Lovina

Lovina is the resort stretch on Bali's north coast, west of Singaraja, and it is a long way from everything else. From Ubud it is about 77 km and two and a half hours; from the airport about 90 km and three and a half to four hours. The bay is sheltered, so the water is calm enough to swim off the beach, but the black volcanic sand makes it look dark and murky and it stays shallow a long way out. Nobody comes to Lovina for the beach.

The dolphin boats are why most people come, and they are the honest problem with Lovina. The jukung outriggers leave at about six, run two to two and a half hours, and cost roughly IDR 100,000 to 150,000 a seat or IDR 400,000 to 500,000 for a private boat. What you get is not one boat and a pod. Reports describe a hundred or more boats at the main spot first thing. A peer-reviewed study at Lovina found 72.4 per cent of boats came closer than the 50-metre minimum the literature uses, with non-compliant behaviour in 68.3 per cent of interactions. Buleleng regency drafted a code of conduct in February 2023 requiring engines off within 25 metres, no cutting through a pod and observation from the side or rear only, but we found no independent reporting from 2025 or 2026 that anyone enforces it. If you go, ask the boatman to hang back with the engine off and refuse any offer to swim with the pod.

Inland is the better half of Lovina. The Banjar hot springs are 20 to 30 minutes away, open 8:30 to 17:30, and charge IDR 45,000 for foreign adults against IDR 15,000 for Indonesians, cash only at the gate. Aling-Aling is IDR 20,000 to walk down and look at the falls; jumping and sliding needs a guide and a package, priced at about IDR 125,000 for two hours, IDR 250,000 for a half day and IDR 500,000 for a full one. Sekumpul charges about IDR 20,000 for the viewpoint and roughly IDR 125,000 to 250,000 for the guided descents, which are compulsory below it. It opens at eight and fills from about nine, and there are fake checkpoints on the approach road as far as 12 km out, so pay only at the official entrance.

From November to March the highlands behind Lovina take 300 to 400 mm of rain a month, the wettest on the island, which means slick trails and clouded viewpoints; the coast itself usually gets a mix of sun and showers. The dolphins are a six-to-nine-in-the-morning business and nothing else.

Lovina is a long way for what it is. It works as a one- or two-night stop on a loop around the island, over from Munduk and back down through Kintamani or Sidemen. Flown in for on its own it does not hold up, and we would not give it a night on a first week in Bali.