Part of the Indonesian archipelago, Bali is just one of the 33 provinces of the Republic of Indonesia. Indonesia is a country with a land area of 2,000,000 km˛ with a chain of islands stretching 500,000 km from Sumatra to Papua New Guinea with territorial waters of more than 5,000,000 km˛. Bali is situated between Java and Lombok island, at a latitude of 8° 03’ 40’’-8° 50’ 48” and longitude of 114° 25’ 53”-115° 42 40, with the Java Sea to the north, the Indonesian ocean to the south, the Bali strait and the province of East Java to the west, and the Lombok strait and Lombok island to the east. In total, Bali’s land area is 5,636 km˛ or 0.29% of the total land area of Indonesia, and is almost invisible on the map. The sea surrounding Bali island is about 470 km˛.

Bali sea is 9,500 km˛ (about 25 kilometers from the sea line) and divided into three parts; the north Bali sea, the east Bali sea, and the west Bali sea. The north Bali sea which is about 3,168 km˛, and runs along the coastline of Buleleng. The east Bali sea, which is about 3,350 km˛, runs along the coastlines of Karangasem, Klungkung and Gianyar. And the west Bali sea, which is about 2, 982 km˛, includes the coastlines of Badung, Tabanan and Jembrana.

Bali is classifed as a small island which is surrounded by smaller islands such as Menjangan island in Buleleng, Serangan island in Denpasar, Nusa Penida Island, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan in Klungkung. Even though the Balinese live on an island, they are not sea oriented, but they are mountain oriented instead. This is due to the fact that the ferceness of Indian ocean, surrounded by dangerous corals and its popular, strong waves, does not make Bali conducive to sailing; on the other hand, it protects the island from aggression and tsunamis.

However, the main reason for the Balinese people’s fear of the seas stems from the fact that Bali’s social space is determined by the Hindu-Balinese concept of directions and positioning. Balinese view high, mountainous places, particularly mount Agung (representing the mountain-wards direction known as "kaja"), as sacred places – a source of fertility and life, the domain of gods and worshipped ancestors. Opposing this is the lowland areas, referred to as "kelod" – the oceanic domain of the profane and mysterious.