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On the map, Bira looks relatively "close" to Makassar, and most reviews say that it is a popular weekend destination. But don't be fooled by the map, it is rather a day-trip of about 6 hours to get from Makassar to Bira. But this is certainly worth it, once you have seen the beautiful white beach and the amazing colour of the water! All taken into account, we would recommend to stay at least 3 nights or more to be able to enjoy this fully. We were there during weekdays, so it was not too busy at the beach. Be prepared for some occasional Karaoke sound from nearby resorts, this seems to be a given activity for locals during beach trips... And you may feel like a celebrity at the beach, locals really like to take pictures with the tourists! The Bara Beach Bungalows are located almost at the end of the beach, in a nice sloping garden. The restaurant and reception is near the beach terrace and serves excellent food! We had many nice meals here and were not disappointed. We especially liked the water refill station (hot and cold water for free), this helps to reduce the plastic waste! Breakfast is sometimes served as a buffet if there are many guests, but on most days we got to select from the breakfast menu options (special requests were never a problem). Staff is very friendly and speaks good English, on most days you will also be able to meet the manager who appears to be a native speaker in both Indonesian and English and who gave us lots of nice advice for trips around the area. We definitely recommend to do a snorkeling trip by boat to the small island opposite the beach, there is a really beautiful coral reef garden with lots of different fish to be explored! You can walk along the beach during low tide to get to the other resorts, especially the partner location Akasha Beach Club is worth a visit for sunset! But keep the tide times in mind to safely get back and bring a torch or headlight (there is a road as well, just in case). Would stay here again any time if we are in the area!

Klein bungalowparkje met aantal mooi gelegen huisjes. Er is er maar eentje (nr.1) met echt uitzicht op zee. Die hadden wij helaas niet…. Huisje was mooi ruim, met goedwerkende airco. Badkamer is heel vreemd ingedeeld, toilet ongeveer onder de wastafel, slecht afwaterende douche, hele vloer kleddernat. Een renovatie zou hier niet misstaan. Goed ontbijt, restaurant verder matig. We waren de enige gasten, de aangrenzende “hotels” hadden zeer lawaaiige optredens van artiesten die nog wel wat scholing nodig hebben!