Bali

Info about Bali places and areas

Canggu

  • Boho-chic, affordable
  • Good food options
  • Casual beach
  • Mostly young tourists

Uluwatu

  • Good beaches and high cliffs over the sea
  • Only a couple of beaches good for swimming due to strong currents
  • Secluded

Nusa Dua

  • Good for families
  • Many all-inclusive resorts are here
  • Plenty of water activities available

Ubud

  • Diverse food
  • Hippies
  • Good local market for crafts and souvenirs
  • On the hills, not next to the sea
  • Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary is right in Ubud
  • Lots of arts, temples, shows for tourists
  • Surrounded by rice fields
  • Quite humid and rainy, even outside the rainy season

Amed

  • Good for snorkeling
  • Clean beach with shallow reef
  • Dryer climate than most of Bali
  • Chill vibe, less touristy

Sanur

  • Quiet, relaxed
  • Middle-aged tourists
  • Golden beaches
  • Direct boat access to Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida
  • Not a lot to do outside of the beach

Seminyak

  • Upscale but commercialized
  • Luxury accomodations
  • Shopping capital of Bali
  • Good nightlife
  • Sunset beach bars
  • Dirty beach

Jimbaran

  • Chic
  • Little nightlife, quiet
  • Good but dirty beach

Munduk

  • In the interior
  • Waterfalls, very green
  • Local coffee
  • Great trekking and hiking area

Lovina

  • On the north coast
  • Relatively developed but still quiet
  • Dolphins spotting

Kuta

  • Plenty of long beaches
  • Surfers
  • Vibrant nightlife
  • Overcrowded and dirty

Best Bali beaches

  • Pemuteran - north-west coast (calm, sandy with some rocks, good for snorkeling)
  • Padang Padang - west side of the southern peninsula (giant rocks encompassing a sandy stretch, popular spot for pictures, monkeys, touristic)
  • Pasir Putih - east coast (relatively unspoiled, white sand, usually clean)
  • Bias Tugel - east coast (white sand, not super-crowded, rock formations with pools on the sides, good for snorkeling)
  • Nusa Dua - on the east coast of the southern peninsula (fairly large, sandy with rocks around, calm waters, mostly families)
  • Seminyak - on the south-east coast (for surfers, black sand, large)
  • Sanur - east coast (large, sandy, relatively quiet, good for swimming and snorkeling)

What to visit in Bali

  • Tannah Lot (temple right on the sea, west coast)
  • Taman Ayun (temple, west of Ubud)
  • Tirta Gangga (temple with gardens, pools and possibility of picnic, near the easternmost point of Bali)
  • Uluwatu (another temple overlooking the sea, south-west point of the southern Bali peninsula)
  • Saraswati (hindu temple in Ubud)
  • Pura Agung Besakih (hindu temple at the feet of Mount Agung)
  • Ulun Danu Beratan (temple on a lake in central-western Bali)
  • Tegallalang rice fields (north of Ubud)
  • Handara gate (famous opening on a wall of a hindu-inspired golf course with mountains backdrop, central Bali)
  • Jatiluwih rice fields (near the geographical centre of Bali)
  • Tegenungan waterfall (just south of Ubud)
  • Aling-Aling waterfall (4 waterfalls with possibility to swim in each, centre-north of Bali)
  • Tukad Cepung waterfall (small but pretty, a bit north-east of Ubud)
  • Monkey Forest (temples and monkeys, in Ubud)
  • Kelingking Beach (beach down spectacular cliffs, on southern coast of Nusa Penida)
  • Suluban Beach (little cove among cliffs to visit during low tide in the morning, near Uluwatu)

Excursions from Bali

  • Lombok = By plane (25min) or ferry (4-5hr) from Padang Bai (east coast of Bali)
  • Bromo-Tengger-Semeru Park = from Surabaya, bus or car (60-100km)
  • Prambanan = flight to Yogyakarta and then bus (30min)
  • Borobudur = flight to Yogyakarta and then bus (1hr)

Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan

Transportation to Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembogan

Common ports to take a ferry or boat to both islands are Sanur and, especially, Padangbai. From the latter there’s a slow ferry that can carry cars as well, cheaper. Otherwise, the usual speed boats are available.

Some companies doing these routes are:

Tours to Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembogan

A lot of tours have early pick-up times (6-7am). Private tours are flexible in this regard.

Gili islands

Three small islands next to Lombok with beautiful sandy beaches and easily walkable.

Gili Trawangan is the westernmost and liveliest of the three. It is a good spot to see sea turtles when the sea is calm.

Gili Memo, the middle one, is calm and geared towards romantic travellers. Not the cheapest in terms of accomodations.

Gili Air, the easternmost one, is the laid-back one.

Snorkeling on all the Gilis can be done from the beach, no particular need of booking a tour. Usually the west side of each island has the strongest currents while the east the weakest. On Gili Air, right on the east cost, turtles can be spotted.

Transportation to Gili islands

From Bali, regular ferries leave from Sanur, Serangan and Padang Bai. The latter being the one with the most connections available. The whole trip is between 1,5hrs and 2,5hrs, depending on the type of ferry chosen. Some of the companies offering this trip are:

There is also the possibility to reach the Gili islands by public ferry. This is the cheapest option, with a slow but fairly large boat (30+ persons). The trip takes about 6 hours.

Labuan Bajo and Komodo

To reach Komodo, a flight to Labuan Bajo on Flores is necessary. Then bus to Badjo and from there either a tour by boat or the ferry. A proper tour of Komodo island includes Padar and Pink Beach and takes a full day at least. It is not currently (2022) possible to go early in the morning to Labuan Bajo, do the tour, and be back on the same day on Bali.

A couple of small islands near Labuan Bajo, remote, have great beaches and water:

  • Le Pirate
  • Kanawa

Both can be reached by renting a boat from Labuan Bajo port. There’s nothing to do on these islands, being both just a resort on an otherwise uninhabited island.

A list of officially accredited tour operators in Labuan Bajo is available.

Some well-reputed operators are:

Other islands

  • Gili Layar is on the south-west of Lombok coast. It is quite remote and not developed at all. There’s a coral reef, plenty of beaches, and an atmosphere of a quiet, tropical island.

Getting around Bali

Perama offer modern buses that act as shuttles between the main places in Bali.

Grab is an app alternative to Uber popular in Bali. Some drivers may take you off the main streets for fear of the taxi mafia. Similarly for Gojack app.

A perhaps even cheaper way to book drivers and move around Bali is Klook app. Some reputed tour operators are on it as well.

From the Airport is usually not possible to use any app but only a pre-booked driver or a taxi. There should be a Grab office as of 2022 to book a ride though. Alternatively, getting out of the airport and through the Novotel puts you on a side street where Grab/Gojack drivers can pick you up.

Some reliable tour/driver companies:

Prices

These are taxi prices and are an approximation. Updated as of summer 2022.

  • Ubud to Sanur = 100-125k IDR
  • Airport to main touristic areas of Bali = 200-300k IDR

Prices

Updated as of mid 2022

A sim card from Telkomsel prepaid should cost 100000IDR with 25Gb of data and 5G speed. Prepaid card can also be ordered online and picked up when in Bali.

Renting a driver for the day should cost about 500kIDR for 12 hours.

A speed boat + shuttle bus from one of the Gili islands to Bali and then to Ubud should cost between 450kIDR and 600kIDR per person.

Things to do and try

  • Try Martabak dessert.
  • Watch Kecak Dance at Uluwatu temple.

Where to stay

Resorts

Some beautiful and generally well-reviewed resorts in the Ubud area.

  • Kenran Resort
  • Ayuterra Resort
  • Sankara Resort
  • Kastara Resort
  • Adiswana Bisma
  • Pramana Watukurung
  • Yanyan Resort
  • Adiwana Resort Jembawam
  • The Royal Pita Maha
  • Seres Spring Resort
  • Bisma Eight (both hotel and villas available)
  • Kaamala Resort Ubud
  • Tejaprana Bisma

Villas

A few villas in the Ubud area to choose from.

  • Avalon Ubud Villa