Negara travel guide

Negara, Indonesia

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Negara

Introduction

Negara is an administrative district and the administrative capital of the Jembrana Regency in Bali, Indonesia. It is a government and administrative centre rather than a resort town, so expect a working Balinese town rather than a tourist strip.

Before you go

This is the least visited part of Bali, so plan for quiet roads and few fellow travellers rather than a busy tourist scene. Most of the land is forest and highland within West Bali National Park and the surrounding protected areas, while the flatter south is fertile rice-growing country. Villages here are known for clean air, helped by the flowering shrubs that almost hide the neat little houses, and most people make their living from fishing, rice paddies and plantations of coconut, coffee, cloves and vanilla. The main southern coast road, which links Denpasar with the seaport of Gilimanuk and the crossing to Java, runs alongside volcanic black sand beaches.

Jembrana has long been somewhat isolated and largely unaffected by events elsewhere on the island, so expect a strong local character rather than a resort atmosphere. Because of settlement by Bugis people from Sulawesi, Islam has a stronger presence here than anywhere else in Bali, and you will notice many mosques. Dress and behave accordingly in villages, and treat this as a place to move through respectfully rather than a conventional holiday strip.

Getting there

Negara sits on the main coastal road between Denpasar, roughly 75 km to the east, and Gilimanuk, about 25 km to the west. All buses running from Denpasar to Gilimanuk pass through Negara, so you can reach the town by bus from either direction along this route.

Expect the road to be busy and in a very bad state, with commercial traffic moving to and from Java. Allow extra time for your journey.

Getting around

Most visitors to this part of Bali get around with their own transport, and that pattern holds in Negara. Many arrive with a rental car, either self-driven or with a driver, arranged from Bali's more popular tourist areas, which gives you the flexibility to reach the town and the surrounding coastal and inland spots on your own schedule. If you are basing yourself in Negara town rather than just passing through, motorbikes may be available for rental locally — a practical option for short local trips, provided you are comfortable riding and hold the appropriate licence and insurance. Do not assume that app-based ride-hailing or metered taxis will be readily available, and plan around the rental car and motorbike options instead. There is no rail, metro or tram network serving Negara.

Public transport here means intercity buses running along the main coastal road: all buses travelling between Denpasar and Gilimanuk pass through Negara, making the bus a viable way to arrive in or leave town and to connect onward toward either Denpasar or the ferry port at Gilimanuk. There is no local bus network within the town itself, so treat buses as a means of covering longer distances along the coast rather than getting around locally. Walking works for short distances in town, but the main coastal road is often very busy and in a very bad state, with commercial traffic moving to and from Java, so keep walking to short local trips rather than longer journeys. If you are coming from the airport in Denpasar to the east, the bus is a straightforward option since every Denpasar–Gilimanuk service passes through, though the road is often very busy and in a very bad state, so allow generous time; many visitors instead arrange a rental car from the Denpasar area for more control over timing and comfort.

Where to stay

Negara is very much a passing-through town, and few visitors choose to stay in it. If you want to be in the town centre itself, your options are limited to simple places such as the Wira Pada Hotel on Jl Ngurah Rai, which offers fan-cooled and air-con rooms. For a quieter base on the edge of town, Cahaya Matahari Bungalows in the tiny village of Banjar Anyar, Batuagung, sit in the middle of rice fields and offer comfortable, quiet bungalows sleeping two to three people, with trekking guides available.

Good beachfront accommodation is available at Medewi Beach, roughly 20 km to the east. For the adventurous, there are informal homestays at the mission villages of Blimbingsari and Palasari, though you must be Christian to stay there. Also in Palasari, Taman Wana Villas is a mountain retreat overlooking the Palasari reservoir and the mountains of West Bali National Park, with a full range of rural activities in the local area.

Food & drink

For a sit-down meal in the centre of Negara, the Wira Pada Hotel has a decent Chinese restaurant attached, making it a straightforward option if you want to eat indoors rather than graze at street level.

Much of the town's eating is done at food stalls, and the liveliest concentration of them appears at the buffalo races, where the stalls are vibrant and plentiful. Plan your snacking around the races if you want the widest choice.

What to see and do

West of town toward Gilimanuk the terrain turns rugged, with views into West Bali National Park. In this sparsely populated country you can visit the villages of Blimbingsari and Palasari, respectively Protestant and Catholic communities carved out of the jungle by Christian pioneers yet heavily influenced by Balinese culture — their epic plays and dances swap the usual Hindu characters for figures from the Bible. Both are well signposted from the main coast road at Melaya, and at Palasari a large reservoir gives views over the surrounding hills and mountains. Closer to town, look for the architecturally distinct Bugis houses, especially around Loloan Timur, and for the colourful Madurese-style fishing boats along the coast south and southwest of Negara; the village of Pangambengan, about seven kilometres southwest, is the best place to see them in daylight, since the boats often fish at night.

The buffalo races (Mekepung) at Delod Berawah, roughly nine kilometres east of town, are the main attraction: colourfully decorated carts and buffaloes race a four-kilometre course on the second and fourth Sunday mornings, a tradition thought to have originated in Madura and once held as part of Negara's harvest festivities. Between Negara and Medewi Beach, the under-visited Rambut Siwi Temple sits on a low clifftop with a panorama of paddy fields on one side and black sand beaches on the other; two caves overlook the sea, where you can watch fishermen's boats and seabirds. The temple was built by Dang Hyang Nirartha, founder of Tanah Lot, and legend holds that he gave a gift of his hair to it — hence the name, meaning "Hair Worship". A donation is appropriate.

Three days in Negara

Day one: Start in Negara itself, the administrative heart of Jembrana Regency in west Bali, and use it as your base for the days ahead. Settle into a room at the Wira Pada Hotel on Jl Ngurah Rai, or at Cahaya Matahari Bungalows in Banjar Anyar, then take a walking look around town. Negara has a noticeably mixed population for Bali, with Bugis and other communities from Sulawesi giving parts of it a different feel, and Islam is well represented, so dress and behave considerately. Allow time simply to adjust to the pace of a small west Bali town rather than rushing between sights.

Day two: Head west toward Gilimanuk, the ferry port facing Java, and spend the day in and around West Bali National Park. Most visitors come here for the walking and the quiet, so allow a full day and start early. Because public transport is limited, arrange your own wheels or a driver. On the way back, stop at Medewi Beach, a low-key stretch of coast known for its surf, and take your time over the drive.

Day three: Turn inland to the villages around Blimbingsari and Palasari, where you can see a Christian side of Bali that surprises many visitors. Continue to Batuagung and the surrounding countryside, then return to Negara for a last look around before moving on. If you are heading onward, Denpasar is the main transport hub, but the quiet roads of Jembrana reward a slow final day.

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