Water Blow Nusa Dua: Where the Ocean Chooses Violence

My exploration of the meticulously curated tourism fuckery otherwise known as Nusa Dua eventually brought me to Water Blow.

Because of course it did.

Nusa Dua is the part of Bali where somebody apparently looked at an island famous for temples, volcanoes, rice terraces, chaotic traffic, questionable electrical wiring and monkeys committing organized theft and thought: You know what this place needs? Landscaping.

Lots and lots of landscaping.

Everything around Nusa Dua feels suspiciously organized. Giant resorts. Manicured lawns. Immaculate roads. Security checkpoints. Sidewalks that inexplicably remain sidewalks instead of abruptly becoming roads for motorbikes.

It’s Bali after someone discovered master planning.

And tucked into this carefully controlled tropical paradise is Water Blow Nusa Dua, where Mother Nature apparently refused to cooperate with the theme and continues beating the absolute shit out of the coastline.

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DESTINATION: Water Blow NUSA DUA

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NUSA DUA FOUND SOME ROCKS AND MADE THEM AN ATTRACTION

Let’s properly manage expectations here.

If you arrive at Water Blow Bali when it’s low tide or the ocean is suspiciously calm, you’re going to see rocks.

Nice rocks.

Rugged rocks.

Photogenic rocks.

But still…

Rocks.

Water Blow sits at the edge of the Nusa Dua peninsula, where the manicured tourism machine finally runs out of land and meets the Indian Ocean.

And the coastline here isn’t exactly inviting.

There isn’t some beautiful sandy beach where you spread out a towel and sip something served inside a coconut.

There are jagged chunks of exposed coral and limestone perched above an angry ocean that looks like it has been patiently waiting several thousand years for someone to ignore a warning sign.

Falling off here would not be an inconvenience.

It would be a very brief change to your itinerary.

Fortunately, paths and designated viewing areas make exploring Water Blow Nusa Dua Bali considerably less suicidal than the surrounding geology suggests.

Which is important because the entire reason you came here is to watch that angry ocean attack the rocks.

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AND THEN THE INDIAN OCEAN CHOOSES VIOLENCE

This is where Water Blow suddenly goes from that’s a nice coastline to HOLY SHIT.

The rock formations along the peninsula contain narrow channels and openings.

Incoming waves get shoved into those narrowing spaces.

Water doesn’t particularly appreciate this arrangement.

So when a large swell hits the coastline, an enormous volume of water gets compressed into the channel and has essentially one remaining option: UP.

And up it fucking goes.

A big wave can slam into Water Blow and launch a massive plume of seawater straight into the air.

Not a cute little splash.

Not some adorable spray gently drifting across the rocks.

I’m talking about a towering explosion of ocean that can rise above the viewing area before gravity remembers it has responsibilities and dumps the entire thing back onto everyone standing nearby.

Which explains the name.

Water. Blow.

Marketing finally nailed one.

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YOUR INSTAGRAM OUTFIT IS ABOUT TO GET FUCKED

There’s a wonderful moment at Water Blow when everyone sees a massive wave approaching.

You know what’s about to happen.

The people around you know what’s about to happen.

Everyone has voluntarily positioned themselves next to something literally called Water Blow.

And yet when the water launches into the sky and comes crashing down, everyone reacts with complete surprise that the water has, in fact, blown.

Phones disappear.

People run.

Children scream.

Locals laugh at tourists.

Someone who spent forty-five minutes getting dressed for Instagram suddenly realizes the Indian Ocean doesn’t give a shit about their outfit.

It’s fantastic.

And if you’re there specifically for Waterblow photos, this is the moment you’re waiting for.

Don’t just photograph the coastline.

The coastline is beautiful, but Bali isn’t exactly suffering from a shortage of photogenic scenery.

The photograph you want is the wave hitting.

Watch the ocean, wait for a larger swell and shoot continuously as it reaches the rocks. The interesting sequence isn’t just the giant plume at maximum height. The impact, explosion and water collapsing back across the rocks can all produce completely different photographs within a few seconds.

And unless you’re using equipment that enjoys saltwater baths considerably more than mine does, keep your distance and pay attention to the wind.

Sea spray and expensive cameras have a notoriously shitty relationship.

If you’re looking for ridiculously photogenic Bali without the saltwater assault, Tegenungan Waterfall offers another opportunity to get yourself and your camera wet for entirely different reasons.

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NUSA DUA TIDE TABLES: SUDDENLY YOU GIVE A SHIT

If you’re trying to see Water Blow actually blow, your visit depends heavily on something surprisingly absent from most carefully posed Instagram photos: The fucking ocean.

High tide combined with decent ocean swell gives you a much better chance of seeing the spectacular water eruptions everyone came for.

Low tide and calm seas?

Congratulations.

You’ve come to look at geology.

This is why I’d check the Nusa Dua tide and current ocean conditions before wandering over. If your schedule is flexible, aim around high tide and give yourself enough time to wait for a few sets of larger waves.

Nature doesn’t operate a show schedule.

There isn’t a Water Blow employee standing somewhere with a giant red button labeled FUCK THESE TOURISTS.

Sometimes you’ll get repeated massive eruptions.

Sometimes the ocean will basically shrug.

That’s part of the deal.

And it makes Water Blow a lot more interesting than many of the perfectly choreographed attractions surrounding it.

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AN INDONESIAN ADVENTURE REQUIRING ALMOST NO BAD DECISIONS

One of the best things about Water Blow Nusa Dua is that experiencing it requires almost no adventure whatsoever.

This is not Kelingking Beach, where the scenery comes bundled with cliffs, questionable decisions and the possibility of your legs filing for divorce.

You’re in Nusa Dua.

Your carefully curated civilization experience has already arrived.

If you’re staying at one of the enormous resorts nearby, Water Blow is an easy addition to whatever you’re already doing around the peninsula. There are proper paths, landscaped grounds and designated areas leading toward the viewpoint.

No jungle expedition.

No three-hour wooden boat.

No 4AM wake-up.

No scooter journey through traffic where lane markings are interpreted as gentle philosophical suggestions.

You just…

go there.

Which feels suspiciously easy for Indonesia.

For perspective, compare that with my attempt to swim with whale sharks while visiting Bali, which eventually required leaving Bali entirely, flying to Sumbawa, sleeping somewhere with cold showers, waking up at an ungodly hour and spending three hours on a wooden boat.

Water Blow requires walking across some nicely maintained landscaping.

Adventure comes in many forms.

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THIS IS THE BALI I ACTUALLY LIKE

For all the shit I give Nusa Dua about being Bali’s carefully manicured tourism bubble, Water Blow provides a little reminder of what’s hiding underneath all the chaos.

Bali is a spectacularly violent little piece of geology.

This is an island built by volcanoes, surrounded by powerful ocean and continually being reshaped by both.

Drive north and you can climb Mount Batur and stand inside the remains of an enormous volcanic system.

Head offshore toward Nusa Penida and you get absurd cliffs, violent currents and places like Manta Ray Bay, where the beautiful blue water looked substantially less beautiful after I jumped into it.

At Water Blow, you don’t need to go anywhere.

You just stand on the edge of Nusa Dua and watch the Indian Ocean repeatedly punch Bali in the face.

WHOOOOOOOOSH.

Water flies into the sky.

Everyone gets soaked.

Everyone laughs.

Cameras start firing.

Then everything settles down.

Until the next wave arrives.

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NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. FUCKING BOOM.

Water Blow isn’t something I’d cross Indonesia specifically to see.

Let’s not get fucking carried away.

If the ocean isn’t cooperating, you’re looking at a rugged piece of Bali coastline for a while before heading back toward your hotel.

But that’s also completely missing the point.

Water Blow is one of the easiest little side adventures in Nusa Dua, and when you catch it around high tide with a decent swell, the place puts on one hell of a show.

That’s when those otherwise unremarkable rocks suddenly make sense.

The wave hits.

The ocean disappears into the channel.

For about half a second, absolutely nothing happens.

And then a gigantic wall of seawater fucking launches into the sky.

There it is.

That’s Water Blow.

Get the photo.

Get wet.

And please don’t climb over the barriers trying to improve your Instagram angle.

The ocean has already demonstrated exactly what it thinks about your personal safety.