By car
Kuta is reached by the main Jalan Ngurah Rai bypass from points north Denpasar, Sanur and Ubud, and south (Jimbaran, Nusa Dua and Uluwatu. If you are coming in from Seminyak be sure to take the Jalan Sunset bypass and not the congested beach route along Jalan Raya Seminyak and Jalan Legian.
By Bemo
As elsewhere in Bali, bemos are rarer and far less important in Kuta than they used to be. This reflects both the increased number of Balinese who are wealthy enough to afford their own transport, and the huge upscaling of the very nature of tourism in Bali in the past 10 years. Bemo Corner, in the heart of Kuta at the junction of Jalan Legian and Jalan Raya Kuta, used to be an institution on the backpacker circuit. These days it is almost irrelevant, but the little blue buses are still there albeit in greatly reduced numbers, and they will still try to charge you five times the real rate.
Kuta is served with some regularity from Denpasar's Tegal bemo terminal.
By ship
Benoa Harbor — not to be confused with Tanjung Benoa — is around 20 min northeast of Kuta, and speedboats and cruises from the Gili Islands, Lombok and Nusa Lembongan arrive here. Most companies operating from Benoa offer free pick-up and drop-off in and around Kuta.
By bus
Kuta is connected by bus routes from all areas of Bali. There are various scheduled shuttle services including Perama (http://peramatour.com). Perama shuttle buses to Kuta leave from Sanur, Ubud, Candidasa, Padang Bai and Lovina.
By plane
Ngurah Rai International Airport, also known as Denpasar International Airport DPS, is in fact directly south of Kuta, about 15 minutes away by taxi. More information about the airport is in the main Bali article.
The prepaid fare from the airport to Kuta is Rp 50,000. If you don't have too much luggage, you can save some money by walking 200 metres out of the airport area, and take a metred taxi from a company that does not pay service fees to the airport authority and is therefore not allowed to enter the airport to pick up customers. For example, a metered taxi from Bali Taksi +62 361 701111 will run to about Rp 20,000 for the same trip. Before putting yourself through all that though you might wish to ask yourself whether it is worth it to save just $3. You can also catch a bemo from outside the airport to Kuta for Rp 5,000-10,000.
How to find a prepaid taxi desk?
When you get out of departures you'll see stainless steel rails. Immediately you'll be attacked by drivers demanding ridiculous money from you - ignore them, as they'll start negotiating at Rp 200000. Taxi booth is actually directly to the right of these steel handrails.