Kerobokan is a resort area in Bali’s southwest that borders just east of Canggu and west of the upscale area of Seminyak. Despite the more urban scene compared to neighbouring beach resorts, Kerobokan pretty much shares the colourful mix of world-class dining venues and the modern and urban style villa resorts that both Canggu and Seminyak have become recognised for. Here you’ll find a good combination of modern development, luxury lifestyles and long strips of beaches.
Most visitors know Kerobokan due to the black sand beach and popular surf breaks at Berawa. You’ll also instantly notice that Kerobokan is a sight of contrasts. Commercial blocks with designer boutiques and are interwoven with patches of existing rice fields, and in some areas, rural traditional Balinese villages.
Kerobokan has a few attractions of note but this area is lacking in quantity when compared to neighbouring Canggu or Seminyak – after all, this is a mainly residential area. However, it does have several beaches of note, such as the exotic stretches of dark glistening black sand found at Petitenget and Berawa Beach, both popular for seclusion far removed from the busy scenes found further down the coast in Seminyak or Kuta. These areas usually overlap with each other with attractions in Kerobokan claiming to be located in neighbouring Seminyak, Kuta or Canggu due to the growing popularity of the latter.
Kerobokan Prison, also known as “Hotel K” is a prison also located in Kerobokan. The prison opened in 1979 and was built to hold 300 inmates. As of 2017, the Kerobokan Prison contains over 1400 male and female prisoners of various nationalities. More than 90% of the prisoners are Indonesian and 78% were convicted on drug charges. 15,000 rupiah (~ $1) per day is allocated for each prisoner.