Where to stay in Candidasa
A quiet east-coast strip along a lotus lagoon — calm swimming, dive boats to the Gili islands off Karangasem and the old villages of Tenganan just inland.
Candidasa is a single strip along the main east-coast road, set behind a lotus lagoon. Its beach largely went in the 1980s when the offshore reef was quarried for lime, and what is left is a line of seawalls with small pockets of sand between them — so the sea here is a view and a dive departure rather than somewhere to spend the afternoon.
It suits divers, older travellers who want quiet, and anyone using it as a base for the east. It suits a beach holiday poorly, and anyone expecting a town will find a road with hotels on it.
Tenganan, one of Bali's pre-Hindu Aga villages, is fifteen minutes inland and worth the detour. The boats to the dive sites off Karangasem and the Gilis leave from here and from Padangbai just west.
Candidasa at a glance
- Best for
- East coast · lagoon · diving
- Typical nightly rate
- US$25 – US$466
- Places to stay
- 85
- From Ngurah Rai International Airport
- 2 hr 29 min by road
- Things worth seeing
- 84
85 places to stay in Candidasa · Things to do in Candidasa
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