Pemuteran

Copied shamelessly from the Lonely Planet Indonesia Book, which is actually a good buy if you want to read up on Indonesia.

North Bali
Although one-sixth of the island’s population lives in North Bali, this vast region, centred on Singaraja and the Buleleng regency, is overlooked by many visitors who stay trapped in the South Bali–Ubud axis. And that’s ironic because the north was once the gateway to Bali, with Dutch steamers bringing the island’s first visitors to the port in Singaraja.

Today, tourism in the north is focused on Lovina, the mellow beach town with cheap hotels and even cheaper sunset beer specials. To the west, Pemuteran charms all who discover the crescent of appealing resorts around a cute little bay. Diving is big here and all along the north coast.

Getting to North Bali for once lives up to the cliché: it’s half the fun. Routes follow the thinly populated coastlines east and west, or you can go up and over the central mountains by any number of routes, marvelling at crater lakes and maybe stopping for a misty trek on the way.

Pemuteran
Pemuteran offers the other side of Bali, unspoiled by mass tourism. Still this area has many things to offer and you can choose from a wide selection of places to stay. You will find low budget homestays, but also luxury resorts and private villas. It’s as far as you can get from all the hustle and bustle in the south of the island. Located north-west of Bali, this village is probably the least visited. Travelers who do come here often stay for just a day to do one thing: scuba diving.

But after staying in this quiet village for a couple of nights, you will realise it is really relaxing place, which isn’t often included in the itinerary of many travellers (lucky for us).

This pretty unknown village is about a 1 hour drive from Lovina. If you are coming from this direction and you have almost arrived you’ll be greeted with stunning green mountain slopes which dominate the village.