Things to Do and See When You're in Bali

Museums

Bali's long history of visiting foreign artists and collectors means that the island has quite a few notable museums. Just in the Ubud area, there are four dedicated to Balinese art?all of them excellent. The Museum Rudana, in the village of Teges, does a wonderful job of explaining the iconography of Balinese art (Jalan Cok Rai Pudak; 62-361-975-779; www.museumrudana.com); the Neka Art Museum has perhaps the finest, most comprehensive collection of Balinese painting, from the 17th century to the present (Jalan Sangginan; 62-361-975-074; www.museumneka.com). The Agung Rai Museum of Art, or ARMA, houses an equally impressive collection of Balinese and foreign paintings, including the only publicly exhibited canvas on the island by Walter Spies, the German artist who founded the art colony in Ubud in the 1930s (Pengosekan Rd., Ubud; 62-361 976-659; www.armamuseum.com). The Puri Lukisan, in the middle of Ubud village, has a fine collection of drawings by Bali's greatest artist, I Gusti Nyoman Lempad (Main St., Ubud; 62-361-971-159; www.mpl-ubud.com).

Bali museums dedicated to individual artists are interesting mainly because they offer the opportunity to tour early-20th-century expat estates. Neither the Spanish painter Antonio Blanco nor the Belgian Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres was a great artist (both tended to focus their work on frolicsome, bare-breasted maidens), but they created fabulous spreads for themselves. Museum Le Mayeur retains much of the artist's original house, a traditional wooden structure with intricately carved doors, lintels, and pediments. The only entrance, charmingly, is on the beach (62-361-286-201). Antonio Blanco's House and Art Gallery in Ubud is a rococo fantasy house perched on a high hill across the road from the Hotel Tjampuhan (Jalan Raya Campuhan, Ubud; 62-361-975 502).

Beaches

While the volcanic-black-sand beaches on Bali's north coast (especially Lovina) have attracted a low-key tourism scene, with small hotels and outdoor restaurants catering to budget travelers, the most popular white-sand beaches are in the south. Kuta, on the southwestern coast, is world-famous for its classic surf breaks. It's also a year-round free-form beach party of surfers, hippies, peddlers and masseurs, beer stands, and ice-cream vendors. There are occasional pickpocketing incidents here, but friendly police patrol the beach on bicycles. Just north of Kuta, Legian beach, lined with ritzy resorts and hotels, is much less crowded, with sweeping views of the coastline. But beware: The undertow here is dangerously strong. The southeasterly Sanur beach is delightfully mellow, and popular with Indonesian families on weekends. The grainy golden sand lacks the powdery purity of Kuta's and Legian's, but the morning views of the majestic volcano Gunung Batur more than compensate. The paved walkway along the beach is a superbly romantic setting for an evening stroll.

Farther south, Jimbaran beach, just south of the Denpasar airport, has shallow, calm water that's perfect for families during the day; at sundown, funky fish-barbecue restaurants open, with tables plunked down in the sand. Just south is Dreamland, the ruins of a half-built resort project abandoned after the economic crisis of the late '90s. It's completely undeveloped in any organized sense, but daylight-hour beer joints have opened up, catering to young, mostly European, backpackers. Uluwatu, at the southern tip of the peninsula known as the Bukit, is a prime surfing spot; if you want to hang ten, head to Padang-Padang, an exquisite white-sand beach punctuated by great boulders of volcanic rock, with a fierce break just offshore.

Temples

The most sacred site in Bali, Pura Besakih (on Mount Agung's slopes) is a sprawling complex of many separate shrines and compounds arranged on seven terraces. It's divided into three parts, one painted black for Vishnu, one white for Shiva, and one red for Brahma. Besakih is an active spiritual center, with many Balinese coming here to get holy water for ceremonies in their home villages. The 1963 eruption of Gunung Batur damaged much of the temple area, but happily, most of the damage has now been repaired.

Caves

The "Elephant Cave," discovered by a farmer in 1923, is a temple that dates back to the 11th century. Worshippers likely purified themselves in the rectangular bathing pools in front, where water spouts from jars held by six stone nymphs. Visitors enter through the mouth of a menacing demon face. Inside, you'll see a statue of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, as well as three lingams (phallic fertility symbols) and three yoni (the female equivalent). The cave is in a valley outside Ubud and near the town of Bedulu.

Diving

Many dive-heads?including those who've made pilgrimages to the Red Sea, the Great Barrier Reef, and Manado?swear that Bali has the best diving in the world. Sites range from warm, easy dives for the novice around Nusa Dua to the spectacular wreck of the Liberty (pictured), a 390-foot American cargo ship that was sunk off Lombok on the island's northeast coast by a Japanese torpedo in 1942. (She was towed to shore by U.S. destroyers and abandoned on the beach at Tulamben; 20 years later, after Gunung Batur erupted, earth tremors caused the ship to slide into the sea.) While some parts of the wreck lie at a depth of about 100 feet, other parts are in shallow water?less than 20 feet?so it's a good site even for beginning divers. As many as a hundred divers a day visit the wreck in high season, so avoid early-afternoon excursions there if you can. Night dives of the Liberty are especially exciting. Bali is well-supplied with PADI-licensed dive centers, including Pro Dive Bali (62-361-726-823; www.prodivebali.com) and Scuba Duba Doo (62-361-750-703; www.divecenterbali.com). Both these dive centers will arrange transport from your hotel to the ship and return at day's end.