Jimbaran is now growing into an exclusive location for luxury hotels and villas, all of which have claimed beachfront areas as their own. Therefore, people are no longer allowed to enter the once-public beaches under hotel control. Surfers had limited opportunities to practice from public beaches as they were now parts of hotel or villa properties. These hotels and villas have been built along the coastline and have closed almost every access to the public. People have to use a very narrow alley between hotels or villas they we want to access the beach. This phenomenon had been taking place in most of Bali’s favorite holiday spots, such as Nusa Dua, Benoa, Kuta, Jimbaran, Sanur, Candi Dasa and other beaches. Former surf sites in Jimbaran (in front of Four Seasons Hotel) and Uluwatu, as well as Dreamland, were among the favorite and most beautiful surf spots and now almost completely unavailable to surfers.
For Balinese Hindu society, beaches are some of the most sacred sites, used to perform various religious ceremonies, including purification rituals. Thus, limited access to beaches affects the religious life of local residents. In addition, the closure of public beaches to make way for various tourist facilities has also had a life-changing impact on local fishermen. Fishermen find almost no space to moor their boats along these beaches.
Despite the government’s regulation prohibiting development along the island’s coastlines, investors continue to search for beach locations with stunning views for their hotels and villas. A lack of law enforcement has led to these massive bad developments on the island of Bali.