Tickets and Tours for Indonesia Experiences

The Blue Lagoon is a small bay just east of Padangbai, on Bali's eastern coast. A headland hides it. The walk from the ferry harbour takes ten minutes. The cove at the end of it is shallow and sheltered, with white sand and a coral shelf a few metres out.

That shelf is why the bay is the island's default snorkelling site. No boat is strictly necessary. The water is calm most mornings, and the reef holds parrotfish, angelfish and moray eels, with turtles turning up if you are lucky.

Padangbai itself is a working port, and the ferries to Lombok leave from here. The bay next door stays quiet. The reason is the road down to it, which is rough.

Snorkelling trips run from the beach and from boats, usually as a half-day out of Sanur, Ubud or the southern resorts. Equipment is included. Guides take groups over the shelf and along the rocks on either side. A second site is often added: Tanjung Jepun, or the Japanese shipwreck at Amed.

Diving operators use the same bay for open-water training, because of the conditions. On the beach there are a handful of warungs, sun loungers and boat crews. Very little else.

Practical

• Timing. Morning is the whole answer. The water is clearest before ten, and the wind gets up after midday, stirring the sand and dropping visibility.
• Season. The dry months from April to October are markedly better than the wet ones.
• The coral. The reef is shallow enough that fins can touch it, so keep off it.
• Feet. Reef shoes help with the rocky entry at the eastern end.
• Currents. They can run at the mouth of the bay, so stay inside the point.
• Getting there. Padangbai is about ninety minutes from Ubud and two hours from Kuta in traffic.
• Money. Cash for the boat, the loungers and the warung. Nobody here takes a card.