Where to stay in Bali
Choosing a place to stay in Bali sometimes can be confusing as there are several kinds and terminologies used for the accommodation. In Bali you can find from simple guest houses run by Balinese families to hotels or luxurious resorts. You can also find accommodation called villas. While hotels in general provide rooms with a bed, bath, etc, without the kitchenette and or a living space, a villa is a type of accommodation which typically has a kitchen and a living room, so you have more space and personal freedom.
Hotels are also categorized into 3-star, 4-star and 5-star depending on their their amenities/facilities, service, grooming and training of staff.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the hotel prices in Bali has price difference between peak season and off-peak season. The peak seasons in Bali in general consist of July, August which are the school holidays period, December (before Christmas till the first week of January) and February which is the Chinese New Year period. Hotel guests may pay up to 15-40% extra for peak seasons.
Before you come to Bali and decide what type of accommodation you would like to book you should have a general idea about in which area to stay. You should get familiar with destinations in Bali. If you have one week to 10 days to spends maybe you can consider to stay in a two different accommodation at two different areas. Concerning taste or preferences you can stay in one of the vacation rental properties spread across Bali in more remote areas, boutique hotels or star hotels. You can have accommodation with direct access to the beach or one located in the mountain area.
In choosing accommodation consideration should also be made regarding the accessibility, facilities near the hotels, distance to a popular spot such as beach and the hotel ratings. For ratings, as a general rule of thumb, you can avoid any accommodation that has a rating less than 8 out of 10. Checking location of the hotel using popular online maps with zoom feature is a great idea that will help you a lot to see how to get around.
South Bali
Nusa Dua
Nusa Dua is a carefully planned complex of hotels and resorts. There are a lot of big international chain hotels here. This area has white sandy beaches with calm blue waters. Nusa Dua provides facilities and amenities required if you are traveling with children or as a family. There is also a 18 holes golf course here.
Uluwatu / Unggasan
Uluwatu, known for having great big waves and breathtaking clifftop ocean views has been a great destination for world surfers. Some international surfing events took place here. You can still enjoy the calm beaches and beach clubs at Uluwatu even though you are not a surfer. This tranquil area is great for honeymooners where some hotels offer private pool villas and floating breakfasts in the pool among others.
Jimbaran
Jimbaran is a traditional fishing village in the southern part of Bali near the Bali International Airport. At Jimbaran, visitors can enjoy freshly grilled seafood at a local restaurant along the beach. If you stay here you can visit nearby beaches such as Dreamland Beach, Pandawa Beach and Bingin Beach. This area has several 5 star hotels as well as smaller hotels. If you see area with the name Kedonganan on the map, it is actually a village within Jimbaran area.
Kuta
Kuta Beach in south Bali with its 2.5 km stretch of white sand is good for party people, one of the most popular resort areas in Bali with accommodation from cheap guesthouses to 5-star hotels and resorts, thriving bars, pubs, shopping malls and nightclubs. Kuta is a popular place for those who are on a budget who want sun, sand and surf.
Seminyak /Legian
Seminyak and Legian are areas for those with a taste for the finer things – foodies, fashionistas and home decor stuffs. Seminyak is now a popular area for the island’s expats. It is a great choice to stay in Seminyak if you want to go to the beach clubs located in the area, do some shopping, and have lots of world-class restaurants, cafes, clubs and cocktail bars to choose from. You can shop all day, party all night.
Canggu
The main attraction of Canggu is Echo Beach – one of Bali’s most popular surf spots. At Canggu you can do surfing, enjoy a wonderful sunset dining and plenty of family-friendly activities such as yoga classes, beach club hopping and enjoy a relaxed and good vibes atmosphere. Canggu has plenty of cafes, vegetarian restaurants and beach clubs. There are actually four beaches in Canggu, those are Echo Beach, Batu Bolong Beach, Pererenan Beach and Pasut Beach.
Central Bali
Ubud
Located in the center of the island, Ubud‘s land consists of highlands covered with tropical forests, rice paddy fields, rivers and waterfalls. If you are not into beach, surfing and lots of water sport activities, Ubud is a great place to stay at. Here you can find yoga retreats, forests, temple and vegetarian restaurants. You can experience life as local people. Ubud is known for its thriving arts and culture. Ubud has been known to foreign tourists since the 1930s.
Masceti Beach
This Masceti Beach in Gianyar offers the beauty of a black sandy coast. Although it is not yet a popular tourist spot, the beach is calm, beautiful and almost empty of visitors so it can give a special treat for those who need peace. The natural charm of the island of Bali cannot be separated from the coastal area that surrounds the island.
The black sand beach is located in the south eastern part of Bali, about 30 minutes drive from Denpasar. It is one important beach for Balinese Hindu because there is one important temple here called Masceti Temple. Many purification ceremonies for Balinese Hindu living in the south-eastern part of the island takes place on this beach, such as ceremony before the Balinese Nyepi New Year or Silent Day.
North/ Northwest Bali
Munduk
Munduk is located in the mountainous area of Buleleng District at an altitude of 600-800 meters above sea level with an air temperature of 25-30 degree Celsius. It is about 2 hour 20 minute drive up into the mountains. From Ubud, Seminyak or Canggu it takes about a 2-3 hour drive to get there.
Munduk has natural attractions such as coffee and clove plantations, Munduk Waterfall, Banyumula Twin Fall and Twin Lake viewpoint which overlooks both Tamblingan Lake and Buyan Lake. The cool climate and rich volcanic soil of the mountain area are perfect conditions for growing a large number of vegetables and fruits here.
For those who are keen to visit an off-the-beaten path area of Bali, they should definitely plan on spending a few days in this regions.
Menjangan Island
Menjangan Island is an inhabited small island with unspoiled white sandy beaches, located around 8 kilometers north-west off the Labuan Lalang, the nearest harbor in the north west shore of Bali’s mainland. The island has clear sea waters and is home to psychedelic colored corals and fishes, that makes Menjangan one of the best diving spots and other water activities in Bali. For diving, one dive site has deep drop offs near 60 meters. Given the depth and the moderate flow of currents, it is common to see shoals of jack-fish, batfish, tuna, angelfish, sea turtles and occasionally also sharks. The island is actually where diving first started seriously in Bali back in 1978 under the sponsorship of the Indonesian Navy when it organized a gathering for the country’s some diving clubs.
Menjangan means “deer” in Indonesian. This name is given to the island by local people who observes wild deer herds swimming to the island every spring at a distance of nearly 2 kilometers.
Menjangan Island is accessible and open to those who would like to visit, however, as Menjangan Island is now part of the protected West Bali National Park Conservation Area, you cannot independently visit the island, you need a permit and a professional guide.
Lovina Beach
Lovina Beach with its grey and black volcanic sand is located in the northern part of Bali, about 9 Km west of Singaraja, the capital city of the Buleleng Regency. If you stay in Denpasar, you can get to Lovina through Bedugul over the mountainous central part of the island and it takes about 2 hours. You can also get there through Kintamani to see Mount Batur and Lake Batur on the way and it also takes about 2 hours. If you follow the Gilimanuk route of West Bali, which is the route to go to Java Island, it will take about 4 hours’ drive.
At Lovina you can enjoy tranquility at stretches of coastline across an area of over 8 kms. Lovina is in fact a name given to an area covering several coastline villages: Kaliasem, Kalibukbuk, Anturan, and Tukad Mungga.
Lovina is great for a stroll on the beach, enjoying incredible underwater life by diving and snorkeling and seeing the bottle-nosed dolphins which normally appear early in the morning just when the first rays of the sun rise on the horizon. They normally come and swim near boats and cavort around.
East Bali
Candidasa
A stretch of coastline from the village of Manggis to Bugbug in the eastern part of Bali is referred to as Candidasa. It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to Candidasa from Bali International Airport.
For those who stay in Candidasa, the nearby places worth visiting are a 700-year-old walled traditional village of Tenganan, Karangesam Palace, Tirta Gangga Water Palace and Taman Ujung Palace. They can also enjoy snorkeling, diving and island day trips departing from here. The sandy and golden beach of Candidasa is narrow due to erosion. A beautiful beach known as Pasir Putih five kilometres to the east can be accessed by Balinese traditional boats called Jukung.
Amed
Amed Beach is a 14 kilometer stretch of beach in East Bali that combines several fishing villages in the region such as Jemeluk, Amed, Selang, Lipah, Bunutan Aas, and Banyuning. This beach has been on the radar of divers for some time because of the vast coral reefs that follow the nearby coastline. Just a few meters from the beach, hundreds of colorful fish are winding gracefully on enchanting reefs, some of which can be seen just two meters below the surface of the water. Furthermore, divers can enjoy large coral formations and coral gardens full of marine life, such as sea turtles, reef sharks, stingrays and various colorful tropical fish. Amed Beach is also a popular base for visitors who study extreme sports free diving or want to dive into the Liberty Shipwreck, a US cargo ship that sank in Tulamben.
Large resorts and large hotel chains cannot be found in Amed and still show the life of the indigenous people of Bali, but there are many small hotels, guesthouses, bars and of course diving schools scattered along the shore are blackish gray. Colorful fishing boats adorn the volcanic sand of the beach, some of which can be rented for mackerel fishing trips in the morning. Although fishing is a large part of daily livelihoods, because it has a climate that is hotter and drier than other areas in Bali, Amed has traditionally been known for salt farming. Until now the farmers filled empty containers from coconut trees with sea water, allowed to dry in the hot sun and then collected the remaining salt crystals that precipitated. These gourmet small packets of salt can be purchased anywhere along the way.
Tulamben
Tulamben is a fishing village located on the northeastern coast of Bali. The village’s name is derived from the word “Batulambih”, which roughly translates as “many stones” a reference to the destructive eruptions of Mount Agung, the last one was in 1963. The beach in Tulamben area in general consist of small rocks coming from the eruptions of the volcano. This quiet fishing village is surrounded by magnificent scenery very far away from the Southern touristic crowd such as Kuta, Nusa Dua, Sanur and Jimbaran.
Beautiful coral and exotic fish of the water in Tulamben make this place one of the most popular place to visit for snorkeling and diving lovers. At this place divers and snorkelers can explore a World War II shipwreck, USAT Liberty. Divers can see a wide variety of corals and invertebrates on the wreck. Large fishes frequent the wreck in some seasons, most popularly mola-mola, whale sharks and black-tip reef sharks.
For several years now, many many artificial rocks or sculptures have been deliberately sunk to aid coral growth in Bali including this site. These underwater gardens are popular for underwater photography to capture some worthwhile shots of rare marine life.
The best conditions for diving here are in October and November, when the weather is generally calm and during the start of southeast monsoon, which typically extends from May to July, although you can dive or snorkel throughout the year.