Bali's New Normal: what's going on in the Island of Gods

July 14, 2020 | 0 Comment

Bali's New Normal: what's going on in the Island of Gods

This year surprised the whole world and made everyone slow down. But life never stops completely and sooner or later we will be back to normal. Or as is common to say today – new normal. Bali is not an exception, and now we are happily witnessing its gradually reviving. After three months of lockdown and quarantine Bali is reopening, and today we want to share the latest updates on island life.

 

First of all, we were lucky to have less strict rules than in many other countries. At the quarantine peak, the majority of businesses suspended their activity and the beaches were closed from public access. Nevertheless, in remote villages, local life hasn’t changed much. Areas were closed for visitors, but locals were able to keep a normal lifestyle and even to surf their home breaks.

 

The first beaches to reopen were those in Canggu. At the end of June local authorities had removed the fences from the entrances to the beaches. Beach cafes reopened their doors for customers with strict following the rule of social distancing, of course. Even Friday parties were back, only with a limited number of visitors and just for an evening, not for the whole night as it was before the quarantine. It’s hard to describe how radiating were faces of those who finally was able to watch the sunset at the beach! One more evidence of ancient wisdom. We take as granted and underestimate such simple little joys instead of being grateful for them. What a blessing to find them again.

 

 

 

9th of July Bali government officially reopened other beaches, including Kuta and Seminyak. Now everyone can swim, surf and walk at the beach without fear to hear policeman’s whistle. Schools are reopened again as well as tourist attractions and activities that were suspended due to quarantine. But the airport still runs very slow, and it’s too early to tell that everything got back on track.

 

So here is a brief list of “New Normal” in Bali:

 

  • Beaches are open with the portable sink near the entrance so every visitor can wash hands with soap.

 

  • Shopping malls and food stores work as usual but with the requirement to wear a facemask and do a body temperature check on the entrance.

 

  • Ferry transport and domestic flights are allowed but arrivals have to show a negative statement of COVID-19 test results that used the rapid test method.

 

  • Lineups are a little bit less crowded in comparison to the time when Bali was full of tourists, but surprisingly not as much as we might assume.

 

  • There are no traffic jams anymore!

 

  • And the ocean in Kuta Beach is clean and bright blue as never before (or at least not in the last decade)!

 

  • Foreigners who decided to stay in Bali and cannot or don’t want to go back to their country are allowed to extend their visas.

 

  • As for our surf camp, we are happy to get back to the ocean and run surf lessons again. We prepared a special educational summer surf camp for kids. If you’re in Bali with kids, check details here.

 

When can tourists come to Bali again?

 

 

You might be wondering when Bali will reopen doors? As we mentioned, international flights are rare, and tourists are not allowed to come to Indonesia so far. The government announced the opening of borders on September 11th. So we hope for the best and look forward to the guests!

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