Few places in Bali allow you to enjoy a simple coconut oil massage while lying on a bamboo bed in the shade of a fishermen’s hut as Amed.
The Bali that was, long-time Bali-based expat residents insist, can still be found lying a two-hour leisurely drive from Kuta.
A calm and peaceful place, Amed has in recent times rose to discrete prominence, a much-deserved status arrested in the past by bad roads and lack of power and communications, which actually complements its irresistible quietness.
Every bay, some sandy, others rocky, appears to be lined with double-outrigger traditional fishing boats (jukung).
The horizon almost invariably is rife with literally hundreds of the boats’ colorful triangular sails heading off to the fishing grounds morning and afternoon.
Amed is a near-perfect destination for the more mature (read: above 50 years of age) travelers though younger people like it too as it offers them a daily fix of peace and tranquility.
The locals lead a quite lifestyle, making Amed an ideal place for you to spend time either writing your bio, taking stock of your life or doing just nothing and relax.
This relatively undeveloped north-eastern coastal strip in the Karangasem Regency of East Bali, where Amed is located, features some of the island’s best snorkeling amidst spectacular sunrises over the neighboring island of Lombok.
On any given time you are apt to come across tourists strolling slowly along the road or the beach. Or elderly couples walking holding hands, rekindling their love for each other in their own special way, Amed-style.
And almost everywhere there you can hop on a traditional fishing boat for a sunset tour, again to reignite the proverbial fire that simmers inside you.
Amed is actually not just one village but a string of smaller villages, starting with the village Amed in the north followed by Congkang, Jemeluk, Bunutan, Lipah, Selang, Banyuning and ending with Aas.
At present Amed is mostly a quiet place with stunning ocean vistas as well as one of the best places in Bali for scuba diving.
The landscape comprises a series of headlands overlooking bays, lined with fishing boats.
From the top of the hill, one cannot but marvel at the serene scenery and feel grateful that the long tracts of land have no given way to tacky opulence in the way of star-rated hotels.
Located on the dry side of the mountains Agung and Saraya, Amed is short in rain throughout the year. The landscape is very arid and the slopes of the mountain look bare.
The sleepy village still remains untouched by the effects of tourism, but as developments, albeit at a snail’s pace, take place along this strip, Amed is likely to become one of the island’s major tourist areas, a gain for local people in search of a decent livelihood but a pain to advocates of the environment.
In the meantime, many locals subsist by producing salt thanks to their proximity to the sea.
To reach Amed is an exhausting trip but is an experience in itself: it is rich in curves and very steep ups-and-downs.
From Amed the road south via Jemeluk, Lipah, Bunutan and Selang is narrow but moderately paved, offering stunning views of mountains on one side and the Lombok Strait on the other.
“Jemuluk, which is a protected bay, is an ideal place to begin snorkeling. Four kilometres further south along the coast is Banyuning, where there’s a small Japanese wreck and beautiful coral gardens,” said our driver.
“The corals are alive and beautiful, but you have to travel a couple of meters to find the most vivid colors.”
Diving schools are available in the area, and readily point you out the best dive spots.
Snorkeling and diving off the black-sand beaches here is exceptional for the variety and numbers of fish. But just to be anywhere along the coast or sit in one of the seaside restaurants and observe dolphins playing in the waves is just as enthralling.
To fly from Jakarta to Bali in a 90-minute journey only to settle down in undeveloped Amed might be an uncool thing to do—it is even more uncool if you’re there and cannot manage to visit the site even for a few hours.
Getting to Amed:
Garuda Indonesia flies the Jakarta-Denpasar vv route 50 times per week, Denpasar-Mataram vv route 7 times per week, Jakarta-Denpasar-Kupang vv route 7 times per week, Yogyakarta-Denpasar vv route 14 times per week, Surabaya-Denpasar vv route 21 times per week.
To get to Amed from Kuta, head for the Bypass towards Sanur and exit to take the road on your right that leads into the coastal highway heading east.
The coastal road was completed a couple of years ago; it now allows you to drive all the way from Tirtagangga in a clockwise manner.
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