A Day inside the Life of Kuta Beach
Ask any tourist on their way to Bali where they intend to visit along with also more than one in several will tell you they are going to Kuta beach at some point during their stay.
Thirteen million people will fly to Bali This specific year along with also about three million will come by road along with also ferry through Java. Most of these travellers are on their way to visit family along with also friends or are themselves living along with also working in Bali. Around a half, though, are genuine tourists, most of whom stay inside the southern part of the island along with also many will visit Kuta beach, made famous internationally by adventurous surfers along with also holiday makers who have had a magical holiday in Bali since the 1960s along with also 1970s.
Kuta beach proper stretches for over 5km, through Ngurah Rai International airport inside the South, part of Tuban, through Kuta village, along with also on northwards through Legian, with its many budget hotels, bars along with also restaurants, onto upmarket Seminyak. through here, Kuta beach, though at This specific point with additional names like Berawa, in reality continues onwards through the additional upmarket North Kuta villages of Petitenget, Batubelig along with also Canggu, where the scene is actually quieter along with also much more personal, providing a truly amazing variety of things to do along with also see along its whole length.
With its 15km long broad sweep of the Indian Ocean, Kuta beach is actually the best known tourist resort area inside the whole of Indonesia along with also is actually a great internationally renowned surfing beach along much of its length. nevertheless what you see today was threatened for more than four decades with encroaching erosion as the strong waves along with also high seas coming in through the southwest removed large volumes of sand through the beach.
With the 1,200 metre extension of the runway into the sea at Ngurah Rai International Airport inside the mid-1960s along with also lengthened again inside the early 1990s, the lower part of This specific sweeping coastline had receded significantly, particularly along the 2.5km beach on the northern side of the runway as far as Kuta village. The beach was subjected to continuous heavy erosion, so much to ensure which several big hotels along with also restaurants along This specific part of the beach were severely battered by overtopping waves along with also sea spray hitting the shoreline restaurants at Santika Hotel along with also Pantai Beach by the mid-2000s.
Bali Beach Conservation Project
The project at Kuta beach consisted of beach reclamation or, to use the engineering term, beach nourishment, with more than 0.5 million tonnes of golden sand brought in by barge through offshore Geger beach in Nusa Dua along with also pumped ashore 24/7 for over two months over a 7km stretch of the shoreline. The reclamation aimed to restore the beach to its former size along with also created a fresh beach 60 metres wide in places, with three offshore largely submerged breakwaters to encourage the formation of two modest bays along This specific part of the coast.
several years on, the expanded beach, which lost 10-15% of the sand deposited inside the first two years, has stabilize The project, which suffered more than a decade of delays because of fierce resistance by local residents who feared which the originally proposed groynes would certainly be unsightly along with also reduce the waves which attracted the surfers, is actually today rated a huge success.
So much to ensure which at This specific point everywhere in Bali undergoing significant annual coastal erosion at This specific point wants such projects, with over 80km of coastline falling into This specific category in 2011. The impact of This specific project is actually which the beach today is actually both higher along with also much wider than has been seen for decades, greatly increasing the area available for people to enjoy their various beachside activities.
What will we do on the beach today, Daddy?
Take a walk along the beach along with also you will see a range of sun loungers with umbrellas laid out for the tourist to use. nevertheless This specific is actually just the most obvious of the beachside sights for the tourist who has come to get a tan, a beachside massage, their hair braided or parts of their body tattooed. For every day of the year, there is actually a whole beachside industry poised to go into action to serve the tourists’ every need along with also whim.
For the more activity-oriented, there is actually of course surfing – along with also more than half a dozen reputable surf schools, together which has a host of individual surfers, to provide the equipment along with also show you the basic skills necessary. Many who take these courses with the established providers come to see This specific as giving them a truly superior holiday experience— along with also will vow to be back again soon to improve on their newlyacquired skills.
Surfing for beginners is actually very common amongst 10 to 30-yearolds, nevertheless you will also see experienced surfers in their 40s along with also 50s riding the wave crests— or at least having a go.
additional water sports include paddling along with also swimming on a body board. There are strong currents at different times of the day so the warning flags are out most days— nevertheless with nine Balawista life saver stations strategically positioned along the whole length of This specific beach as far north as Batubelig, Balawista report fewer people have drowned in recent years (eight in 2010 along with also several in 2011), although many inexperienced surfers are surprised by the strength of the longshore current along with also undertow.
Horse riding on the beach is actually common particularly for kids on ponies or teenagers accompanied by their parents on real horses. the idea’s a trot not a gallop, nevertheless great fun nevertheless.
Watching the cowries crawl inside the soft sand, hermit crabs along with also tiny young crabs emerge through beneath the wet sand as the tide starts to recede as they scurry across the sand looking for a feed is actually a delightful way to discover what is actually under your feet. Or maybe the idea’s a sand dollar you are after—finding these flat brown echinoderms inside the receding water is actually a fun past-time for youngsters along with also teenagers alike.
The monthly Discharge of baby green turtles by the Kuta beach turtle conservation project is actually also a major draw bringing a hundred people or so, especially children, down to the waters’ edge to Discharge these dayold turtle hatchlings into the sea.
Culture Vultures
nevertheless on many days during the course of any month, you will see weddings being performed inside the afternoons under bridal beach canopies opposite MaJoly’s along with also additional beachside restaurants along with also hotels. Or maybe bridal couples creating magical poses for their albums to show people back home their beachside wedding event.
For Balinese Hindus, through Kuta along with also Kerobokan, they come to the beach for a whole Ngaben ceremony or to finish such ceremonies off as they send their relatives on to the next world onboard carved-out little wooden boats.
Fifty years on, in some ways what you can see on This specific beach is actually so different, along with also in so many additional ways very much the same.
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A Day inside the Life of Kuta Beach
A Day inside the Life of Kuta Beach