M Bali Tour

Madeftu Bali Tour - Amed is a long coastal strip of fishing villages in East Bali.
Amed refers to a long stretch of coast running from the village of Cucik about 14 km eastwards incorporating the seven villages of Amed, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Selang, Banyuning and Aas. The pace of life here is slow and the coastal scenery quite stunning making Amed the perfect place for a relaxed holiday in Bali.

Amed is the most recent tourist development area in Bali. It was only in 2000 that tarmac was laid on the roads. Telephone lines were installed in 2003 and it took until 2007 for a bridge to be built over a section of the main road that regularly washed away during the rainy season.

This is the most commonly used base for visitors wishing to dive the USS Liberty wreck at Tulamben and that area is also covered by this article. There are other good dive sites close at hand and a thriving dive industry has developed all the way along the coast here.

Amed's inhabitants live from fishing, salt-making and tourism. The lack of tourism-based revenue, its remote nature and the generally harsh environment for farming, meant that this area was very much one of the poorer areas in Bali. Amongst others, the East Bali Poverty Project drew a

ttention to the plight of the local villagers in this area and that, together with recent tourist development, has gone a long way to improving general standards of living, health and education.

Amed is famous for its beaches, lined with traditional outrigger fishing boats. There is quite coarse black volcanic sand at Amed village beach. As you move further east (and away from Mount Agung), the beaches have softer sand and become more of a mid grey-brown in colour. The prettiest bays are probably those at Jemeluk and Lipah but the whole stretch of coastline is very attractive.

Salt production is a declining but still important industry in this area. As you drive along the main coast road through the villages you will see large

open drying pans crusted with salt crystals. Those little boxes of gourmet Bali salt crystals you see in delis all over the world probably started their long journey from these very pans.

Most people come to Amed as a getaway, including expats from other parts of the island. It is a favourite honeymoon destination for tourists and is very popular with divers and snorkelers. Day trips to local places of interest such as the water palace at Tirta Gangga and Bali's most sacred temple, Besakih, can easily be arranged. Mount Agung with lots of trekking options is just 30 to 40 minutes from Amed.

Traditional outrigger boats are available for fishing charters from the main beaches in the Amed area. This normally involves early morning trolling for mackeral.

Have a traditional massage on the beach. Women from the local villages are always on hand for an invigorating massage, especiallly so at Lipah Beach.

Enjoy nature and go with the wind on a traditional sailing boat for diving, fishing, exploration, dolphin watching, snorkeling or just swimming and relaxing.

Amed has some good snorkeling within metres of the shore. A reef follows the majority of the coastline and is quite close in. Due to the limited number of visitors to the area, the sea life is healthy and abundant. There is a small wreck in quite shallow water off Lipah Beach. This is not the World War II "Japanese Wreck". David Pickels' book on diving in Bali described this dive site for the first time back in 1999 as the Lipah Bay Wreck, and he admitted his mistake in the meantime. Matter of the fact is that this little wreck is not located in Lipah Bay at all, but some villages further east along the coast, namely in the village of Banyuning. The dive site is locally known among the dive operators as the "Japanese Wreck". Lipah Bay is a nice snorkel spot and actually also has a small wooden wreck in only 1.5 metres of water. Best places for snorkeling are:

* Japanese Shipwreck in Banyuning, small ship at 20m from the beach, awesome corals with tons of fish
* Jemeluk, an absolute highlight with beautiful coral formations and loads of fish.
* in front of Pondok Vienna Beach in Lipah. Waters can be very rough here.
* small wooden shipwreck at Lipah Beach
* Bunutan (beautiful coral, not so many fish)
* Selang beach, in front of Good Karma Bungalows (visibility isn't always good because of strong currents)
* in front of Amed Cafe in Amed
* Liberty shipwreck at Tulamben, some of which is in water shallow enough to allow snorkeling.

Departure from the hotel: 8:30 am

Bali Cheaper Price
Snorkelling :USD 50/person

Included :
Instructor

Reservation :
Please Call :
+ 62 8786 2121 330

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