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In Brief
The Lovina Sunday Market is a small makers' market on the beach at Spice Beach Club in Kaliasem, just west of central Lovina. It is one of the gentlest ways to spend a Sunday morning on the north coast.
You wander between the stalls with the sea a few steps away. Everything on the tables is made in Buleleng: woven cloth, crafts, paintings, honey, coffee, laklak, village sausage and the regency's own wine.
It was started to give visitors a reason to stay on after the dolphin trips, so it makes an easy second half to a Lovina morning. Check it is on before you plan a Sunday around it. The practical notes below show how.
The Market at a Glance
- What it is: a beach market for Buleleng's small local producers (in Indonesian, UMKM: micro, small and medium businesses)
- Where: Spice Beach Club, Kaliasem Beach, on the main Singaraja to Seririt road west of central Lovina (Map)
- When: Sunday mornings, as announced at the opening. Check Spice Beach Club's Instagram or message the club before you go
- Cost: no entrance fee was mentioned in any report of the opening
- What to buy: woven cloth, handmade bags, crafts, paintings, local honey, robusta coffee, Buleleng wine
- What to eat: laklak kelor, smoked urutan sausage from Tajun village, chips
- Started by: Nyoman Arya Astawa, known as Mang Dauh, who heads Spice Beach Club, with the Buleleng government
Why It Started: Visitors Left After the Dolphins and Bought Nothing
The Regent of Buleleng gave the reason in his opening speech.
Visitors arrive in Lovina constantly, he said, but after watching the dolphins they go straight home. They buy nothing to take with them.
The dolphin trips are over by eight in the morning. A visitor who came only for them can be gone before the town has opened. The people who make things in this regency never meet them.
The market is the creation of Nyoman Arya Astawa, known locally as Mang Dauh. Majalah Bali profiles him as the CEO of Spice Beach Club, and the market runs on the club's beachfront at Kaliasem.
On the first Sunday, domestic and foreign tourists were among the buyers, according to the local news site Lentera Esai. They took home coffee and smoked sausage, which was the point.
The Regent, dr. I Nyoman Sutjidra, opened the market in person. The Vice Regent and the regional secretary came with him, along with the head of the tourism office and the local hotel and restaurant association.
He asked the producers to treat it as a standing weekly event, with something different each Sunday. He said he hoped it would not stop at the opening day.
Everything on the Tables Is Made in Buleleng
Everything sold is made in Buleleng. That is the rule of the market, and the reason to buy here. Bring small notes and assume cash only.
Woven cloth and handmade bags at one of the craft stalls. Photo: Palm Living.
Woven Cloth and Craft
The cloth is woven in bright pinks, greens and purples. It is sold as lengths and made up into bags and purses.
The stalls also had paintings by local artists, local honey and robusta coffee grown in Buleleng. If craft is what you came north for, where to shop in north Bali covers the weaving villages and the markets in Singaraja.
Laklak, Hot from the Clay Mould
Laklak are small rice-flour pancakes, green from pandan or moringa leaf. They are cooked in a clay mould over a fire and eaten hot with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup.
The government's own notice singles out laklak kelor, the moringa version, as a Buleleng speciality. There is more on laklak and the rest of the island's cakes in what to eat in Bali.
Smoked Urutan from Tajun
Urutan is the Balinese pork sausage. It is spiced with the same base of chilli, galangal and turmeric as most of the island's cooking.
The version on sale is urutan asap, smoked sausage, from the Buleleng village of Tajun.
Buleleng Wine
Wine made from Buleleng grapes, on sale at the market. Photo: Palm Living.
Grapes are grown in Buleleng, and the regency's own notice lists Buleleng-made wine among the market's products. It is a chance to taste something made in the regency from its own fruit.
For the older drinks of the north, arak, tuak and the herbal loloh, see the drinks of north Bali.
The Opening: Barong, Turtles and Music on the Sand
The first market, on Sunday 6 July 2025, was as much a ceremony as a sale.
It opened with a Barong dance on a round stage on the sand. The Barong is the shaggy, lion-like guardian you see in the photograph above. Opposite him is Rangda, the witch queen.
Their fight is an old one, good against bad. In Balinese philosophy, it is a matter of keeping the two in balance, and the fight is never finished. If that idea is new to you, Rwa Bhineda explains it.
Releasing turtle hatchlings on Kaliasem's black sand at the opening. Photo: Palm Living.
After the dance, the Regent and the stallholders released turtle hatchlings from the black sand into the sea. Lentera Esai counted fifty. The local singer Bagus Wirata played from the stage by the sea to close the morning.
Ask whether a given Sunday has a performance, and do not expect one. The opening was a one-off, and the Regent's request was for the weekly market to keep changing.
How to Fit It In: Dolphins at Dawn, Then Breakfast at the Stalls
Market day at Spice Beach Club, Kaliasem. Photo: Palm Living.
The natural order is the one the market was designed around. Take the dolphin boat at dawn, which is over by eight. Then go to Kaliasem for breakfast from the stalls instead of from the hotel.
Kaliasem is a few minutes by car or scooter west of the dolphin statue at Kalibukbuk. The club is on the sea side of the main road.
From there the day is open:
- Further west: Banjar hot springs and the Buddhist monastery are a short drive on.
- Staying put: the club itself serves food and drinks by the water, if you would rather not move.
- In August: a Sunday at Kaliasem can also mean Sapi Gerumbungan, the decorated bull races held in the fields nearby.
- More ideas: see things to do in Lovina.
Kaliasem and the villages west of it are the quiet end of Lovina, if you are choosing where to stay with the market in mind. The best villas in Lovina lists what is on that stretch of coast.
Practical Notes
- Check before you go. The market was announced as weekly at its opening, and Northbound has not confirmed the current schedule. Message Spice Beach Club through the WhatsApp link on its website, or look at its Instagram below, and ask what time the stalls open.
- Go early. It is a morning market on an open beach, and the cooked food goes first.
- Bring cash in small notes. The nearest ATMs are in central Lovina.
- Dress as you would for the beach club, and cover up if there is a ceremony or blessing as part of the morning.
- Ask before photographing people at their stalls. Most will say yes and then sell you something, which is fair.
FAQ
Where is the Lovina Sunday Market?
On the beach at Spice Beach Club in Kaliasem, a few minutes' drive west of central Lovina on the main Singaraja to Seririt road. The Buleleng tourism office describes the location as the Spice Beach Club area of Kaliasem Beach.
Is the Lovina Sunday Market on every week?
It was launched as a weekly Sunday event. The Regent of Buleleng asked for it to continue each Sunday, with something new each time. Check with Spice Beach Club before you go, since Northbound has not confirmed the current schedule.
What time does the Lovina Sunday Market start?
It is a morning market, set up to catch visitors coming back from the dawn dolphin trips. Northbound found no published times, so message Spice Beach Club or check its Instagram for the current Sunday.
What can you buy at the Lovina Sunday Market?
Only things made in Buleleng: woven cloth, bags, crafts, paintings, honey, coffee and local wine. There is food too, such as laklak pancakes and urutan sausage from Tajun village.
Who started it?
Nyoman Arya Astawa, known as Mang Dauh, who heads Spice Beach Club at Kaliasem. He created it as a space for local producers. The Buleleng government opened it officially, with the Regent, dr. I Nyoman Sutjidra, attending.
Why was it started?
Because many visitors to Lovina came for the dawn dolphin trip and left straight afterwards without buying anything local. The market gives them a reason to stay on the beach for the morning and meet the people who make things here.
Sources
- Buleleng Culture and Tourism Office, Sunday Market officially opened in Lovina, 6 July 2025, for the opening, the Regent's speech, the officials present and the products, read September 2026 (in Indonesian)
- Lentera Esai, Sunday Market Lovina officially opened, 6 July 2025, for Mang Dauh as its creator, the products, the buyers, Bagus Wirata and the turtle release, read September 2026 (in Indonesian)
- Majalah Bali, Nyoman Arya Astawa, CEO of Spice Beach Club Bali, read September 2026 (in Indonesian)
- Spice Beach Club, official website, for the address and contact links, read September 2026 (in English)
- Palm Living's own photographs of the opening, shown on this page, for the Barong and Rangda dance, the craft and wine stalls and the turtle release
More of the north's calendar: the Lovina Festival on the beach each July and the Buleleng Festival in Singaraja each August.
