Pantai Songean, Bali (Indonesia).

Bali: they found "my" beach

  Indonesia: Bali - July 2008

Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text: 


This is the perfect beach. A beautiful cove of real black sand, discovered in July 2008, in Bali. I couldn't even show it to you. That day, my camera had run out of batteries. Here it is.

Pantai Songean. Bali, Indonesia.
Pantai Songean. Bali, Indonesia.

Many thanks to Gregory Batardon for bringing me these images (I invite you to discover his beautiful photographs on his gallery, by clicking on the link).

He and my sister followed in my footsteps last July, combining their stay in Sulawesi with a short trip to Bali. Once they landed in Amed, on the northeast coast, they had to drive twice to find "my" beach. They didn't think they would have to drive so long... But they found it!

Pantai Songean, Bali (Indonesia).

The beach in question is Pantai Songean, not "Soan" or "Sohang" as I had written at the time, retranscribing approximately the name I had been given. Pantai Songean is located in the south of Amed, quite far, therefore, well beyond Aas, well after the iron lighthouse, somewhere between Seraya and Ujung, on the splendid small coastal road where it is so good to ride a scooter, hair in the wind, from one creek to another.

If one day you go there, fork to the left when you come to a yellow bridge that is reminiscent of the Kwai River, then follow at a slow speed the bad road full of holes that leads to the village. Say hello to the children, do not crush the chickens, avoid the goats, and stop at a flight of steps on your right. It's here.

Pantai Songean

🙂

  Indonesia: Bali - July 2008

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  1. Oh, no....there, you have to stop talking about the quiet and paradisiacal little corners because....with the success of your blog, this beautiful beach will be invaded.... 😛

  2. @Manta: Ah, I think you would like it. My sister Hélène, above, loved it a lot.
    🙄

    @ Helen: Well, don't worry. My blog doesn't have the notoriety of Google Earth. And since GE doesn't know the place, Songean will rest easy.
    🙂

    @Max: I love black sand. I think it looks great, especially on this beach, where there are no stones in it. As for your ideal beach, it's one of those I know well... From Rennes, you can get there very quickly.
    Finally, to get to "my" Balinese beach, the directions I give are already almost too clear... There aren't fifteen coastal roads there. I'm not going to give the GPS coordinates either! Besides, I'm glad Google Earth doesn't know it.
    😉

  3. Hello Corinne,

    what a kick in the pants to see such beautiful images again 😥
    and at the same time what a joy! 🙂

    It's true how beautiful "your beach" is! what a contrast in color 😯

    Fortunately, there are still places like this, unknown to travel sites and GEs 😈 and what's more, reserved for a select few 😉

  4. Ok Corinne, this will remain a mystery to us armchair travellers. Between Seraya and Ujung it's still 88 km. So we'll have to go there. Maybe next year after a cruise to the Komodo Islands. I'll have to take some extra time to make a few explosions in Bali. But not on a motorcycle!

    Between St. Coulomb and St. Rémy ~400 Km, I'd like to move west....

  5. @@ lain: Sometimes all you have to do is wander around and you'll come across some "unknown" places, whether at the end of the world or close to home...
    😉

    @Max: Oh, you know, I ride at very low speed on those "motobikes" you rent in Asia (which are actually more like scooters, I'm not a biker at all!), and then I often take breaks en route (to find batteries that don't work, to ask for directions, to buy a bottle of water)... Anyway, the said beach is surely only a few kilometers south of Amed. It must have taken me about an hour or two to get there from Lipah, taking my time.
    As for Saint-Coulomb, I was there just this weekend (for once, summer felt like summer in Brittany)... hey, hey!
    8)

  6. lol,

    we're not in the same league when it comes to proximity to the sea and beaches between Rennes and Strasbourg 😉

  7. Just a small detail. For me an ideal beach should not be flat, but have a very small slope that allows to see the sea while lying down. I was recently at the beach of St. Lunaire, which from the zodiac from the open sea looks beautiful, but finally it's just a huge (I was there at low tide!) space of grey sand all flat and hard... 🙁

  8. @@ lain: Ah... sure. Sorry!!!
    😆

    @Max: There are thousands of "ideal" beaches, I suppose. Songean Beach isn't flat in my memory, but gently sloping, and it's surrounded by small cliffs of volcanic rock, the whole thing is of the most beautiful effect when you arrive from above, with the corolla of small white fishing boats lined up facing the sea. I know lots of other "ideal" beaches that don't look anything like this one, and that I love too, whether they're flat or not, in Brittany, the Basque Country, Asia or elsewhere, with blond, white or black sand...
    🙄

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