I lived in Bali for 2 months. These 7 popular tourist spots were not worth the hype.

02.04.2024 - 15:27 / insider.com

In August, I left my corporate job to embark on a year of solo travel across Southeast Asia. I spent two months living in one of my bucket-list destinations — the tropical island of Bali.

Bali is a dream travel destination for many, and there's so much I loved about it — breathtaking scenery, warm and welcoming people, dozens of stunning waterfalls, and ancient Hindu temples to explore.

But there were also a few surprising things that didn't quite live up to my expectations.

And, with the Indonesian spot recently implementing a tax requiring tourists to pay to enter Bali, it's as important as ever to make sure you're getting your money's worth on future trips.

Here are seven things I experienced during my stay that I didn't quite think were worth the hype:

Like any tourist attraction in Bali, I expected the Gates of Heaven to be crowded, so I showed up just after sunrise. Apparently, I was already too late, since there was a huge line of people already waiting to see them.

But the long line wasn't the main disappointment for me. Those photos you've likely seen of people posing between the gates with a perfect reflection beneath them … well, that's just a camera trick!

There's no reflecting pool, just a local holding a mirror below your phone camera to create the effect.

If you want a nice picture for Instagram, it's worth checking out. But I left shortly after arriving and probably could have saved myself a couple of hours had I done my research.

The beaches in Bali aren't necessarily bad, and some are really nice. There's great surfing all around the island, and some areas, like Amed, have incredible snorkeling and diving right from the shore.

But for the most part, I found the beaches to be a little disappointing. Many I visited were filled with trash, which is in part due to a problem with waste management in the area.

Plus, the currents were too strong at many of the beaches, so I wasn't able to swim safely at some beautiful spots, like Kelingking Beach on nearby Nusa Penida.

Fortunately, many volunteer groups are working on cleaning Bali's beaches — and the tax requiring tourists to pay to enter the island may, in part, be used to improve the island's infrastructure and conservation efforts. Even so, there's much more work to be done.

I loved Ubud, the spiritual and cultural center of Bali. But walking anywhere in Ubud felt far more chaotic than the romantic drama "Eat, Pray, Love" depicts.

I'm used to being solicited when I travel, and I understand that many locals rely on tourism dollars to make a living, but I have never experienced the level of constant solicitation that I did in Ubud.

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