What To Do Around Padangbai/Padang Bai, Bali, Indonesia
While walking from one end of town to the other, take time to choose one of the many places to stay and eat; they're all very close together. The majority of tourists only come through Padangbai/Padang Bai to take a ferry to/from Lombok and then make their way onward to the Gilli's. I think that's a mistake. With its beautiful setting, small, un-spoilt village feel, Padangbai must qualify as one of the most attractive port towns in the world. It has excellent accommodation & food options and is well worth spending a few days here. Longer, if you use it as a base to visit sights in East Bali. Also, check out Hotel Prima Group for accommodations all over Bali.
East Bali is in the Karangasem Recency and the other big resort areas (I'm using "big" loosely here since all the resort areas are small) to park yourself (or not) are Candidasa, Amed, Tulamben and Amiapura (the capital of Karangasem) with two royal palaces.
What else to do? Diving. We passed 3-4 PADI certified diving operators eager to get your business. There is also dive site right on the premises of Hotel Puri Rai, Q Diving. Amed is an hour-drive away and you can dive the wreck of the USS Liberty, torpedoed off Lombok in 1942. It is said that both Amed and Tulamben are like Kuta was like in the 70's. This area is both a diver's and snorkeler's paradise with good reefs and a bombed Japanese patrol boat. There are schools of sharks, sweetlips, rocky walls and canyons and clear water. Tulamben has shore diving at its best with a 120m/400' shipwreck at one end and a dramatic drop-off reef and the other end. Every now and then you will see spumes created by freshwater mixing with salt.
If you dive in July/August through November, you'll get a chance to see the huge Oceanic sunfish, Mola-Mola. The southeast monsoon season creates a cold upwelling in Eastern Bali which attracts Mola-Mola and other pelagics who ascend from the depths for cleaning.
There's more. Base yourself in Padangbai/Padang Bai and do the Mount Bator or Mount Agung hikes; ferry over to Lombok or some of the smaller islands (it's 4-1/2 hours by ferry to Lombok and some ferries are tubs while others nice); visit Tenganan, a Bali Aga village (the original Bali), just 7 km/4 miles from Candidasa; one of the Raja of Karangasem's three "water palaces", only 10 km/6.2 miles from Candidasa. These were weekend getaways for the Rajah. There are also sunset, sunrise cruises, fishing, snorkeling, island exploring, rent a motorbike or car.
So sorry we only had one day here. Have to come back and not only revisit Padangbai/Padang Bai, but there is still Sumatra (although with the latest earthquakes, that may have to be tabled for a while). How about Flores Island with its Komodo Dragons, Papua and a few more days in Manang and Ubud? The planning goes on....
