How we check whether a Bali hotel is really on the sea

A booking site’s beachfront label counts for nothing here. The position was measured, and then looked at.

Measuring

For every hotel we drew the shortest line from the grounds to the OpenStreetMap waterline and counted what that line crosses: through roads, local roads, footpaths, promenades and other people’s buildings. Elevation comes from the Copernicus model, which makes a clifftop position recognisable. The same input always gives the same result.

Looking

A measurement from a single coordinate is an upper bound, not a truth. So every hotel goes past the eye on satellite imagery, and where needed past the hotel’s own photographs. That brings out what a measurement misses: low rocky shores, pebble beaches, seawalls without sand, or a dot placed on the wrong building. 263 of 263 properties have been checked on imagery so far; every hotel page says whether it has been.

The rules

The question that settles every borderline case: does the property itself have a sea edge?

• Sand against it, nothing in between: directly on the beach.
• A beach path or promenade in between, or the grounds step down to a lower beach by their own stair: on the sea, direct access.
• Rock, pebbles, a cliff or a seawall, and no sand to lie on: on the sea, no beach.
• No sea edge at all — a through road or a row of other people’s buildings in between — and the hotel is not on this site, however short the walk.

The hotel’s own garden, wall, gate and stair do not count as separation. A deep property running from the road to the water can measure a hundred metres and still be directly on the beach.

What “beach” means

Sand you can lie on. A strip that only dries at low tide, or a metre of sand against a seawall, does not count.

Where the sun goes into the sea

Many hotels show whether the sun rises or sets over the sea there, and in which months. That too is calculated, not copied. For every day of the year we compute the direction of sunrise and sunset using two independent methods that have to agree. Then we check whether there is open sea in that direction from the beach in front of the hotel — allowing for the height of the surrounding islands and mountains, because the sun can also disappear behind Lombok, Nusa Penida or the flank of Agung. A month only counts when it holds on at least half its days. It is a calculation for a clear day; clouds do not follow it.

Calm water or waves

For every hotel with a beach we say what the water in front of it does: calm (no waves break on the beach, for example behind a reef or in a sheltered bay), in between (small waves on the beach, changeable) or surf and swell (waves regularly break hard on or just off the beach). We judged this ourselves, beach by beach, in October 2026, rather than deriving it from the direction the coast faces. We looked at two satellite images taken on different days, at the reef map of the Allen Coral Atlas (© Allen Coral Atlas Partnership, CC BY 4.0), which shows where the reef lies and where the waves break on it, and at surf guides: is there a surf spot, and does it break on the sand or further out on a reef? Usually two or more of these sources agree. Where only one image was usable, that is in our notes.

The Sea Score

The Sea Score sums up in one number how much a property has of the sea. Four things count, all of which we establish ourselves with the measurements above: the location, the sand, the sun setting into the sea and the sun rising out of the sea. Together that makes at most 11 points.

The sun is counted by the day: the whole year over the sea gives 2 points, half a year 1, and anything in between in proportion. It is calculated for the beach in front of the property, taking into account the height of the surrounding islands and mountains.

Example: directly on the beach (4), light sand (3) and the sun setting over the sea for half the year (1) gives 8 out of 11.

What does not count: stars, price, facilities, snorkelling spots and guest reviews. Calm water or waves do not count either: that is a preference, not a quality.

How we set the level

For properties whose facilities we have checked ourselves, we give our own level. That is not the same as stars: those are given by the property itself, or by a booking site. Our level follows only from what we found in a source, usually the property’s own website.

Hotels and resorts

• Basic: without one or more of pool, breakfast, restaurant and air conditioning.
• Comfort: pool, breakfast, restaurant and air conditioning.
• Luxury: everything in Comfort, plus 24-hour reception, room service, spa and gym.
• Top class: everything in Luxury, plus a private pool with (some of) the rooms or villas, and a butler or private chef.

Private villas (the whole villa to yourself)

• Basic: without one or more of private pool, air conditioning, own kitchen and Wi-Fi.
• Comfort: private pool, air conditioning, own kitchen and Wi-Fi.
• Luxury: everything in Comfort, plus staff, and breakfast or a private chef.
• Top class: everything in Luxury, plus a private chef, and a villa manager, butler or concierge.

Paid extras such as massage, transfers or a car with driver do not count. We only show a level once it is certain. If any information is still missing, no level is shown. So no level says nothing about quality.

What we do not know

• Tides. A strip of sand at low water can be gone at high tide. Where we see that, we say so.
• Water changes. Waves depend on season, swell and wind, and a satellite image shows a single day. We say nothing about currents or depth: look for yourself and follow the warnings on the spot.
• Coasts change. Erosion, sand replenishment, new sea defences. Where work is going on — as at Candidasa now — it is stated on the hotel page, with the expected completion date and our commitment to look again afterwards.
• Images have a date. Satellite imagery can be months old, a photograph years. That is why we record the date and put it there.
• The price class is a guide. We place every property in one of five classes: under €50, €50–100, €100–200, €200–400 and over €400 per night for 2 people. That classification is our own estimate, based on public prices we checked by hand (October 2026, one night in April 2027). Actual prices vary by date; check the current price on the booking site.

How this site pays for itself

If you book through a link on this site, Bali Seaside may receive a commission. It does not cost you more. It changes nothing about the label above a hotel: the category follows from the measurement and the check, not from what a hotel earns. Hotels that fail the test are not listed — not even the profitable ones.

How we check

Part of this coast we check on the spot. What lies between the grounds and the water is not always clear enough on satellite imagery. Seen something that is wrong? Tell us through the contact page — a correction with a photograph is the most valuable thing you can send us.