Massive Milestone of 20 Years for Bali + World News and Views!

Did you know? "Bali + World News and Views", formerly "Bali News & Views", has been keeping you informed for almost 20 years!

That's over 2 million page views and 10,409 blogs delivered directly to you.

Reaching Back Through Time:

It all started nearly two decades ago with the launch of Bali News & Views by Canadian Developer, Hotel manager Lawrence.

Back then, it also included a weekly news segment in the Bali Sun and a radio show with the same name.

The mission? To provide Bali and Indonesia with the latest positive news, especially for those considering travel or real estate ventures.

A Labor of Love:

Editor Lawrence says, "Out of everything I do, this is my passion project, even though it doesn't pay much.

Honestly, I started it for myself, to document my 26 years living in Bali.

A record for my grandkids, you might say. A way for them to see what their grandparents were all about, the exciting and the everyday."

Bali Bliss for All:

"Bali has truly blessed my family and me," Lawrence continues.

"We're grateful to all our readers who take the time to explore our content, a blend of curated news and personal insights."

Paradise Found?

There's been talk of Bali losing its magic, but Lawrence, a 26 Year resident, assures you, "Paradise is still here, especially if you escape the busy southwestern areas."

Stay Informed, Stay Connected:

Want to stay up-to-date with Bali and Indonesia? Subscribe for free to Bali + World News and Views!

Just click the link or send your email, and you'll receive a weekly news summary straight to your inbox.

Thank you, readers! You've made this a success, and we'll keep delivering the news even as I head towards retirement in the next decade.

Cheers, Lawrence

Below are the top blogs with the most page views of our. original "Bali News and Views".

Bali Blog Goes Viral - Over 132,600 Pageviews- Higher than normal Tides and Possible Earthquakes

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Here are the top blogs with the most page views of our Current "Bali + World News and Views".

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Just click the link or send your email, and you'll receive a weekly news summary straight to your inbox.

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Incredible photos show what Bali was like in the 1980s

From showering with a scoop to paying bugger all for a beer (to smoking cigars on your Garuda flight over), here are 12 stunning photos that show what Bali was like before mass tourism took off.

James Booth

April 11, 2024 - 

This article may contain links from our affiliate and advertising partners. When you click on them, or share this content, we may earn a commission. Learn more

It's hard to believe, but there was once a time when Uluwatu had no roads, Canggu had no Crossfit, Seminyak had no beach clubs, and there were no influencers taking booty pics in sacred temples in Bali.

Interest piqued? Here are 12 things this modern generation of travellers will never get to experience in Bali.

Picture: Nusa Lembongan, 1982 by Steve Montell

1. Surfing Uncrowded Uluwatu

As Steve Montell, an Aussie surfer who visited Bali in 1982 recently told me, surfing Uluwatu in the 80s was a mission.

"We were shit scared," Steve reveals, explaining that stories from mates and movies like Morning of the Earth had built a mystique up around Uluwatu, and make him nervous upon entering the water (you have to paddle in and out through a cave, and if you miss the entrance, you can get swept miles down the coast).

"There was the presence of this mythical wave and you're in this environment of Indonesian culture where they are very respectful and nervous about the surf at the best of times, there's temples and all this. Nowadays you go down there and there's total kooks paddling out on soft tops... it was a lot different back then."

As for crowds: you'd go to Kuta Reef and if there were two or three guys on it, you'd just go down to Airport Reef.

"There were surfers around, it was all starting to happen, but it was pretty sparse."

Picture: Steve Montell

2. Showering with a scoop

Steve said his accommodation was a bungalow on Poppies 2 [a street in Kuta], with just basic cold water. To shower "you had a scoop and a concrete basin" and there was a floor toilet.

Picture: Jalan Legian, 1982, Steve Montell

3. Paying "bugger all for a beer"

Things were cheaper in the 80s. Steve scored an absolute bargain of a deal in the pages of Tracks surfing magazine: "I think [it was] $599 for 4 weeks in Bali, all inclusive, meals, accomodation and a custom Byrne surfboard."

"We ended up staying 6 weeks."

"I was an apprentice carpenter [earning $100 a week back at home]," Steve told me. "So for us to go out for dinner every night, eat pretty cool seafood meals and stuff, and affording it easily, it was pretty damn cheap."

4. Cruising over to Nusa Lembongan on a tiny outrigger

While Sanur to Nusa Lembongan now takes 31 minutes on a ferry, back in the 80s Steve told me he got a ride on a small outrigger boat with his friends that was carrying supplies for locals over there, and it "took like 4 hours."

He then stayed in a homestay over there with a guy called Johnny Tarzan, "I stayed in his family home."

"It was a treacherous trip across that channel in a tiny outrigger."

Picture: Boarding the outrigger that took 6 of us on the 4+hr trip to Nusa Lembongan, 1982, Steve Montell

5. Drinking coffee with 'dirt consistency' and condensed milk

Back in the 1980s you'd be drinking Bali coffee, which Steve explains was ground coffee that you mixed with hot water.

"Your teaspoon would stand up in your cup it was so granulated. You'd stir the crap out of it, and you'd have it with condensed milk. Nowadays it's a caffe latte with pasturised milk."

As for food: "Back then you were living on rice and noodles, and seafood if you were lashing out. Most people would steer clear of the red meats," Steve said.

"There were places like Blue Ocean, then there were bars like Double 6, Casablanca, Waltzing Matilda bar. There were more bars than nightclubs. Fat Yogis was sort of like an Italian restaurant that did pizza and pasta."

Then there was TJ's, a mexican joint that was quite cool, Steve says, "Because they didn't have imported produce they had to make their own corn chips."

"But we were more likely to be at the arak bar and eat cheap street food and stuff so the old rupiah would go a bit further."

In terms of brekkie, there was no avocado on toast: "Breakfast in the early 80’s was fruit salad, mixed juice and black tea at most losmans."

Picture: Matt & Monty, Legian 1982, Steve Montell

6. Getting woken up by roosters and pigs

"Cock fights and stuff were big," says Steve, "and most households had roosters. The old cock fighting men, they were very proud men - and the roosters were really noisy. Every household had a pig as well."

Picture: left, Jalan Legian 82 top of Poppy 2, right: 82 selfie before they were invented, alone on hill Nusa Lembongan, Steve Montell

7. Driving motorbikes along the beach

"Our whole goal was to surf," Steve tells me, "We rented the ET100 Yamahas and either sat on the surfboard or had a sling on our shoulder."

Steve also explored the mountains with a mate, explaining: "We circumnavigated the whole island that first trip. We went off thinking this will be pretty easy. We take off and get up in the mountains and didn't realise how cold it was. Indonesians get around with nothing at all so we just thought, 'Oh we don't need much you know.'"

"We're in like t-shirts and board shorts and it's freezing out there. We end up buying some sort of jackets - we couldn't find anything that would fit us - just these tiny little jackets that we put on and we went over and stayed on the north coast in some little pretty difficult to find accommodation."

Picture: Steve Montell ("in 85 the best way to not get lost going to Canggu was on the beach at low tide, we would spend long days there surfing. Then hanging at the 'Chew n Spew' warung as we waited for a low tide to get back to Legian on the beach").

8. Losing your scooter in rice paddies

"The access in and out of [of Uluwatu] was really sketchy and you pretty much had to hike around (to Padang Padang, another surf spot) from Uluwatu. It wasn't easy to find. You'd be driving around the Bukit on motorbikes on dirt trails and the trails take off everywhere."

"People would say you got to go to the bottom and at the big tree there's a fork in the road and you go along there for a bit and then there's a pipe going across the road and it wasn't signposted that well. The only thing for Ulu was you knew to head for the Ulu temple."

"Kuta to Canggu was a mission. It would be single tracks between rice paddies and you'd lose your bike into the rice paddies."

"We ended up, at low tide, you could get most of the way right up to the top there on the beach and we did that quite a bit."

9. You could drink whiskey and smoke on your flight over

"The non smoking laws on Qantas didn't kick in until the early 90s," Steve, who for a time worked for Ansett, told me. "Domestically in Australia we didn't stop until 86. On Garuda they would have been handing the bloody cigars out probably."

10. Chilling on clean beaches

Kuta was once chill and uncrowded. And the only detritus in the water, according to one Reddit user, was coconuts and palm fronds (a world away from the mounds of single use plastic you now find floating around).

Picture: Kuta Beach, 1980. Image via Instagram (@bali.info.official and @seminyak.guide)

11. Magic mushrooms widely being consumed

These days you're more likely to see fitness influencers spiking their smoothies with protein powder, not psychedelics. Plus, Indonesia's notoriously strict death penalty for drugs and the changing social fabric of tourism in 2024 means magic mushrooms are now less popular than they were in the 70s and 80s. Those that take them on mainland Bali, by some recent accounts, get driven to backstreet bars to avoid police, and probably consume them fearfully (or as part of an extortion scam).

Picture: left image, Jeremy Helligar (Medium), right image: www.thinklesstravelmore.com

12. Wearing sarongs and tie dye

"Another thing that has changed is the fashion," Steve says, "in the 80’s it was sarongs, tie dye and rice sack shirts from market stalls or shops with no glass frontage."

Picture: Present day, ("We now own Bomba Canggu with homewares and linen fashion that is on trend with international markets"), Steve Montell

Plus... one thing that hasn't changed at all

Steve, who made friends for life during those early trips, finished by telling me: "The culture of Bali has remained constant with its people."

"They can be doing the offerings etc. and it's more important to grid lock the traffic to get those offerings down than it's not."

"If you travel around other areas of Indonesia there's something missing - and then you realise it's the colour of that Hindu culture. So that's one thing that's remained really constant that's really cool."

Picture: Steve Montell with friends old and new in Nusa Lembongan, in the 80s

Bali's Current Hottest Real Estate Markets

Few people have witnessed the explosive growth of Bali's real estate market over the last 22 years more closely than Canadian Born resdient of Bali for past 26 years, Lawrence. 

He and his Wife Azizah a Notaris own and operate award-winning P.T. Bali Affordable Lifestyles International since 2004.

His deep experience in this market is evident. "When I began advising buyers on Bali real estate in 2002 just after the fall of Indonesia's long-term president, investors took a leap of faith," he recalls. "I wrote an article in the Bali Sun Newspaper titled "Bali is Hawaii 30 years ago." 

"Bali is Hawaii 30 years ago" 

Fast-forward to today, and some of those early properties have appreciated as much as 4,000%.

Three months ago Lawrence predicted 2024 would be the most explosive year yet for the Bali's real estate market, especially on its popular East Coast in or near the first Resort Area in Bali, Sanur . 

"2024 the most explosive year yet" 

He stated "This boom is fueled by a convergence of factors: a major new medical tourism hospital, numerous new hotels and a new shopping mall under construction, and a wave of retiring baby boomers seeking a tranquil yet amenity-rich paradise. 

For investors and retirees alike, now is the time to secure the Bali lifestyle with an apartment or villa purchase starting at a remarkably affordable $88,000 USD.

"Sanur not Snore Anymore"

According to Wikipedia. Sanur pronounced sah-noor) is a coastal stretch of beach east of Denpasar in southeast Bali (about a 30-minute drive from Ngurah Rai International Airport)

For the 26 years he lived in Sanur it was called "Snore" because it attracted Seniors and Baby Boomers to quiet lifestyle, famous beach and inexpensive cost of living.

 Recently Bali has been showered with accolades in 2023 ,& 2024 snagging titles like "Second Best Destination in the World,"

This translates to one thing, a tourism boom, and with it, a surge in rental income.

Remember his saying, "Bali real estate demand is directly proportional to tourist demand".

"Bali real estate demand is directly proportional to tourist demand"

It's been a golden rule for the 26 years he has called this Island home, and he see no signs of it changing.

EDITOR. Lawrence & Family at Home.

The fuel for Sanur's coming Real Estate firestorm: 2,000 to 3,000 New Employees:

The massive Bali International Hospital is set to open its doors, bringing with it a wave of medical professionals and support staff seeking comfortable digs.

Bali International Hospital Opening Soon

Where will Doctors, Medical Technicians, and Support Staff Live?

While most Medical Professionals will initially rent, a significant portion (think doctors, medical technicians, and other high earners) will eventually put down roots and buy.

This influx of buyers is poised to propel Sanur and Suburbs real estate market to new heights, making it the hottest ticket in Bali, perhaps even Indonesia, and dare I say, Southeast Asia, in the coming year.

  5 - Star Hotel 1,000  Staff ?

The swanky new Meru hotel will need a place for its team to call home, injecting further demand into the market.

New Icon Mall - 300 to 500 Employees:

Retail therapy is coming to Sanur in a big way, and the mall's staff will need a place to rest and recharge.

Baby Boomer Bliss:

Sanur & its suburbs' chilled vibes and proximity to world-class healthcare make it a magnet for baby boomers, who represent 25% of the world's population and hold 50% of the cash.

Talk about a lucrative demographic!

So, where will all these new residents live? Sanur and its suburbs, of course.

Here are Lawrence's predictions on the three most sought-after areas of the East Coast, perhaps all of Bali in the next 12 -24 months.

#1 Area With Most Demand 

The areas around the Bali International Hospital, the new Meru Hotel, and the new Icon Mall are expected to see the highest demand for apartments, homes, and villas in the next two years.

This is due to the growing popularity of the area as a tourist destination and the increasing number of businesses and medical facilities moving in.

No Room at the Inn:

Just as Mary and Joesph found in Bethlehem just before Jesus was born recently there is no rooms in any of our inns.

Unfortunately, there is not much available housing in these areas, as they are mostly commercial and hotels.

However, there are a few options for those who are looking to buy or lease a home in this sought-after location.

Bali Emerald Apartments:

There are a limited number of modern, just completed Bali Emerald Apartments  for sale starting at 1.38 Miliar ( $88,000 U.S.D. .

These apartments are located across the street from Hyatt Regency Hotel, and a 6 to 8 minute walk to Sanur's famous beach, plus only a two minute walk to many store's restaurants, spas. 

They are perfect for those who are looking for a modern and stylish home in a great location.

Click here for Bali Emerald Apartments  photo & prices. 

PT. Bali Luxury Villas Start at $228,888.

For those who need more space, we also have a few award-winning Bali Luxury Villas available for sale.

These villas start at 3.8 Miliar or($248,000 U.S.D.) and offer 350 to 700 square meters of living space, as well as a private pool and garden.

They are perfect for those who are looking for a luxurious and spacious home in a quiet and peaceful location.

Bali Luxury Villas and Apartments are located within a short eight minute walking distance to Sanur's famous white sand beach.

They are also close to a variety of restaurants, shops, and bars.

If you are interested in buying a home in one of the most sought-after areas in Bali, we encourage you to contact them today.

They will be happy to help you find the perfect home for your needs.

#2 Area - Demand 

Unlocking Value Near the New Bali International Hospital

While many eyes are on Sanur for the upcoming Bali International Hospital, savvy investors might find hidden gems close by.

This area, conveniently located within 1-10 kilometers of the hospital, offers several advantages:

Affordability: Escape the higher property prices of Sanur and capitalize on this area's lower costs.

You'll find attractive opportunities like Bali Paradise Beach Estates, where stunning properties start at just 3.8 Miliar ($248,000 U.S.D.)

High-Caliber Community:

Bali Paradise Beach Estates already boasts residents such as major Developers and Hotel owners plus, an A-listed couple, two doctors, and other successful individuals. This creates a desirable and dynamic community for future residents.

Beyond Borders, Beyond Expectations:

This location might not technically be Sanur, but it offers the convenience, affordability, and investment potential you desire, with the added bonus of a vibrant community and stunning beachside living.

Remember: This area provides a unique opportunity to live well, invest wisely, and be part of a thriving community just steps away from the Bally International Hospital. Don't miss out on discovering this hidden gem beyond the borders of Sanur!

Brand New Luxury Retirement Villas:

Their brand new Bali Luxury Retirement Villas start at just 4.2 Miliar ($268,000 U.S.D.)

They are only 200 meters from the beach, perfect for children, grandchildren, and elderly adults.

Convenience for Hospital Staff:

For over 3,000 new employees expected in Sanur this new location offers a short commute, potentially easing traffic woes for those living just north of the Bali International Hospital.

# 3 Area Most Demand

Beyond the Bypass: Uncovering Renon & East Denpasar's Potential

Forget the usual suspects, there's a rising star just across the four-lane bypass from Denpasar! Renon & East Denpasar has bloomed in recent years, offering a unique blend of affordability and potential.

While past development left some concerns – smaller plots, lower construction standards, and bumpy roads – change is afoot.

Infrastructure upgrades are on the horizon, promising a brighter future for the area.

But here's the real draw: prices here are significantly lower than the popular East Side, making it a prime location for savvy investors.

Envision it – owning a sprawling property, hundreds of square meters of opportunity! Build two or three stunning villas, keep one for yourself, and sell the others to recoup your investment, essentially securing your dream home for free.

Intrigued? We'd love to be your guides! Let us unveil hidden gems waiting to be unearthed in Renon & E Denpasar.

This area isn't just about a bargain; it's about embracing potential, about shaping your own Bali paradise.

Ready to ride the Bali East Coast wave?

Get ready to act fast, because this real estate rocket is about to take off.

So, pack your bags, your sense of adventure, and your investment savvy, because Sanur and its suburbs are about to become the real estate El Dorado of Bali.

Remember, this is just the beginning. We will keep you updated on all the sizzling developments in the East Coast  real estate scene, so stay tuned for more insider tips and insights.

In the meantime, start browsing Best Bali Real Estate Listings – the future of Bali's real estate is bright, and Sanur is its shining star.

P.S. Don't forget to share this post with your fellow real estate enthusiasts! Let's spread the word about Sanur's golden future.

Schedule Your Personalized Viewing Today.

Embark on a journey of tranquility and rejuvenation at Bali Luxury Retirement Villas. Contact us today to schedule a personalized viewing and discover your ideal retirement haven.

Contact us today to schedule a personalized viewing.
For information or inspection in English contact the Baby Boomer, President, Lawrence by Telephone or WhatsApp at +628123814014.

For information or inspection in Bahasa Indonesia contact the President's Spouse, a Licensed Indonesian Notaris, Azizah at +62 811-3864-993

For English and Indonesian Sales Staff at +62-361-284069

Email: sales@bestbalirealestate.com

ABOUT US:

The owners of our company are Siti Nur Azizah, a fully licensed Indonesian Notaris with a master’s degree in Indonesian Law specializing in real estate who has over three decades of Hotel Ownership and Management Experience.

Together with her partner and spouse Lawrence who has 50 years of Real Estate Experience, 20 Years of which is in Bali they own and operate award-winning 20-year-old Pt. Bali Affordable Lifestyles International ( PT. B.A.L.I. ).

Indulge in the pinnacle of luxury and efficiency with this esteemed team of over 70 professional staff, proudly offering an array of services for Buying, Selling, Leasing, and Renting Asian Real Estate.

For an unprecedented ten years running, they have been awarded the Certificate of Excellence and the Hall of Fame Award from the esteemed TripAdvisor, cementing their place among the top 2% of hotels and villas listed worldwide.

With clients all over the globe singing their praises, they are indisputably one of Asia's most renowned travel and real estate investment experts.

TESTIMONIAL:

"Honesty and professionalism are everything when you're dealing with real estate but when you can also find the most knowledgeable people to advise you and help you with what you need, why go anywhere else...Hands down the best in Bali!"

Bo B, UNITED STATES- 2022

Keep up to date with the latest news and views on Bali and the world, all while reveling in their exceptional offering of the Best Bali Real Estate Blogs & Facebook Posts.

For more information on these exquisite properties, schedule an inspection, or request further information today by contacting us.

Contact Info:

Tel. Office: 62-361-284069

Fax: 62-361-270143

Mobile: Or WhatsApp: 

English Language: 

62-8123814014

Bahasa Indonesia: 

62-8113864993

Email: sales@bestbalirealestate.com

Head Office: Jl. Karangsari # 5, Sanur, Bali, Indonesia, 80228

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