Most Popular Things To Do At Kuta Beach, Bali

Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia is undeniably one of the most visited beaches in the world.  In fact, a large number of tourists from all different continents choose to come to this long sandy beach for fun. Why is that, you ask? How come many people are willing to travel half a world away to Kuta? Isn't it just a beach among so many other beautiful beaches in the world? Well, I agree that it's just a beach and if you live in a coastal area, you may find 1 too in your neighborhood! However, this beach is not an ordinary one. Not only is it well known for its long sandy beach, but this is also a vibrant beach with cool activities you can do at almost any time of the day.

Watch sunset before the night shopping 

 Watching sunset on beach? Does it sound so ordinary? It is ordinary, but this beach is located on Bali's most crowded and popular street, Kuta Square, where there are a very high concentration of bars, restaurants and shopping spots. Although this beach can be crowded during sunset, what can be a better idea than spending some time on the beach before enjoying your lively night in Kuta Square?  None! Furthermore, the waves are relatively small, which is safe for kids to play with the water.

Get tanned by Bali's sun

Many people want to look darker after coming back from a tropical land. This tropical beach is the perfect place for that. As you enter the area, you will see a mass of sunbathers on their bikinis or shorts lazily laying their body under the sun, whenever it is during daytime. Normally 20 or 30 minutes sunbathing under a midday sun is enough to make your skin more 'colored', but I also noticed some tourists spend hours sunbathing that not only make them look darker, but red! Haha! Don't forget to apply sunscreen to your skin to avoid sun rash and it's best to get yourself tanned while enjoying the famous local 'Bintang' beer, which tastes like Dutch Heineken!

Learn to surf

Since the time before tourism era in Bali, Kuta Beach has been known for an ideal place for surfing, especially for beginners. Although located in the southern part of Bali, the beach isn't facing southward to the great Indian Ocean, but Bali strait, hence the waves are relatively smaller than other southern beaches like Nusa Dua.  Surfboards can be rented at the beach for 30,000 IDR (2.2 USD). If you are a beginner and don't have a friend who is a surfer pro and can teach you how to surf, you and 2 other friends can take a 2.5-hour surfing lesson at Pro Surf School, located right at Kuta Beach for 680,000 IDR (48.7 USD).   

Release baby turtles

If you travel to Kuta during Bali's dry season between April and September, make sure you don't miss this activity of releasing baby turtles back into the sea (kids love it!). There is a turtle conservatory at the beach (near Hard Rock Cafe)where they save turtle eggs from being eaten by seagulls or other predators  by taking them from beaches is Bali and bringing the eggs to the conservatory to be hatched and finally released back to the sea. Depending on the number of hatchlings, the release is held almost everyday at around 4.30pm.

You can also do most of those activities in the other 2 beaches in Kuta district (Legian and Seminyak), which are less crowded than Kuta beach. There are of course other activities like jogging, yoga and volleyball you can do at Kuta beach. This beach is never lack of visitors all year long and is truly the beach for everyone, including the hippies!     

KAMPOENG KIDZ, MORE THAN JUST A SCHOOL HOLIDAY

Are you kind of undecided where you will take your kids for this coming school holiday? Do you want to make your children experience something that is more than just an ordinary holiday? Take your children for outbound activities at KampoengKidz (Village Kids) in Batu, East Java, Indonesia.

This is a place where a high school, a dorm, an outbound area and a guest house are united.

Good morning, Indonesia

Talking about KampoengKidz, we must begin from a senior high school named SMA SelamatPagi Indonesia (the high school of “Good Morning Indonesia”, also known as SPI school). 

School of Good Morning Indonesia (SPI)

 SMA SelamatPagi Indonesia,built in 2007, is a private boarding school whereits students are multiethnic from all different places across Indonesia. This is the school in Indonesia where you can find the most diverse cultures and religions among its students.

Another thing that contributes to the school’s uniqueness is all of its students are orphans from low-income families. The school fee, together with the dorm and cost living is completely free of charge.

If everything is free for the students, then you might wonder how the school finance its students. It’s not a public school so the fund does not come from the government.Sometimes it comes from some donators, but the donation alone will not support its day-to-day operational costs. Teachers must be compensated, textbooks need to be bought from somewhere, building and assets need maintenance and especially these students must eat nutritious meals three times a day. 

First of all, everything needs to be as self-powered as possible, meaning students need to do things to support themselves. They rely on one another to live. Some students cook and prepare meals, some other do the cleaning, gardening etc.

Students also take advantage of the school’s vast area by plant crops and raise cattle to be consumed and sold. Amazingly these kids are also able to produce their own products of food and souvenirs.

KampoengKidz establishment

Also, in response to this need, in 2010 in its seven-hectare land the school founder opened an outbound field for children named Kampoeng Kids. Basically, it provides outbound services and trainings for children from as young as pre-school age (2 to5 years old) to Junior High teenagers.

Entrepreneurship and adventure 

There are two program categories: entrepreneurship and adventure.  The first is to introduce entrepreneurship to its participants. They are taught how to farm and raise cattle in the school farm.The second program is more fun and adventurous, to raise their bravery and sense of togetherness.

Outbound activity at KampoengKidz

KampoengKidz outbound activities are available only on weekends and public or school long holidays, where students do not go to school.The entrance ticket is IDR 15,000 (around USD 1.1) per person (for adult and children of the age of three and above). Your children may choose what kinds of activity they are interested and for each activity it costs between IDR 10,000 (around USD 0.8) to IDR 25,000 (around USD 2) per child.

KampoengKidz is well-known among Indonesian schools. After the final test season or right before school long holiday,many schoolssend their students here for some outbound programs. Special packages are available for a large group of school students.

Amazingly, KampoengKidz does not seem to hire too many outsiders. Most of its human resources seem to be powered by the high school students themselves. The SPI students are deeply involved in welcoming, organizing, training, teaching and everything else related to the outbound including its management and administration.

Stay in the guest house

There are many kinds of outbound activity and your children may have some activities for a day and some other programs on the following day(s)and interestingly you and your children can choose to stay in KampoengKidz because they actually have their own guest house where visitors can stay. (IDR 650,000/around USD 49 per night for a four-bed room and IDR 1,200,000/around USD 90 per night for an eight-bed room)

There are many hotels around the area and for sure this guest house is not as fancy as a hotel, but in here your children will experience things that they willnot get from a hotel stay. It is unclear if the motel used to be a student dorm, but staying there feels like staying in a dorm. Rooms, hallways, bathrooms and everything else look like those of a dormitory.

Since the guest house is a part of KampoengKidz, everything related to visitor service is also done by its students. You and your children will witness their sincerity and professionalism through their services. You will see how these 15 to 19-year-old high school teenagers greet you and family and do the cooking for your breakfast. Your children will also see how their multiethnic brothers and sisters live and work harmoniously in here and this will at least make them realize if their brothers and sisters can be so professional, they can do it too at home!

Pohon Inn Hotel, Batu, Indonesia: Green Stay Revealed

If you and your family happen to be sleeping inside a tree house, then you can imagine how big the tree is. Tree houses do exist and it can actually be found in some places on earth. However, there is a different kind of tree house in Java’s mountainous cool city of Batu, Indonesia, named Pohon Inn. Unlike other tree houses, this one looks really old. In contrast with its appearance,in here right after you step your foot into its lobby, you will be greeted by some front desk officers, to secure your convenience in your tree stay.

Pohon Inn from a distance

Wait, we just talked about a tree house, right? Not exactly, PohonInn is a tree-like hotel and the word pohon, whichis“tree” in English,means this hotel tries to make your stay as green as possible. This is what make this hotel sospecial aseverything in this hotel was made as natural as possible.

When you see the hotel from far distance, it looks like a giant topless tree trunk and this part of the tree seems to be a few hundred years old as it has holes that can confirm its age.  Nevertheless as you get closer, this tree trunk is actually a three-star hotel with many windows to let the cool and natural mountain wind breezecirculate inside the hotel!

Pohon Inn is located right between two of Batu’smajor attractions,Batu Secret Zoo and MuseumSatwa (Fauna Museum), which are parts of JatimPark 2 (East Java Park 2). Its location makes it the best choice of hotel when visitingJatim Park 2. Go carless! Leave your car in the hotel and walk. It is a good way to go green and stay healthy, isn’t it?

Green interior

In order to make you close to nature as possible, besides its natural exterior, the hotel’s interior was brilliantly designed in such a way that wherever you are in most parts of the hotel, you can always see nature. Even in the hotel’s bedrooms, the bed sheets are curtains are green, which resemble tree leaves. 

Get up and go to the balcony

 

There is nothing better to do in the morning than going to your room’s balcony to view the city. Start your day with green inspiration from the very best of Batu's nature!  

Jungle-Themed Restaurant 

Have your meal at the hotel’s restaurant of Jungle Fast Food while being watched by tigers! Like its name, everything inside is full of real vegetation (not the fake one), and you know what? They have something hidden in their mind. These tigers do not target you as their meal, but your meal is their actual target!

Green sleep 

Weekday rates                                        Superior   : IDR 485,000 (around USD 37) Deluxe      : IDR 635,000 (around USD 48) Executive : IDR 1,100,000 (around USD 83)

Weekend and high season rates Superior     : IDR 990,000 (around USD 75) Deluxe        : IDR 1,210,000 (around USD 91) Executive   : IDR 1,595,000 (around USD 120)

As written above, there are three types of rooms there: superior, deluxe and executive. Rates for weekends and high seasons are higher from weekday rates.Besides due to the high number of visitors,it is also because on those days paying for the hotel room, which normally only includes breakfast vouchers for two like on weekdays, also includes a couple of tickets to Jatim Park 2 and dinner vouchers.So when you plan to stay in Pohon Inn on weekends and during high seasons like Christmas and especially the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr that is closing in, make sure you don’t buy Jatim Park 2 ticket from the park’s ticket counter.

Pohon Inn’s deluxe rooms offer something cool. Imagine sleeping at night with tigers, lions, deer and other wild animals around. When you stay in a deluxe room, you will get that kind of sensation as the room is facing Batu Secret Zoo and as a result you can see some animals in the zoo and especially in the night you can hear their sound too. What a green sleep!

Experience The Wonders Of Modern Zoo In Batu, Indonesia

It was more than 4,000 years ago when Noah built an arc to escape from the Great Flood. He collected all types of fish, birds and land animals he could find and placed them inside the arc. The flood indeed happened and covered all lands and mountains on earth. When the flood subsided, the arc eventually landed in a zoo located in 'Batu', a small town in the  high plateau of Mount Panderman in the eastern part of Java island in Indonesia, that lies around 1,000 meters above sea level!

Batu Secret Zoo

Welcome to Batu Secret Zoo and be the witness of Noah’s collection of animals. Experience living in the Noah’s era where all kinds of animals have just been released from the arc! Haha..! It may sound exaggerated, but that’s the theme of the zoo as you will find the Noah’s arc in the location. 

These exotic animals must come from far-away lands to this gorgeous site for one main reason: to let us witness world’s animal variant and make us realize how important it is to protect them, just like what Noah did thousands of years ago.     

Noah’s arc

Together with museum satwa (fauna museum), Batu Secret Zoo is a part of Jatim Park 2. In here you may see various animals from all the five continents of the earth living in the man-made environment that was made to be similar to their natural habitat.Batu’s cool tropical climate, and year-round sunshine have made the zoo ideal homes for the animals.It has become one of the most livable man-made animal sanctuaries on the planet.

The animals are classified into several different categories where each category takes place in separate places along the exploration route. The zoo provides separate habitats for reptiles, bats and fish in aquariums (Batu Secret Zoo A area), the ungulates such as wildebeests and zebras (savannah area),small animals like rabbits (KampungAfrika or African village area), baby elephants (elephant village area), tiger (Tiger Land area) and also aseperate area forpoultries, turtles and tortoises, primates as well as hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

Interacting with a tiger

Do something unforgettable and interact with some tigers and snakes. If you have the nerve, you may want to try to love wild animals by touching a tiger or a snake! Wait.., there is no reason for panicking as so far not a single straight-walking primates has been hurt or eaten by them! They are tame and have been domesticated, although you need to interact with extra caution as no matter what, they still have the instinct to make you their prey!

Snake interaction

Why is it called a secret zoo? The reason is when exploring the14-hectare land area of Batu secret zoo there are always mysterious funs and surprises ahead that are waiting to be revealed and that visitors just can not stop wondering what lie ahead. It can take roughly three hours to explore the whole area by foot or perhaps shorter than that if you rent an electric bike for IDR 105,000 (USD 8)

Inside Batu Secret Zoo there is Fantasy Land that mainly provides swimming pool and water games. Also there is also an activity so-called river adventure where youcan see some orangutans living in their habitat.

After touring the zoo, continue your exotic journey to the “fauna museum”. In here you will admire itsbeautiful replica collections of some animal skeletons including those of the butterflies and dinosaurs.

Only in Batu

Its entrance ticket is IDR 75000 (around USD 5.65) from Monday to Thursday and IDR 105,000 (around USD 8) from Friday to Sunday. Please be noted that during peak seasons like public and school holidays weekend rates apply.

This model of zoo is called modern zoo, which is the only one in Indonesia and that makes Batu Secret Zoo truly worth visiting. Especially if you visit East Java, this is a must visit spot for you and your family as it is just 2 to 3-hour drive from the province’s capital city of Surabaya and about the same hours from the famous Mount Bromo. It is only about 30-minute drive from Malang city, the second largest city in East Java. Make sure your East Java visit a memorable experience.