Badung
The Center of Tourism
Kuta
(From a Small Fishing
Village To an International City)
Kuta is about 2
Km from International Ngurah Rai Airport,
and at the beginning Kuta was a small
fishing village and a trade harbor for
the kingdoms in Bali in the XIX century.
But now it has changed to become an International
city. Kuta beach is spread along 3, 87
km and has been known Internationally
because of its sandy beaches, beautiful
sunsets, and waves for surfing. The other
facilities that can be found are hotels,
restaurants, cafés, malls / plazas,
beach rescuers and the Safety guards of
Kuta village.
Many
visitors come to Kuta for surfing. Some
hotels in the Kuta area are Hard Rock
and Mercure, providing schools to teach
surfing. Europeans and Australian people
are tend to do surfing, but Asians and
local people are tend to do the bogy board.
According to Bali Travel News observation
at Kuta beaches there is approximately
110 service providers and traders. They
provide various services such as massage,
tattoo, surfing equipment, manicure, kites,
paintings, watches, fruits, foods, textiles,
cigarettes, shell sandals, sculpts, plaited
mats (tikar), silver, sunglasses, and
umbrellas.
A massage service provider said, recently
the number of visitor in Kuta is increasing.
It can be proved from the number of visitors
who use these services. But she didn’t
want to explain how much her profit is.”
I can pay the retribution to Kuta village
as a beach organizer Rp.50. 000 per month
and it also enough for my household too”
she said.
Kuta offers many attractions. On full
moon you can see the turtles laying eggs
at the beach, and also eggs hatched. Every
week you can enjoy the process to let
free tukik (small turtles) into the sea.
Commonly, tourists will do it. “They
are very interested; sometimes they will
scramble to do it”. Said I Gusti
Ngurah Tresna, the head of Safety at Kuta
Beach involving 33 personnel.
Turtle conservation at Kuta Beach has
received The Gibbon Foundations Environmental
Award 2003. “These turtles automatically
come to the beach starting from 2-3 turtles,
day after day its amount is increasing.
Perhaps they aren’t afraid to come
in Kuta”, he said.
The location of Kuta Beach is close to
the Legian and Seminyak Beaches. Both
have same characteristic like good places
for surfing. At Legian Beach there is
a Surfing School, establish in October
1999. The school is situated at Jalan
Arjuna, Northern Legian. It provides three
classification classes. Beginner, continued
and the last is the expert class. Classes
contain about 17 students, and about US$39
for 2,5 hours learning. Most of students
come from Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
But they also come from Jakarta, Surabaya
and Bali. The capable student will be
trained at Canggu Beach, in Northern Kuta.
At the northern part of Kuta Beach you
can find Petitenget Beach, it is near
to Seminyak Beach about 12 Km from Denpasar.
There is also Petitenget Temple, hotels,
restaurants, and art shops. “Local
people tend to visit the beach on holiday
or when a religious ceremony is held like
Banyupinaruh, Galungan, Ngembak Nyepi,
and they also do homage at Petitenget
Temple” said the priest of Petitenget
Temple.
Brawa Beach is situated at Banjar Brawa,
Tibubeneng, Kuta, about 11 Km from Denpasar.
It is an interesting place for surfing,
meditation, and riding. Here you can see
the daily life of traditional fishermen,
who catch fish on their traditional ships.
Kedonganan Beach is located to the south
of Kuta Beach and 3 Km from Ngurah Rai
International Airport; it is a fishermen’s
village and also the traditional fish
tender. Along the coast there is a café,
which offer many kinds of delicious seafood.
Badung Regency also has Nusa Dua and Tanjung
Benoa Beach. Nusa Dua Beach is located
in BTDC (Bali Tourism Development Corporation)
area, 35 Km from Denpasar and 10 Km from
Ngurah Rai International Airport. Both
of them have white sandy beaches, and
good for sailing by using traditional
boats and also for relaxing. In the morning
you can see the sun rise. In this tourism
area you will find a large parking area;
accommodation star hotels, shopping centers,
restaurants, entertainment, and place
to rent traditional boats.
(BTN/015)
