North Bali

With its great selection of lodgings, Pemuteran is the ideal base for diving and snorkelling Pulau Menjangan. Banyuwedang's harbour is just 7km west of town, so you have only a short ride before you're on a boat for the relaxing and pretty 30-minute journey to Menjangan. Dive shops and local hotels run snorkelling trips that cost US$65 to US$85; two-tank dive trips cost from US$95. That includes a 250,000Rp park entrance fee, but note that on Sundays and other national holidays, the price for entering the park increases to 350,000Rp.

Some tours to Menjangan leave by boat right from Pemuteran Beach; this is best. Other trips involve a car ride and transfer at Banyuwedang.

This popular oasis in the northwest corner of Bali has a number of artful resorts set on a little dogbone-shaped bay that's incredibly calm, thanks to its location within an extinct volcano crater protected by flourishing coral reefs. The beach is decent, but most people come to view the undersea wonders just offshore and at nearby Pulau Menjangan.

The busy Singaraja–Gilimanuk road is the town's spine and ever more businesses aimed at visitors can be found along it. Despite its popularity, Pemuteran's community and tourism businesses have forged a sustainable vision for development that should be a model for the rest of Bali.

Sitting 18km southeast of Singaraja, some six or seven separate waterfalls – all fed by upland streams – pour up to 80m over cliffs in a verdant bamboo-forested valley. From the car park, it's a hilly 45-minute, 1km walk through the tiny Sekumpul village, where trees of clove, cacao, jackfruit, mangosteen and more lead the way to steep stairs. Trails wind through the valley from one cascade to the other and its easy to while the day away in their splendor.

'Relaxed' is how people most often describe Lovina, and aside from the pushy touts, they are correct. This low-key, low-rise, low-priced beach resort town is a far cry from Kuta. The waves are calm, the beach thin and overamped attractions nil.

Lovina is sun-drenched, with patches of shade from palm trees. A highlight every afternoon at fishing villages such as Anturan is watching prahu (traditional outrigger canoes) being prepared for the night's fishing; as sunset reddens the sky, the lights of the fishing boats appear as bright dots across the horizon.

The Lovina tourist area stretches over 8km, and consists of a string of coastal villages – Kaliasem, Kalibukbuk, Anturan and Tukad Mungga – collectively known as Lovina. The main focus is Kalibukbuk, 10.5km west of Singaraja and the heart of Lovina. Daytime traffic on the main road is loud and fairly constant.

About 5km west of Lovina, a sign points to Air Terjun Singsing (Daybreak Waterfall); about 1km from the main road there's a warung (food stall) on the left and a car park on the right. Walk past the warung and along the path for about 200m to the lower falls. The waterfall isn't huge, but the pool underneath is ideal for swimming, though not crystal-clear. The water, cooler than the sea, is very refreshing.

Singaraja (which means 'lion king') is Bali's second-largest city and the capital of Buleleng Regency, which covers much of the north. With its tree-lined streets, surviving Dutch colonial buildings and charmingly sleepy waterfront area north of Jl Erlangga, it's worth exploring for a couple of hours. Most people stay in nearby Lovina.

Singaraja was the centre of Dutch power in Bali and remained the administrative centre for the Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali through to Timor) until 1953. It is one of the few places in Bali where there are visible traces of the Dutch period, as well as Chinese and Islamic influences. Today, Singaraja is a major educational and cultural centre, with several university campuses.

Most visitors to Bali's only national park, Bali Barat National Park (Taman Nasional Bali Barat), are struck by the mellifluous sounds emanating from the birds darting among the rustling trees.

The park covers 190 sq km of the western tip of Bali, including almost 70 sq km of coral reef and coastal waters. Together this represents a significant commitment to conservation on an island as densely populated as Bali.

It's a place where you can enjoy Bali's best diving at Pulau Menjangan, hike through forests and explore coastal mangroves.