We usually don’t stay somewhere that has yet to be reviewed online. It’s too risky. While looking for a place in Bali we stumbled upon a discussion in a travel forum that mentioned a new establishment had opened up. We found the website and it looked decent. We emailed the owner and booked three bungalows for seven days (April 26 – May 2, 2009).

Kembali Beach Bungalows is on the East side of Bali (North-East corner of the island) in a little town called Amed. We were looking for a low-key place to relax and unwind. Amed and Kembali turned out to be just what we were looking for.

The staff met our tax in the evening and escorted us to our rooms. There was no need to check in or register when we first arrived. They assured us we could do that in the morning when we were rested.

The whole establishment is new and right on the beach. The bungalows, while simple, had everything we needed. AC, Shower, Toilet, King size bed, chair, lights, porch, pool, breakfast. That’s all you need in Amed. One thing to note, the bathrooms are “Bali-style”. This just means that it’s partially outdoors. What this entails at Kembali is that the bathroom is a step down from your bungalow (through a private door inside). The walls are 6-7 feet hight then it is open to the roof. Be assured it was completely private, very quaint, and bugs/animals were never an issue. Everything about the place was spotless. The bungalow was cleaned thoroughly each day. The grounds around the bungalows were also well kept and there were always staff working on keeping the surroundings as pleasant as possible.

The staff were incredibly helpful and friendly. Most staff have workable English. Some are better than others but most were able to understand what we were asking/saying. We found the security guards to be the most fluent.

The only item of complaint, and it’s more to do with Amed than Kembali, is that early in morning, usually around 6am, the road comes alive that runs just bast the back of the bungalows and came be quiet loud.

The pool and accompanying lounge chairs are all very nice.

A few tips if you’re planning to stay:

• Don’t expect a full resort. There are only 8 bungalows. It’s small, but you’ll find that’s the norm in Amed.
• The banana pancakes are fantastic for breakfast.
• Cafe Amed is just down the beach about 150-200m (take a right out of the gate). It was the best food/service we found in the area. Bobo’s 150-200m to the left is another spot we’d recommend. Avoid Cafe Garam like the plague.
• Don’t expect white sandy beaches. That is in the busy south. The beaches are volcanic sand and very calm waters.
• Snorkel or dive when you’re there. The snorkelling just in front of Kembali was superb. We also recommend the Japanese shipwreck a few beaches down.
• Rent a scooter. We rented scooters the full time we were there. Simply ask the security guard to arrange it for you. They managed to get us three scooters within 10 minutes of asking. It was only 50,000 rupiahs/day. They are fully automatic scooters, not motorbikes. We were never asked for licenses, insurance. It’s fairly casual around Amed. It was nice to be able to hop on the scooters and see the countryside. Police never hasseled us and the driving was relatively sane compared to the rest of Bali.
• It’s about 2.5-3 hours from the Airport in Denpasar. Our taxi costs were between 400,000 to 600,000 Rupiahs for 5 people.
• If you’ve rented a scooter we recommend taking a left out of Kembali and driving to the first intersection. Left takes you along the coast, right takes you up into a valley. Do both but don’t miss the valley. It is magnificent.
• Bring cash (Rupiah or Euros). Kembali doesn’t take Visa and there are no ATM’s for 20-30 minutes.
• The Amed Cafe has slow as 1991 internet access. We found the best thing to do was to scooter into Amlapura and use the slightly better cafe there.

Kembali Beach Bungalows is going to become THE place to stay in Amed as soon as the word gets out. Along the same vein, Amed seems like it might be prime to grow busier as well. Best to get there as soon as you can.

Kembali Beach Bungalow's Website.
Kembali Beach Bungalow's on Trip Advisor.