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North Bali is where Bali still feels like Bali — dolphins at dawn, waterfalls hidden in jungle, temples without the crowds. These are the experiences that made the island famous, preserved in the quiet north.

Quick Tips

  • •Book dolphin trips the night before
  • •Waterfall visits are best before 10am
  • •Bring a sarong for temple visits

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All Do Guides

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Waterfalls Near Lovina: Which Is Closest, How Far, and How to Pair One with the Dolphins

Back from the dolphin boat with the morning still ahead: Singsing is a walk from Temukus, and Gitgit, Aling-Aling, Sekumpul and the Munduk falls are in the hills behind, each with its official distance.

September 2026

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Java to Bali Ferry: Ketapang to Gilimanuk, and the Road On to North Bali

The Java to Bali ferry runs from Ketapang to Gilimanuk, booked online on ASDP's Ferizy system: how the crossing works, and the road from Cekik through the national park to Pemuteran and Lovina.

September 2026

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Diving in Lovina: What Is Off the Beach, and When to Go to Menjangan, Tulamben or Amed

The calm water that carries Lovina's dolphin boats is gentle to dive too: shore dives and courses on the local reef, macro diving at Puri Jati, and when to go west to Menjangan or east to Tulamben and Amed.

September 2026

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Are There Trains in Bali? No. How the Island Gets Around, and the Rail Plans on Paper

Bali has no railway, so every trip across the island, north coast included, is made by road. Why the colonial lines never came, the nearest station across the strait, how to get around, and the rail plans on paper.

September 2026

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Fiji Waterfall, Bali: The Triple Falls in Sekumpul's Shadow

About ten minutes on from Sekumpul, three waterfalls fall side by side out of the jungle into a cold pool you can swim in, reached on the same guided trek from Lemukih village.

July 2026

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North Bali Waterfalls: The Complete Guide

Sekumpul, Aling-Aling, Gitgit, Sambangan and the Munduk falls, all in the hills within an hour of Lovina, and how to see two or three of them in one unhurried day.

June 2026

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25 Best Things to Do in Lovina, North Bali

A dawn boat out to the dolphins, a jungle waterfall, a soak in the sulphur pools and grilled fish on the sand at sunset: 25 things worth your time in Lovina, with an honest word on the ones that need it.

September 2026

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Lovina Festival: North Bali's Beach Festival, Explained

A few days in late July when Buleleng brings its dancers, gamelan, decorated bulls and mini sailing-boat races to the black sand at Kalibukbuk, with a food market and bands into the night.

July 2026

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Sapi Gerumbungan: North Bali's Century-Old Bull Races

Pairs of decorated bulls with big bells at their necks, stepping in time while a driver stands on a pole behind them: Kaliasem's century-old harvest contest, judged on beauty and harmony far more than on speed.

July 2026

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Lovina Sunday Market: Buleleng's Makers on Kaliasem Beach

The Lovina Sunday Market is a small makers' market on the beach at Spice Beach Club in Kaliasem: Buleleng weavers, cooks, painters and a winemaker, started so visitors stay on after the dolphins.

September 2026

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Buleleng International Rhythm Festival: Folk Music and Dance in Singaraja

Folk dancers and musicians from abroad parade through Singaraja each March and share the stage with Buleleng's own artists: a week of music in the regency that gave Bali Gong Kebyar.

July 2026

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Buleleng Festival 2026 (Bulfest): Singaraja's Great Arts Week

Six evenings of parades, stages and heritage village food in the streets of Bali's old capital, free to walk in and twenty minutes from Lovina, in the days after Independence Day each August.

August 2026

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Pemuteran Bay Festival: Bali's Reef-Conservation Celebration

A small, free festival in the bay whose villagers brought their coral back to life: reef workshops, a traditional fishing contest and village arts, in the place where the restoration happened.

July 2026

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Sekumpul Waterfall: The Complete Guide

Up to seven falls in one jungle canyon an hour inland from Lovina, and a cold, clear pool to swim in at the bottom: how to reach Sekumpul, the guided trek down, and the climb back out.

June 2026

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Munduk Waterfalls: A Hiking Guide

Mist in the coffee plantations, air cooler than the coast, and five waterfalls in and around one highland village: how to walk the Munduk waterfalls, and when to go.

June 2026

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Diving and Snorkeling in Pemuteran

Wade in off the sand and reach coral within minutes, in a bay flat and clear enough for a first snorkel: Pemuteran's house reefs, the Biorock project and the boat out to Menjangan.

June 2026

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Menjangan Island: The Snorkeling and Dive Sites, Boats, Fees and How to Get There

Coral walls in the clearest water around Bali, off an uninhabited island inside the national park: the dive and snorkel sites one by one, the harbours the boats leave from and how the fees work.

June 2026

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Banjar Hot Springs: The Complete Guide

Banjar Hot Springs is a set of natural sulphur pools with carved stone spouts, in a jungle garden 20 to 30 minutes west of Lovina: how to get there, what to bring, and pairing it with the dolphins.

June 2026

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Gitgit Waterfall: North Bali's Easiest Waterfall Stop

A few minutes' walk down from the mountain road to one tall column of water in the forest: the easiest waterfall stop in north Bali, on the drive between the coast and the Bedugul highlands.

June 2026

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Getting to North Bali: Transport from the Airport and the South

How to get to north Bali: by road, about three hours over the central mountains from the airport, past the Bedugul lakes. Private driver, rental car, scooter or bus, and which road to take.

June 2026

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North Bali Itinerary 3 Days: Dolphins, Waterfalls and the Highlands

Three unhurried days from one bed in Lovina: dolphins at dawn, the waterfalls inland, then the cool highlands or the quiet west, with no driving back and forth to the south.

June 2026

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7 Days in North Bali: The Complete One-Week Itinerary

A slow week on the north coast, sleeping in three places: two nights in Lovina, two in the Munduk highlands, two in Pemuteran, and a drive back through the waterfalls.

June 2026

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10 Days in Bali, Eight of Them in the North: A Slow Itinerary

Ten unhurried days, eight of them in the north: the Bedugul lakes, two nights in Munduk's cloud forest, dawn dolphins off Lovina, and a last stretch on the reefs of Pemuteran or out east in Amed or Sidemen.

September 2026

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Best Time to Visit North Bali

The best time to visit north Bali is the dry season, roughly April to October, with June to September the most reliable: month by month, and the timing for dolphins, diving and the waterfalls.

June 2026

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Hiring a Private Driver in North Bali

Let someone who drives these mountain roads every week take the switchbacks, wait at each stop and know which waterfall is running fuller: how a day with a driver-guide works in the north, and how to book one.

June 2026

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Bali Cooking Class: What to Expect & How to Choose One

A Bali cooking class runs a half or full day and ends with a Balinese meal you cooked yourself, often after a market tour: what you learn, where to take one, and the smaller classes around Lovina.

June 2026

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Things to Do in North Bali: 25 Experiences, From Dolphins to Canyoning

Dolphins at dawn, the island's best waterfalls and reefs, hot springs, highland lakes and carved temples, all within an hour or two of Lovina: twenty-five things worth your time in north Bali.

June 2026

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Snorkeling in North Bali: The Best Spots and How to Do It

Snorkeling in north Bali runs from gentle house reefs off the Lovina and Pemuteran beaches to the wall at Menjangan Island: each reef, how to reach it, and the calmest months to go.

June 2026

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Sports & Active Things to Do in North Bali

If your best holiday days start with a ride or a dive, base yourself in the north: quiet roads to cycle, reefs to dive, waterfalls to trek to and a calm coast for a run at dawn, without the crowds.

June 2026