Melasti Beach: The Cliff Road, the Beach Clubs, and Why It Is the Easy Uluwatu Beach

Most of the beaches on the Bukit peninsula sit at the bottom of a cliff and are reached by steps. Melasti, on the south coast below Ungasan, is the exception: a road was cut in switchbacks down the white limestone cliff to the sand, so you can drive down, which is the reason it became popular and the reason it has beach clubs. The beach itself is long, white and open, with the cliff behind it and clear water in front; the road down, carved through the rock, is a sight on its own.

The name is from the melasti ceremony, in which villages carry their temple's sacred objects to the sea for cleansing in the days before Nyepi; this beach is one of the places the Ungasan villages come to, and in the week before Nyepi you may see it.

The sand is wide at low tide and the water is calmer than at Padang Padang or Bingin because a reef offshore takes the surf; it is swimmable in the middle of the day at mid to high tide, and at low tide the reef is exposed for rock pools. Several beach clubs have built onto the sand with pools, daybeds and minimum spends; they are the main draw for many visitors and the reason the beach is busier than it was. Away from the clubs, the beach is free to walk and there is shade under the cliff in the late afternoon.

There is a small entry fee at the top of the road, per person and per vehicle, and parking at the bottom. Bring water and sun cover; the white cliff reflects a lot of light. Sunset here is over the water to the west-south-west and is good from the beach, but the cliff above blocks it early, so most people move to the top of the road or on to Uluwatu temple. Fifteen minutes to the temple, ten to GWK; it slots into an afternoon between the two. For the steeper, wilder beaches, see the Uluwatu beaches guide; for the temple, the Kecak guide.