At one time you could walk direct along the beach to the airport fence and watch the planes land and take off, but not now. The more the coastal strip of Tuban has developed the more barriers and inconveniences were constructed to spoil an enjoyable stroll. However, it is possible with a bit of effort. The whole concept of scrambling around and over groynes does tend to dampen the romanticism of a moonlight or sunset walk with your loved one. However, Candika and I did walk from Centro Discovery along the beach past all the flash 5 star hotels down to the airport. Sunset is, without a doubt, the nicest time and, especially when the tide is out. But, for anyone venturing out onto the exposed reefs then I strongly urge you to wear a pair of sneakers to avoid getting cut by coral or even worse, a stung by some weird alien sea species.
Pretty much most of the time from the Centro Discovery until you get about a kilometre down the walk is delightful and it seemed to me as if there was less rubbish down that end compared to Kuta/Seminyak or, maybe it was the lovely company I had. Nonetheless, there comes those times when you virtually have to leave the beach and enter one of the 5 star hotels and always under the glare of security guards. A nice smile with a ‘me-I-am-a-westerner’ grin never fails. You could of course do the rock-hopping thing and climb the groins which we did on occasions but the stones are sharp and the rocks slippy with seaweed slime. The coolness off the ocean, the fading light and the slow pace of steps whilst the ocean lapped your toes more than made up for any inconvenient slab of rock.
What fascinated yours truly the most was watching the fishermen set out to sea for a night’s fishing.
