Peering Over The Edge Of Heaven: Padangbai. Not Just A Transit Town

Padangbai

After a few days in Ubud we looked in our travel book and randomly picked out our next route. We wanted to go to the island south of Bali called Nusa Lembongan so we decided to go via Padangbai. We stayed two nights in this little fishing village but it had a few hidden gems.This was one of those towns where checking the travel blogs came in handy.
We took the main road up to the right and found one of the oldest temples in Bali perched up on a cliff along the water. The next day we took the same road over to the left, up a huge hill, and ended up at Blue Lagoon Beach and what a site! This was the first crystal blue water we had seen in Bali and heard there was some great snorkeling here. We lug around our own snorkel gear which some days we curse, but this day it was a blessing. There was a natural opening in the coral close to shore and we snorkeled in the morning when the sea was calm for almost two hours along the coast. There was no need to pay for a snorkeling trip here when you can go for free from the beach. We saw some great coral, found Nemo for the first time, and I saw my first eel. I fell in love with this little town. Maybe it was because I was back at the ocean, maybe it was the ships and the ferries that reminded me of Vancouver or maybe it was the lack of tourists. Either way it was a great place to spend an extra day for the snorkeling alone.