Travel guide to Lovina, Bali

Lovina is Bali’s main northern beach resort and tends to be the underdog in Bali, but is actually really worth a visit. Lovina has a nice tourist area, a long sandy beach coastline, plenty of (budget) accommodation, and many things to do.

This travel guide to Lovina, Bali includes useful information on guesthouses, hotels, attractions, and advice on travel, restaurants, nightlife and more.

What about Lovina, Bali?

Lovina is Bali’s main northern beach resort and tends to be the underdog in Bali, but is actually really worth a visit! It is a nice place to escape the crowd from Kuta, Legian, Canggu, Seminyak, or Denpasar.

Lovina has a nice black volcanic sand beach that stretches for a couple of kilometers. Along the beach, you can find plenty of accommodation, food- and shopping possibilities.

Lovina get mainly visited by families, couples, and people that want to experience some more laid-back places in Bali.

How to get to Lovina, Bali?

You can easily get to Lovina by bus, but keep in mind it will be a long ride. Getting there by car with driver is a much easier way to get to the North. You can travel from Kuta in 3 hours and from Ngurah Rai International Airport or Sanur in about 3.5 hours to Lovina, depending on the season and the traffic on the road. Scooter is a quicker option than car.

What to do in Lovina, Bali?

There are plenty of nice activities you can do in Lovina, Bali. Here’s a list with examples

(Don’t) Go dolphin watching in Lovina, Bali

The iconic landmark of Lovina is a dolphin. This is not a surprise, because the dolphins are the main inhabitants and attraction of this coast town. Lovina is well known for the early-morning boat trips off the coast to see the dolphins.

When you like dolphins, you can take one of the trips, but I actually advice you not to head out on a boat for dolphin watching. It is and remains a mass tourist attraction, even though the fishers from the tourist boats and the tour operators don’t say so. You have to imagine hundreds of small fisher boats chasing after the dolphins. Don’t believe it when you are told the dolphins are not disturbed as they come back every day!

Go bike riding in Lovina, Bali

Lovina is a flat area and perfect for riding bicycle. Bikes are available to hire at several places for about 30,000 rupiah per day.

Go shopping in Lovina, Bali

You can find plenty of art markets, boutique-style shops, and souvenir stores in Lovina. Lovina local market is a good place to buy fresh fruit.

Hire a scooter and explore Lovina

Another way to explore Lovina and its surrounding is by scooter. A scooter costs around 50,000 IDR a day (not including fuel). A scooter will give you access to the entire coastline, town and hidden spots, just waiting to be explored.

Curious where you can rent a scooter? For what price? And if there’re any traffic rules? What to do if a police officer stops you? This post, will tell you everything you need to know about driving scooter in Indonesia.

Go snorkeling and diving at Lovina, Bali

It is possible to go snorkeling at the coast of Lovina, Bali. When you would like to go diving, it is nice to take a day trip from Lovina to Menjangan Island, Tulamben or Amed.

Do watersports at Lovina, Bali

At Lovina beach you can do several water sports like parasailing.

Watch the sunset in Lovina, Bali

Lovina is the perfect place to watch the sunset over the water! Go in the late afternoon, enjoy the quietness, and see the sun set.

Relax at a spa in Lovina, Bali

Have a cheap massage, pedicure, or manicure at one of the plenty spas in Lovina, Bali.

Go on a day trip from Lovina, Bali

From Lovina, you can make several interesting day trips to other amazing places in Bali. The Banjar hot springs, Brahmavihara Arama Buddhist monastery, Sing Sing waterfall or Aling Along waterfall are very close by. The hot springs and monastery are only about a 20-minute drive from central Lovina.

Day trip from Lovina to Singaraja

A day trip from Lovina to Singaraja is also possible. Singaraja is the former capital of Bali and is known for an amazing Chinese temple and the old storage houses and buildings that are built with a particular architecture from the Dutch colonialism.

Where to party in Lovina, Bali?

Lovina, Bali knows many bars and restaurants, but offers less excitement by night than other popular destinations in Bali.

This is a selection of some good nightlife places and cozy bars in Lovina, Bali where you can enjoy a cocktail or a Bintang beer with life music. The most famous bars are ZigiZ, Poco Bar and Jax Bar Lovina.

Zigiz Bar

At the ZigiZ bar in Lovina, Bali, the nights are often accompanied by live acoustic guitar music. The bar has a cozy atmosphere and a large cocktail selection.

Pashaa Lovina Bali Nightclub

The Pashaa Lovina Bali Nightclub is a stylish lounge club with an amazing indoor- and outdoor seating area, laser lighting, DJ’s, and a dance floor. Several parties are organized on a weekly basis in the Pashaa nightclub.

Poco Bar

The best bar in Lovina is probably the Poco bar. The Poco Bar is on the main road which leads down to the dolphin statue at the end. Drinks are reasonable priced and the atmosphere is very tropical. There is live music almost every night and you can offer pizza until midnight.

Jax Bar

At the Jax bar Lovina, you can enjoy every night a live band, karaoke, drinks, cocktails, and nice snacks. You can also play some pool or darts and sometimes watch a live football match.

Where to eat in Lovina, Bali?

Lovina is coast town and so, it offers great seafood, but also the typical pasta-pizza-noodle-rice variety that you can find across the entire Bali island. Around the dolphin statue, you can find several popular food carts and warungs. Here’s is a list of some good restaurants and warungs in Lovina, Bali;

Jasmine kitchen

The Jasmine kitchen is well known for its homemade ice cream, but also offers a great menu list and coffee menu card.

Tanjung Alam

The Tanjun Alam is really worth a visit when eating out in Lovina, Bali. This open-air restaurant offers the best (grilled) seafood of Lovina.

Global Village Kafe

This place is very well known for its baked goods, fruit drinks, pizzas, breakfasts, and Indonesian dishes.

Spice beach club

At the Spice beach club in Lovina, you can chill at the beach lounge while enjoying a burger, seafood, or anything else from their extensive menu card. While you are waiting for the food, you can go for a swim in their pool.

Damai

This organic restaurant is definitely worth a visit. The dishes often taste good, because of the organic ingredients and fresh fish. The view of the restaurant over the North coast is also really great. Tip: try out their Sunday brunch.

Sea Breeze Cafe

The Sea Breeze Café is a nice beachside café & restaurant offering good tasting Indonesian and Western dishes. Here you also get some amazing peanuts when you order a drink.

Buda Bakery

The Buda Bakery is the best bakery of North Bali and offers a wide variety of breads, cakes and other treats produced fresh daily.

Akar

Are you vegetarian? Then you should visit the Akar café in Lovina. This place offers great organic smoothies, house-made ice cream, and tasty dishes.

Where to overnight in Lovina, Bali

Lovina offers a good range of hotels and guesthouses and prices tend to be a little cheaper than in the south of Bali. Booking.com is a good place to book your stay. A selection of some of my favorite places to stay in Lovina, Bali:

Villa Cantik

A new villa directly located at the coast of Lovina. Villa Cantik is fitted with 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a. beautiful pool.

Puri Bali Hotel

Puri Bali Hotel has a restaurant, outdoor swimming pool, a bar and shared lounge in Lovina. Next to the standard double or twin rooms, the hotel also provides family rooms and triple rooms. Perfect if you’re traveling in a group!

Gede Homestay

This homestay more fits the needs of a budget traveller. The homestay has fine rooms, sunbeds to enjoy the sun, tasty breakfast, a perfect location, and great hosts that will help you experience the Balinese hospitality!

---

I hope this information can help you prepare and enjoy Lovina, Bali. I am sure you will enjoy Lovina as much as I did. If you have been to Lovina and know any other good things to do, food to eat, hang out places or general advises to other travelers, please let me know in a comment! I would love to hear about it.

Author: Daphne

This article is part of the GPSmyCity iOS app. You can download it, read this article offline and obtain travel directions (by foot, car or bicycle) to the places mentioned in this article. Click here to download it.

Pin this post for later!