Bingin is located on the western side of the Bukit peninsula between Dreamland and Impossibles. Its is ideal for advanced surfers and has a beautiful wave, a left hander, that works really well during the dry season (June-September) when off shore winds are the norm. Bingin is a reef break with only one take off point leading to a short fast ride. High tide seems to be the best time to surf and I have also seen surfers at mid-low tide, the edge of the reef becoming more obvious. Staying at Bingin to surf, means a steep hike down the stone steps to get back to the road, but does put you in easy reach of Dreamland, Impossibles, Padang Padang and Uluwatu. Surf not working on the western Bukit, ride over to Nusa Dua, just 20 minutes away.
According to Bingin locals the beach is safe to swim on and that swimmers should stick to the left side of the beach at high-tide and anywhere on the beach at low tide. Getting to Bingin from Kuta means taking the Bypass in the direction of Nusa Dua. Look for the Uluwatu turn-off to the right after a couple of miles. Take that turn and head through Jimbaran up the hill towards Uluwatu at the far west of the Bukit.
Up the hill you will pass through a small intersection, just keep going towards Uluwatu. And after another 4 kms you will come to this turn-off to the right at the village of Pecatu. Easy to spot as there are not many turnoffs of this size and on the left side of the road is this Balinese temple. You will also notice the Indonesian flag and the Wartel (phone office) on the right. Just around the corner is a handy little warung I have eaten at before. They do an okay nasi campur and sate.
Follow the obvious route the road takes, remembering that most of the traffic is surf related and use that as your guide. Looking a the map of the Bukit you will see there is a loop that circles round from Pecatu, to Bingin, to Uluwatu and round again to Pecatu. Following the road you will come across a couple of large signs for Bingin & Impossibles as well as a selection of guest houses. The first one is this sign. Following this road will lead you to a small selection of decent cliff top places including Pondok Indah Lynie, Secret Garden and Leggie Bungalows. You can get cars and motorbikes down this road although it turns into a dirt track, and there are some nice looking houses down there.
About 20 meters past the sign for the bungalows is a sign for Wika Café pointing to another sign for Bingin & Impossibles. This road is popular with surfers who are not staying in the cliff top places. You will ride for several minutes through a small village area then dead-end at this parking area. Locals are always around to ask you for 5,000rp parking and there is enough space to park cars. Right there is a nice little restaurant called Yuli & Jelly Café. Accommodation available.
A hike down across a old looking bridge and across someones field (try to ignore the cows and roosters) will take you to the offshoot of that dirt track mentioned earlier. Keep going straight past all the new construction and follow the narrow dirt path round several corners until you get to the final section overlooking the surf. Along the way you will pass Kembang Kuning Ocean View Bungalow, right on the cliff top.
The way down to the beach is via some steep steps, so if you are an older person you might prefer another beach like Padang Padang to relax on. You will immediately notice the array of guest houses and warungs on the beach and the slopes close to the beach.
Bingin in March (low season) seems very quiet, although there is swell and locals having a great time riding nice 5ft waves. There are 33 to 35 guest-houses in Bingin. Almost all guest-houses have something that pretends to be a warung attached and during high season (June-September) all these will be in operation.
The general consensus is that on the beach you can get a room in a bamboo shack with fan for around 30,000rp per night, 40,000rp -50,000rp for a couple per night. Up on the cliff the nicer places have a widely variable pricing structure. The next beach to the north, Dreamland, is visible and you can walk there at low tide. In fact one guest-house owner told me its possible to walk to Uluwatu also.
The Moyo Café which is the first place you will pass heading down the stairs to the left, serves a Sprite for 5,000rp. Prices at Moyo Café include: 1 Small Bintang 12,000rp, 1 Large Bintang 20,000rp, 1 nasi goreng 10,000rp
Starting at the left side of the beach you will notice some places including Tom Tom. The 3rd or 4th place is called Juniarti Warung. As usual this place featured a beach-side warung, surfboard paraphenalia, massage beds / crash pads and proper accommodation upstairs. Juniarti has 11 crash pads and 6 upstairs rooms for 30,000rp per night. Rooms were lockable with simple bed and fan, electric light. Prices at Juniarti include: 1 Small Bintang 12,000rp, 1 Large Bintang 20,000rp, 1 nasi goreng 15,000rp
Along from Juniarti is Herawati. Wayan Saliamiatta is the owner who is a Bingin local. Herawati has 6 upstairs rooms for 50,000rp per night. Rooms were lockable with simple bed and fan, electric light. Crash pads were also available for the night for 15,000rp. I saw they had a decent downstairs toilet and shower. The small kitchen does nasi goreng for 10,000rp. A small Bintang is also 10,000rp. Wayan said that in the high-season (June-September) there are many places renting surfboards, in fact almost every place has a rack. Surfboard rental prices are : 25,000rp-40,000rp per hour, 350,000rp per week. Only small boards are usually available.
During high-season there will be at least 5 places doing ding-repair, only 3 places operating in the low-season and only when there is swell. Prices for ding-repair are : 20,000rp-30,000rp for small holes, 600,000rp-700,000rp for a snapped board.
Contact info for the Herawati: 081 23949822
Further along the beach is Sticky Boat Tours.
Basically these are all surf oriented, but you can take one of these just to splash around on the beach if that is your thing. The boat will take you straight there from Bingin, wait for about 3 hours and bring you back.
Prices for Sticky Boat Tours are:
Uluwatu 100,000rp
Nusa Lembongan $250 (ouch!!!)
Medewi 400,000rp
Nyang Nyang 100,000rp
Padang Padang 50,000rp
Balangan 250,000rp
Airports 250,000rp
A weird pricing structure and one that I am sure changes with the tides.
Sticky Boat Tours operates in high and low season and can fit up to 8 people in the boat. Practice up on your paddling skills beforehand as who knows how reliable the motor is, especially if you are going to Nusa Lemongan! Contact info for Sticky Boat Tours: 081 55887956
At the bottom of the steps to the middle part of the beach is Made’s Warung Bingin. Made is a dwarf and is very lively chatting and serving customers. Mades Warung Bingin has 6 rooms upstairs for 30,000rp per night. Also has crash pads for 15,000rp per night. Prices at Made’s Warung Bingin : Small Bintang 15,000rp, Sprite 5,000rp, nasi goreng 10,000rp.
There are better places to stay up on the cliff-top and read Cliff-top accommodation at Bingin, coming next, for more information. For people requiring resort type quality on the Bukit you can check out our hotels in Jimbaran and Nusa Dua.
There are plenty of low-budget accommodation on the beach ranging from crash pads to rooms. For those requiring something a little better here is a review of a couple of places located on the cliff-top.
Walking back up the steep steps the place on the right side you have to walk around overlooking Bingin is Kembung Kuning Ocean View Bungalow. The owner is Nyoman Tamat, who is a Balinese local. They have 6 bungalows with bed and fan. Cold water only and private bathroom with shower. Rooms go for 150,000rp and are super handy for people wanting a better level of place than the bamboo shacks down below, but with easy access to the surf. One of the best views of Bingin also.
Prices at Kembung Kuning Ocean View Bungalow: Small Bintang 15,000rp, nasi goreng 10,000rp. Contact info for Kembung Kuning Ocean View Bungalow (0361) 7434424
Continuing back up the hill, passing the new construction and getting to where the dirt road meets the track across the field, turn left and follow the marks made by car tires in the direction of the guests house / hotels on the cliff top area.
At the sign keep walking for 20 minutes (only a few minutes if you have a vehicle) and come to Secret Garden, a Japanese owned place. The staff showed me around and explained they have 3 single-storey cottages (1 room in 2 of them, 2 rooms in the other). Prices are $40 per night and $60 per night.
Rooms are private as they have their own entrance and wall. The living area is very open with Japanese style low furniture. Obviously these rooms are fan only and I asked about mosquitoes to which the staff said there were hardly any. Prices at Secret Garden: Small Bintang 12,000rp, nasi goreng 28,000rp. Very cozy and pleasant place. You might impress your new girlfriend by taking her here for a romantic candlelight overnight stay.
Further down the same road is Leggies Bungalows which is locally owned and run. 10 bungalows in all, old and new, in different shapes and sizes. All rooms have simple guest-house style layout, private bathroom with shower, cold water, fan. 6 of the bungalows have a double bed and a single bed and go for 150,000rp per night. The other 4 just have a double bed for 100,000rp. Newer rooms at the back of the property with shinier interiors and promises to build a swimming pool sometime in the near future. Prices for Leggies Bungalows: Small Bintang 12,000rp, nasi goreng 15,000rp. Garden area large and staff seem very friendly. The surf is just 3 minutes away down the hill.
The best known spot on Bingin Beach for surfers to stay and hang out at is Chocky’s Place, owned by Kenny from Australia. This is HQ for all the big surf contests at Bingin and is as closer as its gets to the surf.
