-stall food is delicious, filling and very cheap. These are dotted along Kuta and Legian beach beneath trees or awnings near the road.
Mid-range
- Made's Warung, Jl. Pantai Kuta (near intersection with Jl. Legian), [1]. The first restaurant in Kuta, now on two floors and still doing a roaring trade. The menu covers Indonesian, Balinese and Western food, try the pork ribs with green papaya. Rp. 50,000.
- Yut'z Place, Jln. Werkudara 521,Legian. Good european food, tasty steaks.
- Belgian cafe on Jalan Pantai Kuta, not far from the beach offers good coffee and ice-cream.
Splurge
Drink
Every possible drink is available in Kuta - for a price. After the bomb blasts security has been very tight at nightspots though.
Most tourists drink bottled water ( about Rp 2,000 per 1500 ml bottle in the supermarket). Larger bottles ( about 11 litres) are available at a much cheaper rate.
It's also possible, and even cheaper, to buy "sterilised" water at dedicated shops. These shops claim to use modern and effective filtration/purification methods. Compared to the waste caused by many plastic bottles, they are environemntally friendly as well as much cheaper.
- Mbargo, Jalan Legian. Airconditioned, security is tight and they hire models to serve you drinks. Fashion show at 1230am Thursday nights.
Sleep
Budget
There are a lot of cheap guesthuoses (10-20.000RP PPPN) on Poppies 2, but you can find nicer places on the lanes between Poppies 1 and 2.
Mid-range
- Fat Yogi, Poppies Gang 1.
- Masa Inn, Poppies Gang 1. Rooms are clean and the staff friendly. 200,000 Rp (2005) per room.
- Sorga Cottages, Sorga Rd.
- Sri Ratu The hotel is situated behind the All Seasons hotel, 10 minutes walk from the ocean. It consists of one building with rooms, patio and small swimming-pool and a bungalow complex. It is better to choose rooms upstairs far from the swimming-pool and dining area sounds. The staff is helpful, by booking for more than 10 days you'll get a discount.
Splurge
- Bali Mandira Hotel, Jln. Padma, Legian, Kuta. tel: +62-361-751381. Luxurious hotel and spa. Located on the beach front, it is a quieter surrounding area yet just a 10 minute walk into the heart of Kuta.
- Hard Rock Hotel, Jln. Pantai, Banjar Pande Mas, Kuta. tel: +62-361-761869. Worldwide chain, offers nothing but fun. The hotel has the largest free form pool in Bali which offers an array of activities for anyone and everyone to enjoy. Just across from the beach, the hotel is also in the heart of the tourist filled district. The hotel also has 6 places where you can get food and drinks, whilst being entertained by the hotel's very own radio station! From USD100 (superior room).
Contact
Stay safe
In the ocean it is prohibited to swim near the special flags, that are put by beach staff near the places where the currents are very strong. You are allowed to swim in the area between yellow-red flags
Cope
Get out
| This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow! |
