Building over water.

[Steve Rossell]

There is lot's of fluid info in regards to building a house/villa/bungalow as well as a minefield of legalities regarding 'bule' rights in Bali.
So here are some questions that are little bit 'left field'.
Apart from the logistical/engineering considerations does anyone have an idea as to ownership boundaries in Bali by someone that owns an ocean coastline property? Many pacific islands property rights extend to the fringing reef for example, thereby protecting their fishing rights.
How onerous would the bureaucracy be on such a concept, environmental impacts etc. I'm not talking resort development but a single domicile.
I have no plans at the moment and it's only an idea.
Would it be considered a 'temporary structure' if the foundation pylons were submerged at low tide?
Are there any structures of this kind in Bali already (ocean based) that anyone knows of?
Solar powered? Fresh water catchment system, composting toilet etc.
Waddya think?
Just thinking out loud here folks.

 

[mugwump]

There is lot's of fluid info in regards to building a house/villa/bungalow as well as a minefield of legalities regarding 'bule' rights in Bali.
So here are some questions that are little bit 'left field'.
Apart from the logistical/engineering considerations does anyone have an idea as to ownership boundaries in Bali by someone that owns an ocean coastline property? Many pacific islands property rights extend to the fringing reef for example, thereby protecting their fishing rights.
How onerous would the bureaucracy be on such a concept, environmental impacts etc. I'm not talking resort development but a single domicile.
I have no plans at the moment and it's only an idea.
Would it be considered a 'temporary structure' if the foundation pylons were submerged at low tide?
Are there any structures of this kind in Bali already (ocean based) that anyone knows of?
Solar powered? Fresh water catchment system, composting toilet etc.
Waddya think?
Just thinking out loud here folks.

Since this is a forum and members may have opinions, and are not wizards.........allow me to state an opinion. According to everything that I have read and understand the beach is public to all. Since 1954 ( I understand) that all buildings must be 100 meters from the ocean in Indonesia, and all beaches have access to the public (assuming that means Indonesian citizens). Go to Buleleng and see exceptions and it is not unique.
If that is the legal situation then it would seem that it wouldn't be legally possible to do what you presume. On the other hand, we are in Bali where at times it seems all things are possible.

 

[mugwump]

Gad zooks, egad and all that stuff. Sorry Steve, must amend my previous reply by saying that according to prevailing wisdom a structure without a foundation as you suggest wouldn't have to be 100 meters from the beach. However with only bamboo stilts supporting a structure above the water certainly exist today in such areas as Manado, but would you and I as bules be able to do this? We surely can't "own" anything here, and how could we keep people from marching through "our" house?

 

[Steve Rossell]

Gad zooks, egad and all that stuff. Sorry Steve, must amend my previous reply by saying that according to prevailing wisdom a structure without a foundation as you suggest wouldn't have to be 100 meters from the beach. However with only bamboo stilts supporting a structure above the water certainly exist today in such areas as Manado, but would you and I as bules be able to do this? We surely can't "own" anything here, and how could we keep people from marching through "our" house?

Thanx for the input mugwump. Indeed it is a forum and I'm not looking for legal opinion just opinions . It was just an idea that popped into my head and I thought that I'd throw it out there. Call it a fishing expedition.

 

[Markit]

Living by the ocean I can say without fear of contradiction you would really, really not want a house on the ocean here. Waves are anything from 0 to 20 meters tall depending upon season and prevailing wind direction. Slightly better in the Singaraja area but they also have some good ones that would trash any house you'd put on the water.

Nuff said?

Now an alternative that I've considered myself would be a houseboat on one of the lakes here Batur or Kintamani? Problem there is probably the same as that of the lagoon here in Candi Dasa which I'm told is holy and cannot be built on or in.

 

[JohnnyCool]

Well, I hope that the proposed North Bali floating airport isn’t going to be propped up on bamboo stilts. And wonder if the brilliant minds behind that project have considered markit’s waves up to 20 metres?
I once thought about plonking a nice house boat on Lake Batur, and talked to several influential Balinese about it. They thought it would be OK (but that was many years ago). These days Lake Batur is literally up and down, with the consensus being that it’s dropping. Plus, it’s highly polluted. And “holy”.
I think that a bule building a structure on pylons in the ocean would raise many “official” eyebrows and would be fraught with difficulties. Whether surmountable or not, I have no idea. Maybe you’d be better off buying yourself some kind of yacht/trimaran/catamaran, but even then, you’d probably get hit with various sailing permits/taxes. Not sure how they work if you’re in Indonesia and not coming from another country.
Here’s another “idea’. What about a submarine house? I bet nobody’s tried that here, yet…

A one-off for markit: he talks about lakes like “Kintamani or Batur”. Huh? Two different lakes? Kintamani is a village on top of the ridge and Lake Batur is inside the caldera. Maybe he meant the lakes in Bedugul.

 

[ronb]

In Batam I have seen a whole suburb built over water. I would reckon they have the property title issues worked out. But who knows if the arrangements are national, provincial, or on a regency basis?