Uluwatu temple and one of the best beaches in Bali

South of Bali, you’ll find Uluwatu Temple and a handful of beautiful hidden beaches. Some are a little hard to find and do involve some scooter off roading, but they are totally worth it. The drive to Uluwatu from Kuta is a bit scary as it’s on all of the main roads but it’s much quicker than a taxi – and cheaper!

Our first stop was the Uluwatu temple. Out of respect, tourists are not allowed into the temple itself, but you can see quite a lot from the outside. You need to make sure your shoulders and legs are covered when visiting the temples in Bali. I completely forgot but thankfully they provide sarongs at the entrance.

There are monkeys in the area so keep your belongings safe or you’ll end up like this…

Just kidding, they were actually very well behaved and disinterested in humans. Probably because they see so many tourists they’re just used to them now. I saw a documentary about the monkeys at Uluwatu temple and it showed how they steal items from humans, then exchange the items for food. I was prepared for this with a packet of love hearts but unfortunately… I mean luckily I didn’t have to use them.

The views here are incredible. You don’t realise how high up you actually are until you see the ledge. It would be the perfect spot for a bit of drone flying but it’s not permitted around any of the temples in Bali. Completely understandable as you can’t enter the temples so spying on them would come under that rule too.

After a quick walk and a lot of mumbled excuse me’s, it was time to ditch the sarongs and find some lunch and coffee. Just in time as well as when we left a couple of full coaches turned up.

We stopped at a restaurant just down the road which over looks a small beach and the ocean. It was great to watch the surf whilst having our lunch. There was a small pool overlooking the sea a couple of restaurants over. We thought it was empty. Then a large monkey strolled up, had a drink and chilled out until he was rudely shooed away. It’s so funny when you see them acting like small humans.

Now carrying a food baby, it was time to get in our swimming costumes and laze around in the beach for the rest of the day. There are 175 steps to climb to Padang Padang beach, very easy on the way down not so much going back up. The beach is worth the walk though. As you can see from the photos, we have been really lucky with the weather here.

We actually visited this beach a couple of days before whilst passing and the tide was completely out. There were a lot of people crabbing and fishing in the large rock pools left behind. I love poking about in rock pools but I personally prefer the beach when the tides in. It’s a bit of a walk for a swim other wise!