Kuta faces the sunset. The rest of Bali is a day trip.
Surf school on the sand by nine, the Uluwatu cliffs by dusk, a 2am pickup for Mount Batur and the early fast boat to Nusa Penida. Reviews of the tours you can book from a Kuta hotel, and what each one costs.
Four directions out of Kuta
Manta rays, a kecak circle, a volcano at dawn and a first wave at Kuta.
The four tours more Kuta visitors book than any others: what each costs, and what the people who went thought of it.
01The boat dayNusa Penida day trip: boat, 4 snorkeling, Manta rays & Land tourFour snorkel stops off Nusa Penida, Manta Point among them, then the Kelingking cliff path by minibus. Wear shoes that grip.
02The sunsetUluwatu Temple Entry and Kecak Fire Dance TicketA seat in the amphitheatre on the Uluwatu cliff while a circle of chanting men tells the Ramayana. Arrive an hour before the fire.
03The early alarmMount Batur Sunrise Trekking Private Tour with Breakfast and Hotel TransferPickup around 2am, two hours up in the dark by headtorch, then breakfast on the rim of Batur as the sun clears Mount Abang.
04The first waveBeginner Surf Lessons in BaliA soft-top board on the whitewater at Kuta Beach, one of the gentlest breaks on the island. Most people stand up inside two hours.
Penida, Ubud or the temple run: choose your day out of Kuta.
Kuta is the departure lounge for the rest of Bali. Three kinds of day, what each costs to book, and what the driver will want from you at pickup.
Kuta, its neighbours round the bay, and the two names everyone drives to.
Kuta and Jimbaran share the same west-facing curve of sand. Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa sit on the calmer east side of the peninsula. Ubud and Nusa Penida are where the day trips go.
Manta rays off Penida, a wreck at Tulamben, jet skis at Tanjung Benoa.
South Bali spends half its holiday in the sea. Snorkel boats cross to the manta cleaning stations, divers drive north to the USS Liberty, and the flat water at Tanjung Benoa runs on parasails and banana boats.
1
2
3Kuta Beach is a surf school with a town behind it.
The sand-bottom break off Kuta is where much of Bali learned to stand on a board. Between sessions the town does Balinese massage on every lane and silversmith classes a few streets back from the beach.
Everything bookable in Kuta →
The days out Kuta books most.
Every Kuta tour we have reviewed →After the four above, these are the tours more visitors to Kuta take than any others, from the photo-spot circuit to the reef cruises.
1
Bali Instagram Tour: The Most Famous Spots (Private & All-Inclusive)
This private, 10-to-12-hour Bali photo tour links Lempuyang Temple, Tirta Gangga, Tukad Cepung Waterfall, a jungle swing and Tegalalang Rice Terrace. Your package includes private transport, an English-speaking guide, lunch, entrance fees, swing tickets, coffee tasting, bottled water and onboard Wi-Fi. Early starts can help you reach Lempuyang before the queues build.
Per head from $114
Read our review →
2
Bali Nusa Penida West Private All-Inclusive Tour
from $80
3
Nusa Penida Snorkeling Adventure (Private & All-Inclusive)
from $129
4
Individual Bali Day Trip with Private Driver and Free WiFi
from $38
5
Nusa Penida One Day Trip with All-inclusive
from $51
6
Waterbom Bali Tickets – Single Day Pass
from $33
7
Private Tour Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking and Natural Hot Spring
from $63
8
Private Tour Bali Beaches and Uluwatu Temple with Dinner
from $48
Four bookings to make before the flight into Denpasar.
Most of south Bali can be arranged with a driver the night before. These four run on boat timetables, queues and the hour of sunrise, and a late booking means a worse slot or none at all.
- 01LempuyangBali Instagram Tour – Lempuyang Bali Gate of HeavenThe Gates of Heaven photo works on a numbered queue at the temple, and on a busy morning the wait runs to hours. Tours that leave Kuta before dawn reach it while the queue is short.
- 02Uluwatu kecakKecak and Fire Dance Ticket at Uluwatu TempleThe kecak is staged at sunset and the clifftop amphitheatre fills well before it starts. A ticket bundled with transport gets you there in time for a seat.
- 03Mount BaturMount Batur Sunrise Trekking Private Tour with Breakfast and Hotel TransferSunrise treks leave Kuta around 2am to reach the trailhead in time, and operators fix their pickup lists the evening before.
- 04Nusa PenidaNusa Penida day trip: boat, 4 snorkeling, Manta rays & Land tourFast boats leave Sanur early and fill a day ahead in high season. When the strait runs rough they are cancelled, so keep a spare day after it.
What a day out from Kuta costs, per head.
Every bookable tour on the site, sorted by price. Bali stays cheap until a boat, a dive tank or a private driver for the whole day gets involved.
Kecak tickets, beginner surf lessons, massages and small-group Ubud days.
Penida day trips, Batur sunrise treks, rafting and the all-inclusive temple runs.
Dive days, reef cruises and the private multi-stop days with a driver and guide.
Three Bali bookings no other island can sell you.
Beaches and dive boats exist all over Southeast Asia. A chanted Ramayana on a sea cliff, a temple gate that frames a volcano and a sunrise on an active crater do not.
The Kecak
The kecak swaps the gamelan for a circle of men chanting "cak" in interlocking rhythm while the Ramayana plays out in the middle. It took its modern shape in the 1930s from an older trance ritual. At Uluwatu it is staged on a cliff high above the Indian Ocean, timed so the fire scene lands as the sun goes down.
- 1Uluwatu Temple Entry and Kecak Fire Dance Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 479 reviews
- 2Kecak Fire Dance and Sunset at Uluwatu Temple All Inclusive★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 86 reviews
- 3Uluwatu Sunset,Kecak Dance and Diner Seafood In Jimbaran★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 56 reviews
The Gates of Heaven
Pura Lempuyang Luhur is one of the oldest temples on the island, high on the slopes of Mount Lempuyang in the far east. On a clear morning its split gate frames Mount Agung, which is why the queue forms. The lake in the famous photos is a mirror held under the phone lens, not water.
- 1Bali Instagram Tour – Lempuyang Bali Gate of Heaven★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 149 reviews
- 2Best of Instagram Tour: Gate of Heaven, Tirta Gangga, Bali Swing★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 52 reviews
- 3Instagrams Tour Lempuyang Temple, Tirta Gangga- Tukad Cepung , Tibumana Waterfall★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 52 reviews
Mount Batur at Dawn
Batur is an active volcano standing inside a far older caldera, and it last erupted in 2000. The summit path is about two hours by headtorch, and guides steam eggs in the vents near the top while the light comes up over Mount Abang and the lake below.
- 1Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking Private Tour with Breakfast and Hotel Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 885 reviews
- 2Private Tour Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking and Natural Hot Spring★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 431 reviews
- 3Mount Batur Sunrise Trekking and Rice Terrace Adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 111 reviews
When the November rain reaches Kuta at four o’clock.
From November to March the rain over Kuta tends to arrive in the afternoon, hard and short. Beach plans move to the morning, and the afternoons go to a massage, a cooking class or a silversmith bench a few streets back from the sand.
By place: the bay, the Bukit and beyond
By kind of day: sea, temple, volcano or massage table
Kuta to the rest of Bali, measured in drive time, not kilometres.
Traffic, not distance, sets the shape of a Bali day. Typical door-to-door times from a Kuta hotel outside the rush hours.
Tanah Lot
Mount Batur
LempuyangNew tour reviews from Kuta and round the island.
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Ubud Bali ATV Quad Bike Legong Temple cave with Lunch and Pool
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Traditional Bali Massage 90 minutes at Nusa Dua Bali
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Half-Day Private Tour to Tanah Lot and Bali Royal Temple
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Private Tour Rafting Uluwatu Kecak Dance Sunset and Dinner in Jimbaran Bay
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Sekumpul waterfall & aling2 waterfall with private service (including activity)
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