Day Trips from Uluwatu: Nusa Penida by Boat, the Sea Temple Circuit, and Getting to Ubud

Uluwatu is at the bottom of the island, which makes it the best mainland base for Nusa Penida and the worst for the north. Everything north of the airport passes through the same congested roads, and by midday that adds an hour to any trip. Plan the peninsula's own sights for the middle of the day and leave early for anything beyond it.

Fast boats to Penida leave from Sanur, about forty-five minutes from Uluwatu in the early morning, and the crossing is about forty-five minutes more. From the Bukit that makes a Penida day trip a ten-hour outing rather than the twelve it is from Ubud or Canggu.

The standard day covers the west of the island: Kelingking's T-rex cliff, Broken Beach, Angel's Billabong and Crystal Bay for a swim. Snorkelling trips to the manta cleaning station are the other version. The tours listed here for Penida include the transfer from the peninsula so the 6am start is someone else's driving.

Half the point of staying in Uluwatu is that the best things are already here. A day of beaches, the temple and Kecak at sunset, and the Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park with its 120-metre statue needs no long drive. Jimbaran's fish grills on the sand for dinner are twenty minutes away.

Build those into the days you do not want to spend in a car.

Ubud is an hour and a half to two hours away, and a day trip from Uluwatu means arriving at the rice terraces and temples in the mid-morning peak and leaving before the evening calm. It can be done. A night in Ubud does it properly and lets you see the terraces at dawn, which is the whole reason to go.

The same applies to Batur: a sunrise trek from Uluwatu means a midnight pickup. Stay in Ubud the night before.

Tanah Lot, the other famous sea temple, is an hour and a half north on the west coast. The two are often paired as a 'temple day' with the Kecak at Uluwatu for the finish, and it works if you leave the Bukit by mid-morning, do Tanah Lot at low tide, and return for the dance. Check the tide; at high tide Tanah Lot is a view rather than a visit.