Looking for culture, sun, surf, and incredible food? This is our go to place and we would be back every year if we could. When we first went to Bali as a couple in 2018, we didn’t have little rugrats (it was our honeymoon after all) but often commented on how family friendly it was and that we would definitely be back with children one day.
As soon as you get out of the airport you just know you are in a cultural haven; the different food smells, incense burning, the echo of the hustle and bustle in-between buildings.
As we flew into Denpensaar on a late flight, we decided to find a hotel that was close enough for us to get to as well as somewhere that provided airport transfer and breakfast. We had booked a taxi to Ubud through the hotel for 11 am the next day, thinking we could fit breakfast in as well as a quick trip to the local mall before our travel to Ubud – insert jetlag here. We woke up at 10 am, missing breakfast and forcing a near sprint around the neighbourhood in order to get back in time for our taxi. Moral of the story – don’t rush that first day.
The 1hr 30 trip to Ubud was magical, our taxi driver was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable and taught us so much on our trip. We learnt a lot about the culture of the Balinese people; being mostly Hindu they hold Karma highly in their culture. They believe that their reincarnation will be directly linked to how they lived their previous life; good or bad. This also explained the beautifully overwhelming smell of incense on every corner – believing this will help carry their prayers to the gods. It definitely creates for a magical, sensory experience.
On arriving in Ubud, we were mesmerised by all the rice paddies and terraces which our room looked right over. A lush green-zone that makes you feel instantly at peace. But the real magic was yet to come… fireflies. Right on our doorstep. These luminescent little creatures lit up the fields before our eyes. Something I was definitely not expecting. Over the next few days in Ubud, we organised tours through our hotel to fill our days with the must sees but also left some time to see the different waterfalls, find out about Luwak coffee and walk around the small markets to browse through all the hand made wares ranging from woven baskets, to handmade shoes, bags for any occasion and delicious local food at every turn.
One of our organised trips was to hike a volcano before first light and watch the sunrise from the peak, cooking eggs in the hot volcanic soil and witnessing the beauty that is Bali. This is a must do outing and one we happily paid to be a part of – also supporting the local businesses. Little did we know, the volcano we were gazing at, Mnt Agung, in absolute awe was actually in it’s first stages of eruption which we would see from our accomodations a few days later. This hike is quite a strenuous one with the shifty ground and steep climbs but would highly recommend it for those who are somewhat fit.
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to the cultural hub that is Ubud and headed off on a boat to Nusa Lembongan – leaving on a ferry from Sanur – a little island just 15km off the coast. This is one of our favourite places of all time. A true piece of paradise. On arriving, you jump into a golf cart-like taxi and are dropped off at your accomodation (this is where we watched the erupting Mount Agung right outside our window). We decided this was the place to hire a scooter and be a part of the local travel. It was a perfect intro to the scooter as it was a small, quiet island and the people were very accomodating. This little island is filled with beautiful cafe’s on the main street, restaurants that flow out onto the beach where you can sit on bean bags and have drinks watching the sun go down, any kind of kombucha you could think of and so much more. Our favourite part was that there were endless options for surfing along the west coast and surf boards were easily available to hire. There were 3 main breaks people told you about; Playground, Lacerations and Shipwrecks. All offering something different depending on the tide and swell. When we were not surfing, we took a short scooter ride around the island and over the iconic yellow bridge, finding ourselves on a completely new island – Nusa Ceningan. The smallest of the 3 Nusa Islands. A less populated and visited island, but wow is it worth the visit! Bars, the infamous blue lagoon, relaxing on the idyllic white beaches, and cliff jumping options are endless.
On this part of the trip we also booked a tour to swim with the manta rays. A bucket list item if there were any. Jumping on a tour boat and speeding off to a little cove was thrilling in itself with the nerves of whether or not we would see these beuties. Our tour guides said to get our goggles, snorkels and flippers fitted and get ready to jump in, the manta’s will come. And that they did. This gigantic, mythical-looking creature soared into our space and absolutely took our breath away. They were so calm and completely undeterred by our presence, allowing us to just follow and bask in their natural beauty as they took flight around the bay.
The following day, we decided to venture onto Nusa Penida, the largest of the islands, for a day trip. There were so many little gems to explore but being a day trip we had to choose so we managed to fit in; Kelingking Beach, Angel Billabong and Broken Beach. Although this was exactly what we had in mind when we envisaged a tropical island with its lush greenery, picturesque beaches, gravel roads; it was much bigger than we had imagined which meant a lot of time in the car to get to these different locations. So if this is your jam, I would highly recommend staying a night or two to ensure you don’t miss out on any of the adventure. I think this goes for any of the islands, if you want to experience a pre-touristy Bali, I would highly recommend staying on any of these island long after the day-trippers leave and you have the local spots to yourself. This is where you will see the charm of these communities come alive.
With much reluctance, our time on Nusa Lembogan was up, but our trip was most definitely not over. So we jumped on a boat and headed to the infamous Gili Islands, just off the coast of Lombok. We had heard a lot about these islands and were very excited to see what they were all about.
Gili Trawangan was our first stop. We decided to not book accomodation as we had heard you can easily find places as you arrive. Although this was true, it was quite overwhelming with all the merchants trying to sell their accomodation to you. As the circumference of the island is only 6.5km, we decided to do a little reccy of the places ourselves. We finally settled on something that looked decent and was in our budget. We decided to only book for two nights as we weren’t sure what to expect. We loved the quietness of the days, with no motorised vehicles on the islands only bikes and horses. The bars on the beach and the atmosphere was incredible. As the evening set in, the reputation of ‘Party Island’ starts to prevail. Guided bar hopping tours of tourists, bars filled to the brim and people having fun all around you. It was an incredible experience for a night or two, but we decided that we would move on to the slower pace of Gili Air for our last few nights. So we once again hopped onto a boat and made our way to experience the chilled vibe of the second biggest island of the three. This was right up our alley with cooking classes, seafood bbq’s on the beach, white sand beaches and hiring goggles and snorkels to try our luck at finding turtles right off the beach. WHICH WE DID!!!!
Our final leg of this trip was to go and explore the south of the mainland of Bali again; Uluwatu.
We stayed at an incredible place called, Sun and Surf on Bingin Beach – exactly what we were after. The units were absolute perfection, decorated as if you were in the Med, they faced the ocean allowing you to lay in bed and just take in the beauty. But we did have to be on the look out for the very cute, but naughty little monkeys that make an appearance throughout the day. We had a gorgeous little restaurant on site with a few more options down the beach with a fish bbq available on the beach for when the tide allows. This was spectacular and something you have to do in Bali as they are everywhere. We hired a scooter through the accomodation and followed our surf instincts to find some surf. We arrived at Padang Padang to try our luck. As you arrive, you walk through these towering caves to get down to the beach where you are enclosed by cliffs all around you. It is most definitely a sight like no other, as well as being blessed with perfect 3-4 foot waves rolling in. Once again we could hire boards right on the beach – but beware of leaving any belongings laying about as those little monkeys were on the prowl.
We filled each day with a new adventure or place to check out the surf, went to visit the Uluwatu Temples, tested out as many restaurants as we. could, visited the infamous Finn Bar and sat watching the waves roll in while soaking up the glorious Balinese sun.
Bali is most certainly our place of solitude, a place you can relax if you’d like to or adventure if you desire to. It truly offers a very special cultural experience and the people are out of this world. If this sounds like your kind of vibe, then Bali is a sanctitude you have to visit one day with or without the rugrats.