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Karangasem
Sacred mountains & water palaces (East Bali)
About Karangasem
East Bali's Karangasem regency is home to Mount Agung, Bali's holiest volcano, and the stunning Tirta Gangga water palace. The area offers dramatic landscapes, traditional villages, and some of Bali's best diving spots around Amed and Tulamben.
Best for: Divers, hikers & culture enthusiasts
- Mount Agung
- Tirta Gangga
- Diving in Amed
- USAT Liberty wreck
Karangasem at a glance
- Beach: Good (3/5). Black-sand fishing bays and a few white-sand coves such as Virgin Beach; calm in many spots.
- Nightlife: None (0/5). Almost none.
- Prices: $ · Budget. Inexpensive, apart from a few luxury retreats.
- To the airport: 80 km · 2–2½ h. By road to Bali airport (DPS), in usual traffic.
- Climate: Hot & humid · coast
Ratings
- Calm-water swimming: Good (3/5)
- Surfing: Poor (1/5)
- Diving & snorkeling: Excellent (5/5)
- Sunsets: Fair (2/5)
- Restaurants & cafés: Fair (2/5)
- Culture & temples: Excellent (5/5)
- Nature & landscapes: Excellent (5/5)
- Yoga & wellness: Good (3/5)
- Family-friendly: Good (3/5)
- Peace & quiet: Excellent (5/5)
- Remote work: Poor (1/5)
- Walkability: Poor (1/5)
Rated from 0 (none) to 5 (excellent), compared with Bali's other areas.
Resorts in Karangasem
- Quenzo Beach Resort: Karangasem, from about $150 a night
- Samanvaya Luxury Resort & Spa: Sidemen, from about $250 a night
- Wapa di Ume Sidemen: Sidemen, from about $150 a night
- Amankila: Karangasem, from about $1,260 a night
- Alila Manggis: Karangasem, from about $120 a night
- Candi Beach Resort & Spa: Karangasem, from about $80 a night
- Puri Bagus Candidasa: Karangasem, from about $55 a night
Sights in Karangasem
- Besakih Temple (temple). Besakih is Bali's most important temple complex, more than twenty temples climbing the south-west slope of Mount Agung at about 1,000 m, with Pura Penataran Agung at its center. Balinese from across the island come for its many festivals, when the terraces fill with offerings and processions. A sarong and sash are required; come early, before clouds hide the mountain.
- Tirta Gangga (palace). Tirta Gangga is a royal water garden built in 1946 for the last raja of Karangasem, a short drive north of Amlapura. Visitors cross koi ponds on stepping stones, past stone statues and a tiered fountain, with rice terraces on the hills around. Badly damaged by the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung and since restored, it is calmest in the morning before tour groups arrive.
- Lempuyang Temple (temple). Pura Lempuyang is a chain of temples on Mount Lempuyang; the summit shrine, Lempuyang Luhur, is one of Bali's holiest. Most visitors stop at the lowest, Penataran Agung, whose white split gate frames Mount Agung on clear mornings, and queue there for photos. Going on to the top means several hours on about 1,700 steps; a sarong is required.
- USAT Liberty Wreck (nature). The USAT Liberty, a US Army cargo ship torpedoed in 1942, was beached at Tulamben and later slid into the sea during the 1963 eruption of Mount Agung. It now lies on a sandy slope just off a stony beach, close enough to the surface in places for snorkelers to see it as well as divers. Arrive early, before the day-trip divers.
- Mount Agung (nature). Mount Agung is Bali's highest volcano and its holiest mountain, rising to just over 3,000 m; its last major eruptions were from 2017 to 2019, and small ash plumes followed in 2022. Climbs start around midnight, from Pura Pasar Agung for the crater rim or from Besakih for the higher summit, and climbers go with a local guide. The mountain is closed to climbers during major ceremonies and when the volcano is restless.
Beaches in Karangasem
- Amed Beach (beach). Amed is a string of fishing villages along Bali's dry northeast coast, with black-sand and pebble bays lined with outrigger boats. At Jemeluk Bay the reef begins a short swim from the beach, so snorkelers and divers can go straight in from the shore, and a small Japanese wreck lies just offshore at Banyuning, further east. The sea is usually calmest in the morning; the drive from Ubud takes about two and a half hours.
- Jasri Beach (beach). Jasri Beach is a stretch of black sand and pebbles at Subagan, a few kilometers south of Amlapura, backed in places by a rock seawall, with fishing boats drawn up on part of the shore. Local and foreign surfers ride its right-hand break, which is best left to experienced surfers, and the waves, currents and rocks make swimming risky in many spots. Local families come to relax on the shore in the late afternoon, and food stalls are found along the beach.