WHAT TO DO IN BALI – THE ULTIMATE LOCAL GUIDE
Wondering what to do in Bali! At last, The Ultimate Local Guide!
Want to know a bit more about what to do in Bali? Well, here are a lot of our favourites and some local insight!
Which area of Bali to stay?
Where to stay in Bali is as imortant as what to do in Bali. So which area is best? Well its a bit like asking what is the best wine to drink, it often depends on people’s tastes.. As a very ‘rough’ guide:
- Kuta/Legian historically known to be for the younger partying 18-21 year olds or those liking the pubs and the famous tourist beach spots, or those that have been going there for years, and often stay in the same places
- Canggu and Berawa are now moving more towards the favourite of the 21-30 demographic too, for the young and trendy ‘digital nomad’ and hipster set. It polarises many people, whoever love it or don’t care for it at all. Warning – it’s getting very busy, and traffic to and fro can be a nightmare. Not everyones cup of chai.
- Seminyak is still for the more sophisticated as well as family friendly 30+ set, with well established accomodation, shopping, bars, restaurants and clubs, so lots of what to do in Bali here!
- Nusa Dua is for the self contained all in one place hotel/resorts style
- Sanur is often a favourite for the more mature or longer termers and those liking a quieter ‘sleepier’ destination
- Ubud is good for the arts, health and wellness, yoga retreats and good food amongst a more relaxed community
- The very north of Bali such as Lovina, is a favourite with Europeans, and also a sleepier vibe, away from the main tourist spots in the south.
- Amed for the more famous snorkelling and diving areas, on other eastern side of the island to the main spots in the south west .. but much sleepier and remote…
The best place to stay for us would be a villa in Seminyak for lifestyle and to eat and drink and shop by a long way… Beaches are ok there too… and of course the best villas to stay in are Villa Bugis villas!
Villa Bugis has the right villas for every occasion – with many different Balinese style private pool villas to choose from, ranging from 2 bedroom to 6 bedroom villas.
Tours
As for seeing more of Bali than just the tourist south, we suggest you check out some tours, via our website below, as well as some time to yourself. A combination. Bali is great for chilling, its also about the Villa, the beach, the massages, the shopping, and the eating. This is a great way to work out what to do in Bali.
Particularly if you are staying with Villa Bugis, for tours/car rental, check out our website for all your transport needs: Tours/Transport/Transfers
If you stay with us, airport transfers are usually included!
Maybe do one tour to start, the one that floats your boat the most eg temples vs art, and if you like, then do another… we recommend maybe Kintamani tour to start with, as it has a bit of everything culturally.
There are so many tour companies, but we can vouch for the one we use as reputable and good value for money. It’s the same company that does our airport transfers – safe, reliable, and reasonable. Most important if you are a newbie.
We highly recommend the Villa Cycling tour, near Ubud, through the village ending at a local house for lunch. Not arduous, quite educational and only 1 hour cycling, mostly downhill. Anyway see what takes your fancy. Of course there are other tours, and everything from helicopters to bungy jumping, white water rafting and elephant parks if you want. You will see plenty of brochures, and internet sites, we are sure, or all can be arranged via our transport people, who are known and trusted.
Transport
Hire a motorbike/scooter if you’re up for it, and discover what to do in Bali on your own… else walking is not so bad, all is close… when hailing taxis make sure they use a meter, but are all very cheap. If they make excuses, just politely move on. Bluebird taxi is the one to go with (Download the app).. careful about the copies such as bluebiro, that look the same – try and get a meter if you can, else you are going to have to haggle – locally shouldnt cost more than $5 (50,000) anywhere within Seminyak really…
Car with driver is about $50 -$80 a day depending on size, motorbikes about $5 – $10 a day.
There is also Gojek, for motorbike cheap ride, and grabcar etc. all app driven. Download Gojek or Grab, attach to your credit card for ease of payment, and easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Suggest strongly to have an international license, and proper helmut, not a cute funny one, and you will avoid having to bribe your way out of police. Proper license and helmut, they cant touch you, although they may try! Also, without a proper bike license, any accident, your insurance wont cover you, so be aware of that!
Massages
Even if you want work out what to do in Bali, there are always plenty of massage places out on the street, all of differing quality and prices of course – so it’s hit and miss… usually best to go with a recommendation – or a place like Carla Spa is a chain, and usually ok, as they are meant to be trained to the same standard.
But if you want a nice place, with a good price, we recommend Spa Bali Drupadi or DyanaPura, Spa Bali or If you want quite upscale,we like Prana Spa, they do Yoga and Ayurvedic treatments as well. Bodyworks is similar.. Nice but pricey.
You can also order a massage via the go-jek app, ‘go life’ which has many different online services to order – very cheap, less than $10 per hour.
The Beach
Seminyak Beach is great for a beer at sunset, very cheap, sit on a deck chair or beanbag at one of many bars, or perhaps take a sunset drink at the MoonLite Kitchen and Bar
has a great elevated view over Seminyak beach – at the beach on Jalan Dhyana Pura/Camplung Tanduk. For Kids and teenagers, working out what to do in Bali is sometimes a challenge, but you can also try an alternative to the beach, a highly recommended water park in Kuta – Waterbom
has a great elevated view over Seminyak beach – at the beach on Jalan Dhyana Pura/Camplung Tanduk. For Kids and teenagers, working out what to do in Bali is sometimes a challenge, but you can also try an alternative to the beach, a highly recommended water park in Kuta – Waterbom
The beaches south of Bali are much nicer, even Jimbaran actually – cleaner and whiter sand… south of the airport. Around Uluwatu is less people and far nicer beaches – Green bowls is our fav, it has a cave to escape the sun, but its a 300 steps down and up!
Padang padang – squeeze through cliffs – the famous eat pray love beach – can get busy though.
Also try Melasti – easier access new big roads and projects… or Pandawa – Roosterfish beach club there is quite cool
Shopping
For shopping, there are so many options in the what to do in Bali list….just head out to the main streets of Jalan Raya Seminyak (where Bintang is) for all the boutique stores, or else restaurant street as its know Jalan Kayu Aya /Jalan Laksmana (same street, but many streets have multiple names!) or Jalan Dhyana Pura/Camplung Tanduk. Head into Legian/Kuta for more brand stores, and fight the rest of the Aussie tourists :-) Sunset road has a lot of outlet stores too, particularly surf stores.
For bigger ‘mall’ type shopping we recommend going to Beachwalk (more upmarket) or Galleria (less so, but more variety, and a hypermarket (Big supermarket) and ACE hardware). Also, for all your Bali souvenirs/knick nacks – we strongly suggest visiting Geneva Handicrafts on Kerobokan Road, next to Christy furniture. Its 2 floors of bulk items, more like a wholesaler. It’s like Bunnings for tourists. Suggest here for cheap and huge range, and fixed prices. Christy furniture highly recommended if you want furniture made – many villa’s wooden furniture is from here. Synthetic Rattan furniture very cheap too, fraction of home prices.
Bintang Supermarket also has a lot of things. Shop here for groceries, and essentials. Upstairs also has many miscellaneous and tourist items. Bintang has long been a favourite what to do in Bali.
Scuba Diving
Diving is also not bad in Bali, and a great one to tick off the list of what to do in Bali. Depending on the dive site and company/dive guides allocated. Liberty Wreck at Tulamben but about 3-4 hrs away, (and a few lesser known others nearby) is the must do dive, and Padang Bai is quickest and easiest to get to, as well as Nusa Penida during Mola Mola season is recommended, but often not for beginners due to current. we dive most year round without a wetsuit, 28 degree water is fine for me, but Nusa Penida can get cold some times of year.
I can recommend Aquamarine Diving, at 2a Jalan Petitenget call +62 361 4738 020 they are big, safe and friendly. quality outfit, and dive shop easy to get to from the Villa email: info@aquamarinediving.com website: www.aquamarinediving.com
For equipment, the place for Mares is probably Ocean King, at By Pass. They are kind of a Mares Dealer here in Bali. At the end of the day, a much better organized shop for dive equipment would be right next to Ocean King. They are called Bali Dive Shop. No specialized on Mares, but the guy who runs the place is a smart kid.
Surfing
What to do in Bali? Surf! Book now for surf lessons In Seminyak with Bali Ocean Surf School, professionals and experienced coaches with european safety standard and pedagogy. Use promo code BUGISSURF5% and get 5% off on any surf program. (Free transportation from your villa)
Most of all, relax and enjoy! It’s Bali!
We also realise the world changes constantly, so if you notice any issues or changes needed with the The Ultimate Local Guide On What To Do In Bali, please feedback to us, at info@villabugis.com
