This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel. We share our insider knowledge of tips, tricks and important things to look out for in Padangbai.
Padang Bai is a small port town on the east coast on the Indonesian island of Bali. Most people transit through here on their way to the Gili Islands and Lombok on either a fast boat or a slow boat (the fast boat is more popular).
The harbour-front street has multiple amenities all within a one-minute walking distance from each other, including a Padang Bai hostel, which is located halfway along the main harbour strip. With this, you will find multiple restaurants selling a mixture of local and Western-type foods. They have an ATM along the main street as well as a cash exchange, but don't rely on being able to get money here, as often the machine will be out of order.
There are multiple tourist information centres and travel agencies that can organize boats and buses for you to go wherever you need to go. You will also find centres operate snorkeling and dive tours from here also, although most people organize these activities and go from the Gili Islands.
While Padang Bai is a quaint place with not much to do, you will find a place to stop over if you want to save some money and take the local buses instead of doing the tourist agency packages that get you all the way over to Lombok or the Gili Islands on the bus and boat. Granted, there isn't a great deal to do here, so you wouldn't be missing too much if you skipped staying at Padang Bai.
Written by local enthusiast for Padangbai hostels
Globetrotter