BeeAmazing
My Bali, My Life – Learn from mistakes project
REASONS WHY I DISLIKE DREAMLAND BEACH IN BALI
Author: Bee | 4,890 views29 Apr
On my previous posts 5 Tips to enjoy Bali not as a tourist and My 5 Favorite Beaches in Bali, I keep bringing up why
I don’t like Dreamland Beach anymore that is called now New Kuta Beach. Located on the Bukit Peninsula,Bali, only 10 minutes from my house! Dreamland Beach was once spotted and found by a western surfer back in the 70′s.
The beach provided basic accommodation and cafes for surfers and day trippers. One of the most beautiful beaches on the island, it is also renowned for its dangerous shorebreak.
It is the site of the failed Pecatu Graha development, planned by Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of the former President Suharto.As of 2008 this is an active building site with all the previous Warungs having been levelled for a hotel complex (source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamland_Beach). Here are some photos that thankfully I had a chance to document them before the hotel and the new leisure spot contractor did their abracadabra to my magical Dreamland.
Yes, it used to be some good looking tanned skin italiano girls and surfers who came to this place. To get to the beach, again, no pain no gain in finding beautiful hidden beach in Bali, you have to hike down a narrow stairs, and on the last couple of stairs, usually Ibu Wayan from Surya Cafe would greet me and she’s the only parasol hire and warung owner I love to chat with.
And as usual, hiking upstairs back to my motorbike is an art of thigh muscles strenght and a right way of breathing technique (I always wonder why Bart never lost his breath to climb those crazy stairs of Dreamland, it is probably because of his Mount Rinjani well experiences!).
And today, the new investor has ‘darely’ changed Dreamland into NEW KUTA BEACH with a golf course, a condotel operated by Best Western, and this what made me upset the most! To get to the beach you have to access it through KLAPA, an event venue (more like a failed KU DE TA wannabe to me!) and pay Rp 15,000 for car parking!!!..It used to be free to enter this beach when you are in a motorbike, or the local people will only charge about Rp 5,000 if you come by car, and that’s for village community. Oh boy…
Now those glowing topless skin of italian girls and gorgeous surfers have gone, they’ve probably moved to another deserted beach I know where 
, Dreamland oups ..I mean, New Kuta Beach is now a hang out place of Jakartans, big student tour buses from Java and other part of the country, and a commercial place to do a video clip shooting of Indonesia’s singers or movies.
It is no longer a dream. It is a game-changing reality, at least that’s what the KLAPA owner is proud of. The place is also designated for some tourists who are willing to pay overly priced food and beverage (Jemma & Chris, thank you for the drinks, the bitter lemon soda was a thirst quenching, and spending time with you is priceless!).
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:04 am
So sad to see developments like this.
Mike’s last blog post..Bali Spirit Festival
May 3rd, 2009 at 11:18 pm
First time I saw this beach in 2001, its amazing view that I’ve got … there are no building over there
..
May 9th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Agree! Dreamland = Lostdream.
Robin’s last blog post..Awkward Family Photos
May 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
@Mike, @bartcatapult, @Robin, thanks so much for your comments. It is absolutely a disaster to Dreamland and to Bali as well. I wonder how far those investors would go to the so called ‘development plan’ in Bali. They should hand in hand build a better Bali, NOT build IN Bali…
May 24th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
[...] I heard another Full Moon Party were being held nearby in one of Bali’s latest leisure spot (you know where – don’t feel it necessary to ‘promote’ this ‘tragic’ place) and only [...]
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:19 am
I too have enjoyed Dreamland beach for years pre concrete jungle – sad to see times change but with a bit of searching other very nearby gems can be found
Sad to see these new “developments” leaning to western styles also – the Warongs were just fine.
I shall be back to Bali again this year for my 4th year visit (my girlfriends 15th!) and looking forward to returning to my favourite place on earth. I have some more pictures of Dreamland if you want a glimpse of the past
July 17th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
[...] I’m desperate to have the beach for myself , noo..just kidding. I just don’t want the Dreamland tragedy happens to this [...]
July 25th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
just as kuta & legian beaches back in 1978…… when only nature ruled – to reach these beautiful God given beaches one took naturally set sandy pathways surrounded by swaying coconut n banana trees….. it was so beautiful -& to hear them sway…. sea breezes stroke your face….. hmmm….
… but now – shops ‘n more shops, resorts n more resorts, not to mention ppl more n more of them.
it’s sad — there are things that should simply stay the same…. guess they do so only in our hearts..
August 5th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
[...] on this beach with pristine clear water, clean enough to wash your hands from sands. Bored with Dreamland Beach several years ago, I chose to find more secluded beaches with less people on it, so I could enjoy [...]
October 8th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Very sad. There are still nice places to visit in Bali, but there are less of them now. rgds.
Tempo Dulu´s last blog ..The expat guide to Indonesian women
December 5th, 2009 at 11:30 am
I am sitting at KLAPA right now using their free internet, and as the only bule’ here on the deck chairs at 11.30 am on a Saturday morning (I am waiting for my boyfriend to finish surfing) I fee like a circus elephant with heards of Indonesian tourists 10cm from my face taking photos with their Blackberries and filming me typing on my computer! What the…..?!?!
Definitely not the relaxing, high end location I thought it would be. In fact the staff are letting the screaming children and heards of families cause a ruckus and out of the 100 or so people lazing around, approached ONLY me with a menu, to try and persuade me to buy an overpriced bevarage.
The venue is gorgeous, but the clientele do nothing to add to the serenity, and the gentle Indonesian flute drums and bird music is being drowned out by screetching Ibus and their disobedient children.
Next time I will stay downstairs at the warung.
December 5th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Dear Hollie,
I am so sorry that you’ve experienced this in Bali. Yes, Dreamland or..should I say New Kuta Beach is a tragedy for me. The way the investor renamed this beach revealed the intention of having the same scene we see every single day in the Real Kuta Beach : domestics tourist filming ‘bule’/foreign tourists in bikini, as for them – you are a ‘spectacle’, a show…
I hope this situation will not deter you from exploring more of beautiful hidden beaches in Bali, you might want to read my blog post about My 5 Favorite Beaches in Bali for your reference
http://www.beeamazing.com/my-5-favorite-beaches-in-bali/
Coming to klapa on the weekend equals to what you’ve experienced today. Yes, next time, if you still want to enjoy dreamland (because the beach is so beautiful indeed), just hang out at SURYA CAFE warung with Ibu Wayan as the owner (pictured on this blog post) or others warungs as it will give you more insights on Bali than you could ever get from just enjoying the overpriced food ‘upstairs’.
Enjoy your stay on the sunny island!
December 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Thanks Bee.
I had actually been to Dreamland before and only stayed downstairs at the Dreamland warung – and it was very relaxing! It was also on a weekday, so I didn’t experience tour bus after tour bus of people flocking in and filming the bule spectacle!
I used to live in Jakarta, and had heard from a Javanese friend that Klapa was the ‘latest place to be’, so I should have known what he meant by that, being Javanese!
Despite Tommy Soeharto’s attempt at ruining the natural landscape, it’s good to see the beach is still glorious, and no one can take that away, not even him!
I think it only adds salt into the wound that it has been renamed ‘New Kuta Beach’ – as if Kuta Beach is a development that needs to be replicated!
I live in Bali now and there are many amazing places in this beautiful island, and it does not deter me from thinking any less of the Balinese people- it just makes me respect them even more for their resilence towards the centralised Javanese-centric government.
Surya cafe is definitely on my list for next time!
Cheers,
Hollie
July 12th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
after staying in jogja for 6 year, i finally came back to Bali ~ and the first beach i go to is dreamland… but when i see it, really dont like it any more–the building, the dirty river, the expensive parking lot, the crowd;) lot of local seller offering sun glasses, shirt, surf course, surf board…sighhh
but at least the beach is still clean^^
vidyaputra´s last blog ..ada apa dengan Blackberry
August 29th, 2010 at 11:23 am
setujuu,,
sangat berbeda jauh saat pertama kali (sekitar 6 taun lalu,pas SMA) dan sekarang,, area publik jadi area komersil,, yg sekitarnya dulu alami sekarng penuh dengan beton2,,huhu,,sedikit tidak rela,,tapi memank begitulah yang tampak,,
maaf comment dengan bahasa indonesia ya mbak gabby,,tak bisa berenglish ria,,haha..
August 29th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Hi Nyoman, thanks for your comment. Dreamland has changed too much, yes, I understand you got very dissapointed with the current situation so called ‘development’ in the area. Back in the days when you and your high school friends used to come to this place for a quite time, this beautiful beach was haven!..sad..
August 29th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
@Vidya : and so the new ‘owner’ od the land called this place “New Kuta Beach”…Their magic spell did work..:(