Padang Padang Beach

Padang Padang is a short beach on the Bukit peninsula reached in a way that makes it: you go down a stair from the road and then through a narrow cleft in the limestone, squeezing between rock walls, before it opens onto the sand - a cove perhaps a hundred metres long between cliffs. The wave off the northern end is a serious one: a fast hollow left over shallow reef, short but heavily barrelling, which hosts a professional competition and is not a beach break for casual surfers. The cove appeared in the 2010 film of Eat Pray Love, which brought a wave of visitors, and it is now crowded in season with limited sand at high tide. Macaques on the steps take food and unattended items.

What you actually see

• An entrance through rock - the cleft in the limestone you squeeze through to the sand.
• A short hollow left - the barrel off the northern point, a competition wave.
• A cliff-enclosed cove - a hundred metres of sand between limestone walls.
• Macaques on the steps - taking food and anything left unattended.

When to go

April to October; low tide for sand, early for space. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The beach nearly disappears at high tide and gets very crowded. The wave is expert-only over shallow reef. Macaques steal persistently. The cleft is narrow and awkward with boards or bags.

Nearby

Uluwatu temple is south; Bingin and Impossibles are along the same coast.