It was only a short drive from Munduk to Lovina, where we hoped to have some dolphin encounters. This morning it was quite chilly in Munduk when we left but in Lovina the heat fell immediately on us. We had a relaxing day ahead. We had booked ‘The Lovina’ hotel with direct access to the beach. The first impact was very good. Our rooms were situated in little villa’s and were well appointed. The breakfast turned out not to be that good (or at least we had different expectations) and that was a pity.
We decided to explore the city center that was actually a pocket big. We had the impression that there was only one main street and some side roads. The town was anything but clean and the exhaust fumes from the motorcycles apparently had their impact. Really a pity !
Thanks to a friend’s feedback, we had already started to look for a dolphin-friendly tour in Lovina when we were still at home. We had read on Tripadvisor that early in the morning many fishing boats with tourists were chasing the dolphins. We definitely would love to see these animals, but in a less stressful situation. Via recommendations on Tripadvisor we had found ‘Made’. His trip leaves much later in the morning when all the tourists had already returned. We had contacted him via whatsapp and found him on our first afternoon to arrange our trip for the next morning. He showed us videos of his trip and it looked super peaceful indeed. His boat seemed pretty much the only one on the water and the dolphins just swam up to it. So we were looking forward to experience it ourselves the next day.
After our short discovery of the city center and after meeting up with Made, we returned to the hotel. It was time to go to the beach for some sunset pictures and they turned out to be amazing!!!
The next morning we were ready to go dolphin watching and it was really such a great experience. The dolphins were quite small, but oh so cute!!! Especially when they showed their skills in front of the boat. It was very difficult to capture them on photo because we were not so good in predicting when they would jump out of the water :-). It was also very beautiful when they swam underwater with the boat. Made was right, there were very few boats in the area (about 3-4) and for the last half hour we were even the only ones. So if you are looking for a dolphin friendly tour and you do not mind paying that little bit more, then check out the website of his company ‘beautifulfishlovina’. We were so happy with the number of dolphin encounters ! A very nice souvenir…
The kids, Maxine and Axel had booked a snorkelling tour after dolphin watching and they saw many coloured fish. It was another fun activity.
For lunch, we had found a vegetarian restaurant ‘Akar Café’ that we decided to give a try (we were not vegetarians but we can appreciate a good vegetarian meal every now and then). It was a great decision, the food was really good and a nice break with the usual Bali food. They also made their own ice cream with mineral water (quite important to know).
Our last day in Lovina would be a calm relaxing day. No excursions but instead sleeping in a bit and a nice Balinese massage followed by beach & pool. The massages were exceptional, all four of us really enjoyed it and regretted not having booked one the previous day as well…
Tomorrow we were leaving for the last leg of our trip, Sanur. Again a beach town but less quiet than Lovina and with white sand beaches. In Lovina the beach was black. We had not yet decided if we were going to undertake some additional excursions during our transfer, we were going to decide it the next day.
So beautiful and peaceful.🙂
I love to spot wildlife, it was really amazing 😀 In less than 2 weeks I am going to Iceland… hopefully to spot some whales 🤞🤞🤞