Lovina

Lovina is a quiet coastal town on the North Bali coastline 5 km west of the city of Singaraja. The main street, Jalan Raya Singaraja, which crosses the town parallel to the coast, is noisy and congested. It has sidewalks to walk on, but as in many other parts of Bali, they are not well maintained.

Understand
The name "Lovina" was coined in the 1950s by a local Buleleng Regency official with a good eye for future tourism-based development. It consists of seven traditional villages, which all merge into one on a 10-km stretch of the main road which hugs the north coast to the west of Singaraja: Temukus, Kalibukbuk, Anturan, Pemaron, Tukad Mungga, Banyualit and Kaliasem. Kalibukuk is the main hub of this area and is often thought of as the "Lovina town centre".

The whole stretch of coast here is fringed by narrow black sand beaches, which are accessed by a multitude of small lanes which run perpendicular to the east-west coast road. The beaches are generally safe for swimming, and the waters of Bali's north coast, in direct contrast to the crashing surf of the south, are relatively calm.

Diving, snorkelling and dolphin watching are the main activities, but perhaps above all else, this is an area in which to relax and take in a very slow, traditional pace of life. It can get a little crowded in July and August. Outside that peak season, this is a quiet part of the island. Locals and tourists gather nightly on the main pier to watch the sun set.

Lovina also has a large number of cafés, bars, and music clubs, most of them next to the beach. Both live and recorded or DJ'd music are popular.

By bus
A Menggala bus departs Singaraja every day at 19:00 to Surabaya (Java) and stops in Lovina. Apr 2018 price Rp 190,000 one way.



By bemo
Long distance bemos are a bit of challenge, but the most experienced of budget traveller. It is always possible to get to Lovina from most major towns in Bali, almost always via Singaraja.

From Pemuteran, bemo Rp 30,000-50,000, about 1h more or less, variable frequency (be patient, plan hourly).

By car
Most visitors arrive in Lovina from the south in a self-drive hire car or with a car and driver. A journey from Kuta takes about 3 hours and from Sanur slightly less. Ubud is a 2-hour car journey over the central highland range. Many visitors from the south choose though to break their journey at Bedugul or Kintamani.

By taxi
A pre-paid coupon taxi direct from the airport will cost you Rp 450,000 and takes about 3 hours.

Get around
This is a good area for walking as the roads are relatively quiet and the beaches long and easily passable.

Renting a bicycle is popular and again, easy to find. Many hotels have their own. You should be aware though that away from the coast road, there are a lot of steep hills.

The easiest way to visit the surroundings of Lovina is by renting a motorbike. There are many roadside outlets and expect to pay Rp 50,000-90,000 per day. The roads are quite good here and nothing like as crowded as in south Bali.

Local bemos ply the north coast road between Singaraja and West Bali, stopping at all points on the Lovina stretch. You will need some patience and they can be very crowded indeed. As there is only one main road it is hard to get lost. The normal price is Rp 5,000 (Apr 2008) one way.

See
Lovina’s black sand beaches are quite lovely and lend themselves well to exploration on foot at a leisurely pace. The sea is very calm here and is safe for swimming. The feeling on the beaches is one of laid-back tranquility with small, colourfully decorated traditional outriggers called perahu dotted along the shoreline. These are a reminder that you are in a traditional fishing community. There are a few hawkers, but nothing like as many as on the southern beaches, and this is as good a place as any in Bali to explore quiet beaches at your own pace. At the highest of tides the beaches can get a little difficult to traverse in places, so it is best to time your walks for a falling tide. Be aware that many of the 'black sand' beaches (particularly in the central area) are an unappealing dirty brown with significant amounts of plastic rubbish

The small road that runs down to the beach-front from the main east-west coast route at Kalibukuk is called Jalan Bina Ria. At the beach end of this road is a dolphin statue (complete with one-jawed rusting dolphins). Apart from being a notable piece of kitsch, this is a reminder of the reason for the initial drive behind tourist development at Lovina (dolphins, obviously). Mini wooden and stone replicas of this statue are for sale widely in the area.

Your hotel can (and will repeatedly) offer day tours to the nearby sights including the beautiful highland scenery of Munduk to the south, the beaches of Pemuteran to the west, and the city of Singaraja to the east. All are within easy reach.

You can arrange a half day trip to the Les Village waterfall, bat cave and coral protection project, 40 km to the east.





Do
You will be offered dolphin sighting trips every other minute. These leave the main beaches each morning at dawn, and have mixed reviews as the boats tend to outnumber the dolphins. It can though still be an enjoyable ride, and if you do find a pod of dolphins it is of course very worthwhile. The price is fixed by the local boatmen's association, and is Rp 60,000 per person. If you are in a group, ask about chartering your own private boat.

Cockfights are popular around Lovina, perhaps more so than anywhere else in Bali. This is taken very seriously, and you will see many older men training the cocks at the roadside throughout the area. At the fights, huge sums of money change hands as illegal gambling on the outcome is rife. Given the cruelty, and deaths of the birds, think twice about attending.




 * Aling-Aling Waterfall (about 15 km southeast). Dive 10 m into pristine waters, or slide down a waterfall. Get here early as the tour buses start arriving around 11:00. Rp 25,000
 * Aling-Aling Waterfall (about 15 km southeast). Dive 10 m into pristine waters, or slide down a waterfall. Get here early as the tour buses start arriving around 11:00. Rp 25,000
 * Aling-Aling Waterfall (about 15 km southeast). Dive 10 m into pristine waters, or slide down a waterfall. Get here early as the tour buses start arriving around 11:00. Rp 25,000

Diving
There are several dive operators based out of Lovina that operate daily dive and snorkeling trips to Menjangan Island, Tulamben and Amed, as well as dives from the local beaches. Be sensible and careful as some hotels and counters try to sell unlicensed diving trips that may look official on paper. Do not pay before you have seen the dive centre, and check that you will dive with certified divemasters/instructors.



Spas
Lovina has several spa facilities. While they are more low key than the spas in south Bali, the service is excellent and the prices are much lower than in the south. Do not under-rate or overlook the traditional massage women who work on the beaches at Lovina. Most of these women come from families where massage skills have been passed down through many generations, and they really know what they are doing. A beach massage will also cost you less.



Buy


Kalibukuk has a number of shops both on the main coast road and on Jalan Bina Ria selling the usual selection of Bali goods. You will find everything from arts and crafts to T-shirts at prices very marginally higher than you would pay in south Bali.

A Lovina speciality though are dolphin statues, usually carved from wood (don't believe those trying to convince they are from ebony!). This is due to the strong association of Lovina with dolphins, and if you want to take home just one souvenir from Lovina, then this is the most appropriate.

Sleep
There is a huge amount of budget and mid-range accommodation in Lovina and many visitors turn up without reservations. Options at the higher end tend to be more limited in availability.

Splurge
As of December 2016, there are several 4-star hotels.



Stay safe
Visitors to Lovina are often offered magic mushrooms. Although the Indonesian legal position on mushrooms is unclear, this is very much at your own risk and best avoided.

Connect
The telephone area code for Lovina is 0362.

Internet
As of 2023, mobile phone service with high speed Internet is cheap and available throughout the area (and the whole island). Free WiFi for customers is commonly offered in hotels, bungalows, homestays, restaurants, cafes, and bars. Specialist internet cafes may still be numerous.
 * Spicelink Internet Cafe (not to be confused with Spice Dive) in Lovina, Jalan Binaria (street w/ dolphin statue at the end of it). +62 81362 41509, open daily 08:00-22:00, Rp 2,000/min, minimum 10 min. It has A/C and some drinks. They also have landline phones (though not cheap), a scanner and can email you the scanned document, and fax (though fax is not always reliable). Internet is relatively fast and they also sell wireless cards so you can use the internet in and around Lovina with your laptop if the signal is sufficient. If you plan to stay in Lovina long-term, they can arrange internet services at your own premises.
 * Mitsuya Cafe has very slow internet. It is just east of Malibu Dive on Jalan Raya Singaraja.
 * Mitsuya Cafe has very slow internet. It is just east of Malibu Dive on Jalan Raya Singaraja.

Go next

 * From Lovina you can continue your Bali trip 50 km westwards to Pemuteran and West Bali National Park for more diving, trekking and birdwatching.
 * The old administrative capital of Bali at Singaraja is just 20 minutes to the east.
 * Bedugul area for lakes, mountains and the botanical gardens, 20 km south, approximately 40 minutes by car.