Candi dasa, a little coconut town
on Bali's east-coast

Candi dasa was another piece of paradise in Bali during the 1970's. Word came out that here you could find palm fringed golden beaches, beautiful diving spots, colorful fishing boats, friendly people and stunning scenery...

Since then travelers came here to spend their days in paradise and more guest houses and hotels had to be built to accommodate them.

Everything is still true about this little place except for the golden beaches.

Getting around: Plus important addresses and handy phone numbers...
Things to do: Enjoy the cultural side of Bali while discovering the beautiful nature...
Restaurants: From view over the ocean to having dinner with wonderful music in the background...
Hotels: The different types of accommodations ensures that every type of traveller will find a place to stay...

Picture perfect...

So what happened?

The local people from Candi dasa needed construction materials to build their hotels and they used the reef to get it.

They started to blow up the reef with explosives and hotel after hotel was built with what were once amazing fields of coral.

Now without the reef the sea had free play and bit by bit took away the stunning golden beaches that this coconut village was so famous for.

Today only at low tide you can see some patches of what was once the beach.

Candi dasa Bali: Locals searching for fish and clams

To bring the beach back to life the local government has recently built several breakwaters to trap the sand but it will take many years for the beach to return to its former grandeur.

Same counts for the numbers of travelers, it's a quiet sleepy town now that funny enough appeals mostly to Golden Girls ;-)

Nonetheless it is still a great little town to spend a couple of days when you are on your way to the northern part of the island, the central mountains of Bali or the dive sites at Padangbai, Amlapura and even Amed.

Sunset at Candi dasa's lotus lagoon

We've stayed at some fantastic Bali accomodation, cuite family owned hotels and one of the best villas (price/quality ratio) that we've found so far on the island.

Feel the breeze through your hair, the sun on your skin and smile...you might have found paradise ;-)