Bali Marina Villa's - Amed

Set directly on Amed's black-sand beach, this is a villa-style resort built around sea views, gardens and an easygoing pace. The infinity pool faces the water, while the grounds give you somewhere green to sit when the day has been spent in salt water and sunlight.

The mood is suited to divers who want the sea close at hand but still expect a proper place to eat, sleep and stretch out. Couples can keep things simple in a sea-view bungalow; families or groups can spread across the larger villas, with the biggest option accommodating up to eight guests.

There is a personal, owner-hosted feel to the place, with a welcome built around breakfast on the veranda, fresh fruit juice and time spent looking out towards the sea. No grand production is needed here. The attraction is being able to move from beach to pool to room without turning the evening into an expedition.

You are in Amed, Indonesia, at the centre of the village and directly on the coast. The resort opens onto a black-sand beach, with the ocean a few steps away and Mount Agung forming the inland backdrop. It is the sort of location where you can watch local fishing boats from the property rather than needing a viewpoint and a timetable.

Jemeluk Beach is about 0.7 miles away by road, while Lipah Beach is roughly 1.1 miles away. Amed Beach is about 1.4 miles away, and Selang Beach around 2.3 miles. The immediate area is practical rather than sealed off: Alona Shop and Restaurant is about 600 feet away, with Sinar Bali 1 Restaurant and Rising Star each around 800 feet away by road.

For a change of scene, Utani Coffee is about 850 feet away by road, and Wawa Wewe II bar is around 1 mile away. Bukit Keresek is about 0.9 miles away, while Tirta Gangga Water Palace is around 11 miles by road. The village is close enough for a wander, but the beach remains the main event.

The accommodation works best when you choose it around the shape of your trip. The one-bedroom sea-view bungalow is the straightforward couple's choice: private, compact and aimed at keeping the ocean part of the room rather than merely a line on a map. For four people, the two-bedroom sea-view villa adds the space to live together without having to conduct the entire holiday from the edge of one bed.

The private-pool villa is the option for a larger family or group, with room for up to eight guests and four bathrooms. That matters when several divers return at once, hungry, tired and carrying the day's sand in places sand should not be. A private entrance and outdoor seating give the villas a little separation from the main resort rhythm.

Air conditioning is available for the heavy, humid hours, while fans, mosquito nets and private outdoor areas make the rooms more usable when you want fresh air. Sea, garden, pool or courtyard views vary by accommodation. You also have a private bathroom, minibar or refrigerator, kettle, tea and coffee facilities, free WiFi and a drying rack for clothing. Daily housekeeping keeps the practical side moving, and some bathrooms include a bath as well as shower facilities.

The on-site sea-view restaurant concentrates on Asian cooking, with homemade dishes prepared without MSG. It is the useful sort of restaurant for a diving base: you can eat while keeping the sea in view, rather than losing half the evening travelling in search of dinner.

Breakfast covers continental, full English or Irish, vegetarian, vegan, Asian and American choices, with breakfast to go also available. That gives early risers and people with a boat to catch a little flexibility. Room service, breakfast in the room and a minibar are also available when the sensible plan is to eat privately and stop moving.

There is a snack bar, packed lunches and special-diet menus on request. No bar is listed as a separate venue, so the emphasis here is the restaurant, the outdoor dining area and the view rather than a dedicated nightlife circuit. Nearby, Alona Shop and Restaurant is about 600 feet away, and several other restaurants sit within roughly 800 feet by road if you fancy changing tables.

The main piece of post-dive machinery is the outdoor infinity pool, set by the sea with a clear view across the water. Sun loungers, umbrellas, pool and beach towels, a sun terrace and garden seating give you several ways to stop for the day without immediately retreating indoors. There is also a children's pool, which makes the resort workable for families sharing the trip with younger non-divers.

The spa offers massage, and sauna facilities are available when muscles have had enough of carrying tanks and pretending the walk back to the room is effortless. Yoga classes provide a gentler reset, while a massage chair is there for the brief, low-commitment version of wellness. Snorkelling is available, with a reef directly in front of the villas described as a nearby place to enter the water.

Away from the shoreline, you can join walking tours, bike tours, cycling, hiking, fishing, cooking classes and tours or classes about local culture. Water-sports facilities are available on site. For a quieter afternoon, the garden, private terraces and outdoor seating are enough to make doing very little a perfectly serviceable activity.

Ngurah Rai International Airport is about 43 miles away in the location listing; the road distance is around 58 miles, with a drive of about 1 hour 29 minutes. An airport shuttle and a general shuttle service are available through the property, and bicycle hire can also be arranged. Private check-in and check-out, luggage storage, a tour desk, concierge service, currency exchange and an on-site ATM cover the useful bits around arrival and excursions.

Check-in starts from 13:00 and check-out is by 11:00. You need to give the property your arrival time in advance. Free private parking is available on site without reservation, and WiFi is free throughout the property. Cash is the listed payment method, which is worth treating as a practical planning point before leaving for a village where your bank card may not always be the star of the show.

Children of any age are welcome, although children aged three and over are charged as adults. Cots and extra beds are not available, so room choice matters if you are travelling as a family. Smoking is not allowed, parties are not permitted, and quiet hours run from 22:00 to 06:00. Laundry is available, as are wake-up calls, room service and daily housekeeping.

The resort's environmental measures are practical rather than decorative. Plastic straws and plastic bottles are not used, and filtered drinking water is available without limit in the rooms, removing the need for single-use bottles during a hot day by the sea.

Beach clean-ups and underwater clean-ups are part of the property's approach. For a diver, that is the relevant bit: the same coastline is being treated as something to look after, not simply a backdrop for photographs and a place to leave the day's rubbish.