Batu Bolong Beach

This guide to Batu Bolong Beach in Canggu, Bali traces the hollow sea rock that gives the place its name, where salt spray hammers the stone yet Balinese Hindus have long drawn a spring inside it as sacred water. It follows the priests said to have first marked the spot centuries ago, from a wandering holy man to a later temple credited to Dang Hyang Nirartha, and the purification rites still carried out on the rock today. Below it, beginner surfers paddle out on some of Canggu's gentlest waves.