Sightseeing tours
Ombak Bagus offers a wide range of tours. We can organize surf trips on Bali and other parts of Indonesia. For more information check out our surf section. For those interested in the abundant cultural life of Bali, sightseeing tours can be made to different parts of Bali. Ideal for when your time is limited and you want to see the highlights in a short period of time. You don’t waste time getting lost (although that can also be a good thing!) as our driver knows exactly where to go. Also, when you are moving from one part of the island to another and want to go by car, it can be interesting to do a tour as you have to hire a car anyway. Together with you we can arrange a trip according to your wishes.
Price Day tour: Rp. 600.0000 (per car, max. 5 people)
Included: transport by car with AC, petrol and parking fees. Excluded: lunch, drinks and entrance fees.
We give you a few examples:
The ‘Bukit’ tour
The peninsula in the south of Bali, also known as ‘the bukit’ is surfer’s heaven with world-famous surf breaks like Padang, Impossibles and Uluwatu. Even for non-surfers there are beautiful little beaches at the base of the huge cliffs. Balangan beach is a must see; a near white sand beach backed by cliffs with clear blue water. But the ‘bukit’ has more to offer… Before visiting several of the beaches and surf spots (according to your wishes) we will stroll around the fish market in the village of Jimbaran. This smelly but very lively open-air fish market is famous in Bali and nearly all of south Bali’s restaurants come to buy their seafood here, the best in Bali!. It is best to visit in the morning to see the colorful fishing boats pull up on Jimbaran’s shore and women with buckets balanced on their heads line up to unload fish, then walk to the cooperative to weigh, sort and sell. This sight you’ll see nowhere else on this scale in Bali. At around 5 pm we will visit the sea temple of Uluwatu (also the home of many monkeys), which is made out of coral stone. From here you will have a great view over the ocean. At 6 we will watch the performance of the traditional and spectacular Kecak (or fire) dance at the temple, while the sun is setting in the background. Optional is a seafood BBQ at one of the many restaurants right on the beach at Jimbaran, a perfect way to end the day!
Jatiluweh & Batukaru tour
We start this round trip with a visit to the mountain area of Batukaru. It’s best to leave early in the morning to get a cloudless view. The first stop is the temple of Pura Luhur Batukaru, an ancient temple complex located in the middle of the rainforest on the slope of sacred Mt. Batukaru. Except for ceremonial days –worthy spectacles themselves – this temple is never crowded. From here on we drive through Jatiluweh, where you can find the most stunning and the oldest rice terraces of Bali, as far as the eye can see. Go for a short walk in the rice paddies to see the villagers taking care of the rice. We will have a coffee break in an organic farm, with a stunning view of the rice paddies, where you can try a cup of the famous Bali Luwak coffee and learn about all kinds of local spices that grow over there. The tour continues to the lake area of Bedugul where many vegetables are grown. We visit the temple located at the old crater lake of Bratan, which creates a mystical atmosphere and the thick mist around the slopes of Gunung Catur just makes the whole picture complete. The lake is a major source of water for the southern part of Bali and many ceremonies take place at the Pura Ulun Danu temple to worship the Goddess of the Water, Dewi Danu. Here you will also find proof of how multi-religious Indonesia really is: at one site you can see a Muslim Mosque, a Buddhist Stupa and a Hindu Temple. Optional is a visit to Marga on the way back; a monument where the independence struggle of the Balinese against the Dutch is commemorated. At this site many Balinese were killed by the Dutch, when the Dutch wanted to regain Bali as a colony after WWII.
Amed & east coast tour
The first stop will be at the Kertha Gosa complex in Klungkung, once the center of Bali’s most important kingdom. Here you get a glimpse of Bali’s royal past. The ‘Hall of Justice’ still remained after the Dutch period and is beautifully decorated with fine paintings. There are also the remains of the old palace and a small but interesting museum. The tour continues and follows Sideman road, a mountainous area beautifully covered with fresh green vegetation and together with the rice terraces and the forested mountain slopes you have the main ingredients for the perfect ‘Bali-picture’. Along the road to Amed we stop at Bali’s best preserved water palace ‘Tirta Gangga’, where you can feel like a king while bathing in the former King’s swimming pool. The mountain slopes covered in rice fields are spectacular once we continue our journey to the traditional fishing village of Amed with in the background the mighty mount Agung, which is not only the highest but also the holiest mountain on the island. Now you find yourself in one of Bali’s driest areas. This is also one of the most quiet parts of Bali where not many tourists go, so expect to see another piece of the real Bali here. In Amed you find black volcanic beaches with the colorful traditional fishing boats called ‘jukung’, it’s also perfect for snorkeling. We drive along the coastal road all around Seraya mountain to the south. The views out to sea are breathtaking. Here you find small villages high in the mountains without running water or electricity.This is one of the poorest regions of Bali. We end up in Ujung which is famous for its salt winning and waterpalace. The tour continues back home but we will stop one more time at Padangbai beach to chill for a moment on the light sand beach or have a swim/snorkel sesion in the clear blue water.
Ubud & volcano tour
Gunung Kawi, near the artist village of Ubud, is the first stop of the volcanic sightseeing tour. In the midst of beautiful rice fields you can see the huge carved tombs of the royal family from the 11th century set against swaying palm trees and the river Pakrisan. The entire area is sacred to the Balinese and that’s the reason why they’ve put so much effort in making it like a movie set. Close to Gunung Kawi we find Tirta Empul, one of Bali’s six important temples. The Balinese believe that the holy water spring has been created by God Indra himself and that it holds magical healing powers and even the secret to eternal youth. Walk around and see Balinese pilgrims taking a bath among pink flowers (it’s possible to join them for a bath!). We continue our trip along traditional Balinese villages such as Seribatu where the road gets steeper towards our next stop Kintamani. Here the rice fields, coconut palms and rattan plants make way for coffee, nutmeg and lemon plantations. Kintamani is the perfect spot to have some lunch and enjoy the spectacular view on one of the worlds’ biggest craters (10 km by 14 km), the result of a collapsed volcano during the pre historical era. Its deepest point is now Lake Batur. On the left side of Lake Batur, volcano Gunung Batur has formed and its top is set on 1707 meters. During 1917 and 1923 this volcano erupted leaving several villages destroyed and many Balinese dead. After lunch we continue our journey again to the neighbouring village of Kedisan where the scenic road will lead us slowly down to the mountain villages of Rendang, Iseh and Sidemen. Here you will be treated with gorgeous views on the valley and the river below. The country side is absolutely stunning with Gunung Agung occasionally reappearing in the background. Our last stop is the Kertha Gosa complex in Klungkung, once the center of Bali’s most important kingdom. Here you get a glimpse of Bali’s royal past. The ‘Hall of Justice’ still remained after the Dutch period and is beautifully decorated with fine paintings. There are also the remains of the old palace and a small but interesting museum.
North Bali tour
This tour takes you first to the lake area. The most important one, lake Bratan, immediately becomes visible once we leave Bedugul behind us (optional; a stop at the big fruit market). It is a beautiful sight when you see the misty tops of the volcano Gunung Catur towering over the lake. At Lake Bratan we stop at Pura Ulun Danu temple, located on the edge of the lake. The temples located in the water are particularly nice to see. After this we go further up north and we will soon be greeted by still unspoilt macaque monkeys who wander along the busy road doing their business. We pass the small mountain village of Munduk with it’s dense landscape of waterfalls (an optional stop), jungle and coffee plantations. On the way to the north coast we pass the only Buddhist temple complex on Bali, the ‘Brahma Vihara-Arama‘ also known as the miniature ‘Borobodur’ and the hot springs in Banjar with its healing holy water. We pass Singaraja and visit Sekumpul waterfall near Sawan village (where the best gamelan instruments of Bali are made (specialty is the gong). This is a large, spectacular double waterfall in a quiet and unspoilt forest. In the hills you can find tall coffee and clove trees and the fragrant vanilla. Nearby, there is the Pura Dalem Jagaraga temple – built on the site of a famous battle in 1849 between the Dutch and the Balinese where most civilians were killed– with carvings, some very funny, made in the early 20th century to reflect the impact of Dutch colonisation. On the way back, we pass Taman Ayun, one of Bali’s most beautiful royal temples located in Mengwi, which in the past was a very prosperous and powerful kingdom. The thing that makes this temple special is that the temple ground is surrounded by water. To reach it you need to cross a small bridge. On top of that there is a huge garden with a lot of lotus ponds making the temple complex even more colorful.
