Candidasa (also spelled as two words - Candi Dasa) is one of those surprising 'unknown' destinations around Bali. It doesn't figure large in most guidebooks, but it does have a surprising number of small resorts and an even more surprising number of great restaurants. More importantly, for me, it feels more like the 'real' Bali, with lots of locally owned businesses with local employees (the majority of workers in South Bali tourist businesses are from elsewhere in Indonesia) and Balinese people going about their daily life, more or less ignoring the few tourists. In the early morning, you can see the little traditional fishing boats land on the small boat ramp near the lake, where the wives of the fishermen take the catch up to the sidewalk for sale. The one significant drawback to Candidasa - for some at least - is that there's no beach to speak of. The coast here is very rocky rather than sandy, so while many of the resorts have an ocean view, they don't have a sandy beach to lie on. For me, the other, positive, aspects of Candidasa far outweigh this one shortcoming.
Map of Candidasa
Candidasa lies along the coast on a south-facing beach area near the very eastern tip of Bali. The main road circling the island runs through the center of town, before making a sharp turn inland to head up to Amlapura. Not far from where the road turns is a small lake which lies between the road and the ocean, created by trapping water running off the mountain on the other side of the highway. There is a temple on the side of the mountain as well. The area's hotels, resorts and restaurants are all located along this main road or on some small side-streets leading off it towards the seafront.
Candidasa makes a great base for exploring the sights of east Bali, which include the 'mother temple' at Besakih, the Goa Lawa 'bat cave' temple, and the water palaces at Tirta Gangga and Ujung. For scuba divers, the popular Tulamben Bay dive sites are just an hour or so drive away, while most boats for the offshore sites around Nusa Penida leave from Padang Bai just 15 minutes drive away. There are several dive shops in Candidasa as well.
While Candidasa is small - its undeveloped nature makes it very attractive - one drawback is the lack of banks. There's only one with an ATM in town, and it does not take international bank cards. There are a couple of money exchanges in town, so as long as you have cash of some sort you can get local currency. As in other parts of Bali, credit cards aren't accepted in most small shops and restaurants.
The only way to get to Candidasa is by car. From the airport, a regular taxi will cost you around 300,000 Rupiah. You can check with your hotel or resort to see if they offer transfers at a reasonable rate (some will even include a transfer in their packages). Traffic in East Bali is light enough that you may wish to consider a rental car to get there and get around to the sights of the area.
Candidasa has a nice range of hotels and resorts on offer. There are no large hotels, with most places having just a dozen rooms or less. Most of the offerings are in the mid-range, with almost nothing in the higher end. The best place I could find was Villa Sasoon. I found the Alam Asmara Dive Resort a very comfortable and centrally located base for my stay, although the "Dive Resort" part of the name is a bit misleading.
Many of the restaurants around Candidasa offer free Internet, at least outside of the main dining hours. There are one or two shops around town with computers if you didn't bring your laptop or other device. Expect to pay around 15,000 Rupiah an hour. Some hotels seem to have Internet, but not all of them, and some don't have wi-fi. Candidasa is a good place to go 'offline' for a few days.
One of the most surprising things for me on my first visit to Candidasa was the large number of restaurant choices I had outside of my hotel. The main road running through town is lined with plenty of dining options, many with comfortable lounges for a drink as well. The biggest concentration is around the lake, where there are two or three places off the path around the lake as well as on the main road.
I have one big quibble about Alam Asmara Dive Resort to get out of the way right off the bat: this isn't a dive resort. They don't have a dive boat or even a dive shop. It seemed I may have been the only diver staying there. This wasn't a huge deal for me, as I already had dives planned with another dive shop for my stay, but it does seem like a significant misrepresentation of what to expect at Alam Asmara.
In my exploration of Candidasa one afternoon, I came across Villa Sasoon on a small street off the main road and got a tour of one two bedroom villa from the front desk manager. It was quite an impressive place. The entry was flanked by a large dining table and even larger kitchen. A few steps down from the entry is a large living area with several comfortable chairs, a sofa and a massive coffee table made from a large slab of wood.
