Ubud to Bali Beaches – self drive by scooter

Recently I spent a few days in Ubud. And while the town & area is stunning I wanted a day away to the beaches and I wanted to self drive there by scooter. I couldn’t find a lot of useful information online, so here I will share with you how I went about my self driving scooter tour from Ubud to Padangbai Beaches.

I stayed at a beautiful, cheap homestay in Ubud called Tude’s Family Homestay. From there my host organised a scooter for me that was ready on the morning of my day out. It cost $5AUD for the whole day and he ensured it was the hot pink one for me! Hehe.

I went and filled the tank at a petrol station on the corner of where I needed to turn and a whole tank cost me just $1.50AUD from empty to full. This got me from Ubud to 2 beaches in Padangbai, back to Ubud and then a few hours extra riding around the area.

From here head East along this road.

If you don’t like getting lost this might not be the journey for you! Or maybe I am really bad at reading signs. Either way, I did have to pull over a few times to check I was on the right track. I have an Indonesian sim so I was able to do this on my phone. However, multiple times I would pull up at lights and ask the scooter or car next to me which way I needed to go. The Balinese love to help so don’t be afraid to ask!

In saying that the signs can be super confusing. Follow the signs to Padangbai wherever you see them. Sometimes though its not on the sign and you either have to “wing it” or ask someone. I had fun getting lost and it took me probably double the time to get there than planned!

There are a couple of different routes from Ubud to Padangbai, I took the one below highlighted in blue. I can’t say much about the drive with more coastal road except Google says its longer!

When I arrived in Padangbai I first visited White Sandy Beach. Down some rocky steps through a bit of forrest there was a beautiful beach lined with small Warungs (small, modest, traditional Balinese restaurants) and a few sunbeds and umbrellas for hire. There are waves here at the shore, however calm past that. Parking/entry here is about .50c

The next beach was Blue Lagoon Beach, a small cove and beautiful crystal clear waters! There is a warung at the top of the hill overlooking the beach. This was a really stunning spot, however much smaller so if you don’t like crowds it might not be the perfect place for you. Still, its worth a visit and a dip! If its high tide there can be nowhere to actually sit on the beach. The parking/entry here cost about .20c

Whats on the way?

To be honest there isn’t a whole lot on the way to stop & see, but it is a pleasant ride. There was a park full of elephant statues I stopped for a break and to take some pictures. There was some fresh water places locals were swimming, a few temples and some nice rice terraces. It wasn’t the most scenic scooter ride I’ve ever done, but it was nice either way!

Is it busy/dangerous?

There were only a couple of spots that were busy and the later it was in the afternoon the busier it was. I wasn’t afraid of traffic at any point though. I would say you need to be relatively confident with this ride, but its not like the streets of Kuta! I recommend going as early as possible while the streets are quiet.

Do one way streets actually mean one way?

No, they don’t, not for Scooters. I always avoided going the wrong way down a one way street in Ubud, but I was the only one. If you are on a scooter you can go down a one way street no problems.

Tips

• Beep! Beep every time you overtake or there is a blindspot corner/crossing. This is how the Balinese make each other aware of their presence on the road to avoid accidents.
• Take a GOOD poncho. Depending on the time of year the rain can literally come out of nowhere and hammer down on you. Get a good poncho just in case.
• Watch out for tourists! I know, I know, I’m a tourist also. And I would definitely watch out for myself more on the road than a Balinese commuter. The tourists aren’t used to these sort of driving “ways” so can be a little all over the place.
• Have FUN!

Have a question? Feel free to contact me