January 2026 (ROTM#205) Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia

I recommend a walk to the airport runway at the end of the beach

Often when reading travel stories online I’ll come across images of beaches that are famous and popular tourist destinations that are also characterised by lots of rip currents, which strangely never seem to get a mention. I then save the photo for future use and almost always forget the original source where it came from. This month I’m going to start a short series of famous tourist beaches that have lots of rips that no-one talks about – just so that you know before you go. I apologise for the lack of correct attribution of the images, let’s just say ‘from the internet’, but I don’t feel too bad because I see my pictures used everywhere without attribution so I figure it evens out.

So here is Kuta Beach in Bali, the first beach I ever visited in South-East Asia, way back in 1992. It was very much a backpacker destination then and still is although it’s gone a bit more upscale and has a reputation as being crowded and a party destination. It’s also a surfing destination because it gets consistent waves, and with waves, comes rip currents. You can see a few in this image – at least 3 main ones evident by the narrow, dark green gaps between the whitewater along the beach. Each of these rips is occupying a deeper channel. It can be a dangerous beach, which is why there’s lifeguards there and like Australia, the main swimming areas are marked by red and yellow flags.

I remember good bodysurfing, lots of people trying to sell me stuff on the beach and a nice long walk with friends to the far end of the beach where the Denpasar runway is, stopping and swimming in as many resort pools as possible along the way. Not sure you could get away with that now!