This is the best area to avoid crowds and find fun beachbreaks to yourself. 

There are over 5 kilometres of isolated beachbreaks stretching from Jalan Double Six, past Ku De Ta Restaurant and through to Canggu. A few rivermouths and inshore reefs can create good sand banks. This area is best on high tide with a small swell,  except Ku De Ta which handles low tide. Don’t surf here alone as the currents can be quite strong. The waves tend to close out on low tide and can be quite dangerous with strange rips and black magic vibes. Many unaware tourists drown here who mistakenly swim in deep rips trying to avoid breaking waves.

Double Six is the fashionable Euro-Hipster section of the beach, with the best parties and topless sunbaking. You can join the Rip Curl School of Surf, watch a game of G-String beach volleyball, enjoy sunset cocktails at Sea Side Restaurant, then party all night with the glitterati at the nearby midight-to-dawn eachfront nightclubs.

To maybe find totally uncrowded surf, try exploring the remote beaches north of Canggu, past Tanah Lot Temple and around Tabanan.

Seminyak used to be the start of “the real Bali” but the tourist influences of Kuta and Legian have spread. Just past the Oberoi Hotel is the highly recommended beachfront restaurant La Luciola. Opposite it is the Petitinget Temple where you will find locals praying most days, and you may be lucky enough to witness spectacular Cremations or other Bali Hindu temple ceremonies, especially on the Full Moon.

The Tanah Lot Temple past Canggu is one of Bali’s most important and picturesque. It is serenely situated on a small rocky island, cut off at high tide from the black lava sand beach. Sacred snakes inhabit nearby caves, protected by local priests. Every year devout Bali Hindus make a pilgrimage to Tanah Lot which makes a very impressive procession. Similar pilgrimages are made to Uluwatu and the many other major Hindu temples on this “Island of a Thousand Temples”.