I’m not normally much of a beach person, but I figured that while I’m here in Bali I may as well see how the beaches are compared to in Phuket. Jimbaran is located south of Kuta and has a small beach that, as far as I could tell, not many people bother to visit.

The beach at Jimbaran is cozy and clean, with nothing much to see or do except mooch around. Being a small fishing community there are lots of fishing boats and fishermen here and there. Unfortunately there is also a rather strong smell of fish, which may be part of the reason why not many people make it this far south.

Swimming is possible at Jimbaran, although the water isn’t perfect. It’s certainly not suited to surfing, either. As far as sunbathing goes, if you don’t mind sharing the beach with a few dead fish then Jimbaran is pretty good. We didn’t spend long at Jimbaran because the area wasn’t all that exciting and the smell of fish became a bit too much.

There are lots of seafood restaurants around Jimbaran, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend eating at most of them. These are the restaurants that touts take tourists to in order to make a hefty commission on the overpriced seafood on offer. As a general rule of thumb, I’d advise against eating at any of the restaurants around Jimbaran that have signs written in English. This is just my preference because during my stay in Bali I preferred not to be such a big spender at meal times.

Having said that, the food is pretty good, but I have had much better seafood at much cheaper prices elsewhere.

Overall, Jimbaran isn’t Bali’s most exciting beach, but it’s worth making the journey to escape the tourists and to see a slice of local Bali life not far from the chaos of Kuta.