Beach, sunset, and plane spotting.

That pretty much describes Jerman Beach (Pantai Jerman) which is located next to Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali. It is one of lesser-known beaches in Bali and will not show up on your search result for “Bali best beaches” or “Bali must-visit beaches”. I found out about this beach from a local Uber driver while visiting Bali a couple of years ago, though I’ve been to Bali several times before (If he hadn’t told me, I probably still wouldn’t know about its existence). Since then I always took an after-7-PM flight back home from Bali so I could enjoy one last sunset slash plane spotting from this beach.

Jerman Beach is actually a fishing village. It was once an important harbor in Bali and then turned to be a residence area of Germans decades ago hence the name Jerman (Jerman: German in Indonesian language).

It’s just about 15 minutes walk from Ngurah Rai Airport’s Domestic Terminal and a little bit more walk to the International Terminal. On my first visit, I brought a luggage with me. A newbie mistake. I clearly couldn’t take a suitcase along with me on sandy beach or find the 100% safe place to put it in while I was out exploring the beach. I ended up trusting my suitcase to this one kind Ibu-ibu Warung. The thing is, the warungs in Jerman Beach are closing before dark (around 6 PM). This Ibu-ibu Warung closed her stall already when I was back, and thank God she was kindly waiting for me to pick up my suitcase (apparently I’ve gone for too long hahaha).

It will be easier if you just have a backpack instead. Or if you’re about to take a flight from Ngurah Rai Airport, I suggest you to have your luggage checked in first before going to this beach. Another option is to put your luggage in left luggage service in domestic terminal that costs you Rp50k per luggage.

It’s a public beach so there is no entrance fee. You probably need to pay for Rp2k-Rp10k parking fee for motorcycle/car though.

This beach is so calm, way less crowded than Kuta or Legian, and of course less touristy. I saw only a few foreigner tourists, most of them were surfing (yes, you can surf too in here). There’s a lot of locals —the kids playing in the beach, some guys fishing, a bunch of guys playing volleyball, or some people just sitting quietly watching sunset/plane landing.

This may not be your typical dreamy white-sandy beach but it’s definitely worth your visit.

PS: don’t forget to set an alarm so you don’t miss your flight!