Bali Rescue Service Flags Five Beaches as Most Dangerous After 15 Foreigner Incidents

Five beaches on Bali have been identified as the island's most hazardous for foreign visitors, based on incident data compiled from January through September, according to the Denpasar search and rescue office of Indonesia's BASARNAS agency. The beaches named were Cemongkak, Padang-Padang, Nyang-Nyang, Tembeling and Kelingking.

Tides, strong currents and rocky cliffs were cited as the main dangers. At Cemongkak and Padang-Padang, four Russian visitors needed help after the tide cut off their route back to shore; two of them were trapped beneath a cliff at Cemongkak and had to be evacuated by helicopter.

In the Pecatu area of southern Bali, which includes Cemongkak, Padang-Padang and Nyang-Nyang as well as the Mebulu headland, rescuers carried out four operations involving foreign nationals. Four people were saved and two died.

Fatalities were also recorded elsewhere: a Polish tourist was swept away by a current at Tembeling beach, and an Australian woman fell from a cliff at Kelingking on Nusa Penida. Near Water Blow in Nusa Dua, rescuers assisted a Russian man who was being carried out by a current.

Across the first nine months of the year, the office conducted 12 operations involving 15 foreign nationals. Ten survived and five died.