ITDC Nusa Dua

Nusa Dua is large luxury resort area located at the most southern part of Bali, the word Nusa mean “Island” while Dua mean “Two”, hence become “Two Island” if literary translated. And just like that name suggest, the origin of Nusa Dua name actually came from those two small islands. The one located on southern side is Peninsula Island and then not far from there, the other one called Nusa Dharma Island lies slightly on northern direction.

Both islands are located in Nusa Dua Beach and situated very close to each other, you can click above links to read more information about those places. ITDC Nusa Dua is often heralded as Bali Island most developed resort area where some of the world best international branded hotels were built magnificently inside here, it also can be said that Nusa Dua is the sanctuary and pinnacle of hospitality in Bali.

The first thing you will definitely notice after entering this place is the vast green gardens are exist almost everywhere, Nusa Dua gardens are nurtured with numerous lovely and elegant plants covering large amount of area. Nusa Dua is quite big and there are lots of road circles or intersections in this place, so make sure that you bring Nusa Dua area map or you can check digital maps on your phone beforehand to avoid strangled into unknown places.

This road intersections are connected into many different places for example : ITDC Office Building, Five Star Resorts or Hotels, Nusa Dua Convention Center, Golf Field, Beaches, Fire Station and of course there also an international class hospital nearby called BIMC Hospital in case you need an emergency medical treatment. ITDC also made few large map sign board placed across Nusa Dua to assist the visitors.

Also there are 3 more great places in Nusa Dua that I think worth to mention and visit. First place is Pasifika Museum, this museum showcasing more than 600 incredibly diverse artworks such as paintings and sculptures that came from Asia Pasific Region. Second place is an art theatre called Devdan Show, as you know Indonesia consist and formed from hundred of different ethnic groups with each of them have their own authentic style & unique cultures.

Devdan mission is to show the arts of this many Indonesian ethic groups such as : traditional dances, folklore tale and musical show to much broader audiences. And then the last place I will mention is Bali Collection Shopping Center, it’s an open mall with department store, local boutique, supermarket and restaurant built inside it. If you’re looking for something to buy, maybe by visiting this place you will find the thing that you need quickly.

Nusa Dua also can be a great place for exercises, because most area in here are consist mostly of garden with green grass and maybe has little bit similarity to a sport field. A lot of people often come here in the morning or afternoon to do some sport activities like cycling, jogging, tennis, badminton, soccer, etc. And just for information, if you have some spare time maybe you can visit my YouTube Channel and watch how it feel like to walk around this place. Since Nusa Dua area is quite huge, I have to split the videos into two parts and the first part has been embedded inside this blog post, you can watch the video below.

History

In 1971 the government with the assistance of UNDP conducted a study over Balinese Tourism Prospect which then carried out by SCETO, a Paris Consulting Agency. As the follow up to the recommendation of Bali Tour­ism Master Plan, General Directorate of Tourism with the assistance of UNDP has prepared Nusa Dua Re­sort Master Plan. It was designed by Pacific Consul­tant International (PCI) of Japan in conjunction with Indonesian Consultant in 1972. Bali Tourism Master Plan as recommended by SCETO is an economic development within which the well-being and prosperity of the people is im­proved without sacrificing the cultural values or vic­timizing the society and environment.

Nua Dua Project as a part of Bali Tourism De­velopment Master Plan is an integrated tourism area and accommodation plan. Set at a consider­able distance from the native Balinese settlement, as a result the negative influence of tourism could be restrained. Bukit (high terrain / mountain) stretch to Nusa Dua is most suit­able land for that end, barren lots of limestone but on other hand beautiful white sand on the beach, rarely visited and virtually separated from the rest of tra­ditional Balinese as well as its immediate reach to Ngurah Rai Airport are the main factors.

Nusa Dua Tourism Resort was created because of objective requirement of high-quality rooms to accommodate the ever increasing visitor, pre­vious study showed that a significant amount of international quality hotels and lodging compounds is required for accommodation. In 1975, there were only 1800 rooms available around Kuta and Sanur, meanwhile according to study conducted up until 1980 showed that around 3800 – 4700 international-quality rooms was required.

Using the approach as stated, at one hand the growing need for rooms could be replenished and on other hand Balinese culture as the main at­traction could be well preserved. On top of that there is so much space left in Nusa Dua Enclave for a flexible development. Despite the lack of surface water supply and low precipitation that render it un­suitable for farming, it is blessed with beautiful vistas, white sand on the beaches, clear blue ocean and nice view of sunrise.

In later year, the organization which tasked to develop and manage the tourism facilities in Nusa Dua Bali was later decided to debut with BTDC (Bali Tourism Development Corporation) name. BTDC Nusa Dua manage approximately 350 hectares of land which previously barren and unproductive but now become an attractive tour­ism area in Bali. This place has achieved international recognition as one of the six best tourist destinations in the world. The construction of the infrastructures has been carried out by BTDC with the funding derived from the Word Bank based on appraisal conducted on May 1974 and the loan then has been paid by BTDC advanced of the due date.

Fast forward into June 2014, because of Indonesia government new strategy to further accelerate Indonesia tourism development plan, BTDC was then renamed into ITDC that last even until now. Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is a state owned corporation which exist solely for the main purpose of managing and cultivating the tourism activities in Indonesia. ITDC have 3 following primary objectives : [1] Development of tourism facilities and infra­structure, [2] Improvement of road access to tourist destinations, [3] And extension of these road access to prospective destinations.

Gallery

To enter Nusa Dua area you have to go through the main gate first and there is a total of 3 gates exist inside Nusa Dua. If you look closely to the gate in picture above, you should be able to see a pair of very tall half-triangle shaped structure called Gapura. This Gapura is built in many places across Bali Island and with purpose to symbolize Balinese majestic gate. Another fact, Gapura is always used as a gate in every Pura (Balinese Temple).

Nusa Dua is always synonymous with green scenery, there are many kind of plants nurtured inside Nusa Dua garden and alongside the roadway as well. The appearance of garden is arranged to look as good as possible and pleasing to the eyes just like work of arts. Also on top of that, cleanliness is always regarded as highest priority in here and being uphold with highest standard. Keeping Nusa Dua honor as the best resort area in Bali is not an easy job, it requires great dedication together with meticulous attention to detail and no compromise must be allowed.

Picture above is an intersection near BNDCC (Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center), the best and biggest convention center in Nusa Dua, located just a few meters away from the north gate. BNDCC is capable to host any event with up to 10.000 participants and often chosen to held many important world events, for example : 2013 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), 2016 WCIM (World Congress of Internal Medicine), 2018 IMF (International Monetary Fund) and many more.

There are three road circles inside Nusa Dua and in the middle of northern road circle exist a small Balinese Monument called Mandala. This monument is surrounded by round water pool with a lot of gold fish live inside it. Mandala Monument is one of the most popular place for recreational activities around Nusa Dua area, during morning or afternoon time many people often come here to do some exercises like jogging, football, tennis, etc. And then this place somehow transform into hangout or dating spot for young guys on evening time after sunset take place.

Going slightly to the south will take you to another Nusa Dua road circle and there grew an old gigantic Beringin Tree (Ficus Benjamina) right inside the circle. Most people don’t even know for sure the age of this big tree, I estimated it around 30 years old or maybe could be more. According to Balinese custom or tradition, Beringin is widely regarded as sacred tree where many kind of spirits reside there, simply put they treat it like a home. Sometime you might see a Beringin Tree wrapped with chessboard-like cloth called SarungPoleng together with Sanggah Cucuk (small miniature of temple) built beside it, which mean that tree have high spirituality and very sacred.

And the last road circle is located within Nusa Dua southern area, the exact location is right in front of Mengiat Beach entrance. Dewa Ruci Statue was built inside the circle and much bigger version of this statue is located in Simpang Siur Street. For information, Dewa Ruci is a Dwarf God in Mahabharata Epic where he guide a Pandava Warrior Bima to find and acquire Tirta Amarta (water of life) which actually didn’t really exist. Long short story, this palm-sized God called Dewa Ruci appear after Bima successfully killed a sea dragon monster. Dewa Ruci then told Bima that the water of life he painstakingly searching for is surprisingly already exist inside all of us.