In Reply to: Sunbathing posted by Jemma on Wednesday, 19. January 2005 at 10:38 Bali Time:
We have seen nudity with Balinese people many times in the Amed/Tulamben area, in Ubud, at Bali Cliff, up the beach a bit from Seminyak and in Jimbaran Bay. Until fairly recently, it was the custom for Balinese women to be uncovered from the waist up and this can still be seen in some of the more outlying areas. A friend who lives in Klungkung told me that many local people bathe at a particular place on the river, some nude, some not, but no-one cares.
Last August when we were in Ubud we were eating on one of the lower levels of Murni's warung. http://www.murnis.com/warung/warung.htm
Some young Balinese women were bathing in the river just below us. My lady friend could see them from her seat and said they were definitely topless and probably nude. Then some young Balinese guys came walking up the river with towels wrapped around their waists and there was the usual giggling and friendly chit-chat.
There are accounts of Balinese people bathing nude and unconcerned. If you have a look at my recent post under Island of the Dead, the account I posted includes some visitors to Trunyan seeing a girl openly bathing in the lake as they got off the boat.
There are no official free beaches in Bali, [but there are no "official" ones in Queensland either, are there?]. I'm sure that if you want to come back from Bali with an all-over tan, as long as you are discreet, then it won't be too much of a problem.