Amed brings back fond memories of snorkelling in sheltered water directly from the coconut lined beach with bougainvillea and franigipani trees accenting the shore. There are also magical sunsets to be found here.
Putu Arnawa was our driver for the day. Putu proved to be a breath of fresh air and the highlight of our day. His english was excellent so it was wonderful to ask any question that came to mind and even share a few jokes.
One of my missions for this trip was to try to to discover why some forumites love Candidasa so much and to find out what I have been missing. Checking out the main street was great. I can imagine that it would be wonderful at dinner time. Also the blue of the ocean was fabulous. But it confirmed to me that the wind, the lack of beach and the rough waters were not for me.
We decided to check out a highly rated new resort in the Candiasa area. It would have been beautiful if the water was calmer and but the strong wind even made me feel restless and not peaceful or calm at all. Unfortunately this restaurant also ran on 'Bali time' which intensified my restlessness further and meant that we had less time to stop and enjoy the area :(
With minutes to spare we decided that we could not miss out on seeing our beloved White Sands Beach. The colours and peacefulness are amazing, or at least they used to be. The road leading to the beach seemed to be even more treacherous than last time and when we arrived we could see why.
This secluded secret beach with so much natural beauty was littered with so many people in comparision to our last trip when there was only one other person! I wondered if it was even worth the difficult drive to come here anymore.
Once we finally arrived in Amed after what seemed like a very long and tiring journey. We went to Blue Moon Villas for dinner to check out another forum favourite. This place was very cool and my disappointments melted away. This place looks as though it is owned by someone who really loves this area. It is built beautifully with all of the qualities of living the 'good life' with a beautiful view, great architecture, coconut trees, frangipani, bougainvillea, romantic bales with a wonderful infinity pool all lit up. This is the feeling people seek when they book their trips to Bali. The cherry on top was the best cocktails that we have had on the island so far by the pool.
Ah pinch me I'm finally in amazing Amed!
13th of October 2011
After a good nights sleep we awoke at the Coral View Hotel in Amed we were back on track with our amazing holiday. We got up early to catch the sunrise. It felt good to be back in Amed with the golden sunrise, coconut trees, soft glistening sand (even if it was black from the volcanic eruption back in the 60's) and the colourful fishing boats.
Watching the activities on the beach as the boats came in was captivating. We saw people (and even dogs, little children and toddlers) working as a team to bring the boats onto the sand.
It was a picture perfect day, the sun was shining, the sea was perfectly blue and all of the tropical flowers looked awesome. We went out for breakfast, went for a steamy walk along the road to get our bearings and then caught up with some emails back at the villa. Suddenly I felt queasy. It felt as though I was experiencing some light air turbulence except we were just hanging out on the bed with only one Bintang under our belt. 'Gee it must have been a strong Bintang,' I thought! Then the window started to rattle. By the time I put my feet on the floor it had stopped. It dawned on me that I had felt my very first earthquake.
We visited reception only to be told that they felt it too and that it rarely happens. We kept an eye on the ocean and wondered if we should go ahead with our snorkelling plans or scramble for the hills which are fortunately quite close. We decided that we could not wrap ourselves up in cotton wool and live by the 'what if's in life. I must confess snorkelling was slightly nerve racking but the nerves soon disappeared as we saw the most amazing fish and live coral!
I am not a confident swimmer so we brought our sea window raft with us. It was fantastic as it has a viewing window so I could see the fish without even getting my hair wet. It was pretty amazing, I missed out on sooo much last time.
It was quite incredible to fathom that under that very calm and beautiful blue sea there was so much activity going on under the surface. I never would have expected to see so many different colours and shapes with so many wonderful little beings amongst the coral. It felt like I was peering into the most brilliant tropical fish tank only this was the real thing!!!
This was intended to be our relaxation day but with so many exciting things to be seen below the surface of the water it turned out to be quite a work out to swim about looking for the best spots. It was one of the most wonderful workouts that I had ever experienced. Once you had found a viewing point it was wonderful just to float without being dragged out by a strong current and take it all in.
Ah pinch me I'm in a-mazing Amed!
** Check out some of our photos at
http://smedley.id.au/bali2011/amed/
The Coral View Hotel is wonderful. Our thatched 2 storey villa looks on to the beach with a beautiful tropical garden. It has an easy going feel to it with lovely and helpful staff. The only grumble I have with the hotel is the lack of super powerful air conditioning for those mid afternoon melting moments. An extra fan in the room would have been great. The pool area was really beautiful with a great restaurant with yummy cocktails. I must confess that I thought that the photos on the websites made it look a bit small but it is actually a great size.
It was also brilliant to have internet access at this hotel and especially access to this forum. We were able to learn so much about the earthquake where as otherwise we would have been quite clueless.
If you are looking for a good, friendly and honest driver from Amed please contact Ketut Siur 081353027193. You could also reach him through Coral View Villas via email but this will cost a lot more.
Nitty Gritty - Coral View Hotel
Atmosphere - Comfortable and casual - It reminds me of how I imagine Hawaii must look :P
Service - Fantastic
Room - basic but in excellent condition. 30 steps away from snorkelling directly off the beach.
Another air conditioner or fan would have been brilliant.
Bed - basic - a comforter would have been nice
Shower - Large outdoor bathroom with a great supply of hot water eventually.
Will we return? YES!!!!! with a hand held fan and a fine mist spray bottle to for those occasional melting moments.
HINTS for newbies
Allow yourselves a full day to reach Amed (not just an afternoon - I thought that we would be OK as we have seen it before but it was not) This will give you plenty of time to visit the Blue Lagoon, Hardys, walk the street of Candidasa, visit White Sands Beach, visit the water palace, and have photos taken at the amazing view points before cooling off with the incredible fish at Amed. When this is not rushed this day is fabulous.
Go to Amed where the water is calm in the sheltered bays.
Bring reef shoes some of the rocks and coral can be sharp!
Bring a waterproof pouch or casing for your camera so you can take photos of the coral and fish.
Apparently some of the best snorkelling can be seen in front of the Pondok Hotel 10m out at 4-5pm in the afternoon. This is located in the same small bay as the Coral View Hotel.
There are people offering to take you on tours on the beach but they were pretty harmless and quite handy in case you did want to go on a tour.
Bring a first aid kit. Somehow we have already earned 6 bumps or cuts from our adventures before touching any coral.
Bring extra sun block. We got soo sunburned here after being distracted by the most magnificent sights.
I was surprised that you could get motion sickness from snorkelling from the beach so bring some Kwells tablets.
There are lots of mosquitoes in Amed so we brought Bushmans spray which is meant to be the heavy duty stuff from home.
We also took strong vitamin B tablets 2 weeks before arriving and one every day to ward off the mozzies.
Blue Moon Villa's restaurant offers free transport.
Treat yourself to a SLR camera. Most of our photos were taken with a Nikon D80.
Buy a underwater pouch or case for your camera. Many of these photos were taken with a simple point and shoot digital camera in an underwater case.
Saya harap kamu ada hari yang bagus!
Have a good day!