Your Ultimate Guide to Bali: Beaches, Culture, and Adventure

An island paradise whose cultural treasures are as beautiful as its beaches.

This week, we're going to talk about Bali.

David, how are you doing this week?

I'm doing great, Tim, and I'm really excited to talk about Bali.

It's a place, as you said.

It's got incredible beaches.

It's got these beautiful green rice terraces throughout the country.

It's got a deeply spiritual culture.

There is a lot of reasons to go to Bali, and a great destination, for sure.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I know we were chatting a little bit before the show about that.

You know, it's a bit of a dichotomous destination.

You know, you've got.

You know, it is a paradise in many ways, but at the same time, it is a very, very busy place.

And I thought we would maybe address that right off the top.

One of the things that was the biggest surprise for me when I went to Bali the first time I've been, I think, three times now to Bali was just how busy it was.

I pictured it, you know, maybe as a, you know, a South Pacific, quiet, beautiful, you know, island.

And when you go there, it's busy.

There's a.

I think the last time I checked, there were a couple million people that lived there.

Maybe it's even more now.

Um, you know, the streets are busy, the cities are busy, the beaches are busy, but it still manages, you know, to be a beautiful place with lots of options.

I don't know what was your experience versus your.

Your first visit versus more recent visits?

For sure, it is.

It has changed radically.

And there, you know, you would go into places like Ubud, and they were these quiet, remote villages with very few people around other than a few beautiful luxury resorts.

It would be super quiet at night now.

I mean, there's literally traffic jams on the streets when you go there.

It is.

It is a much different experience.

I think, as we were talking about, it's probably the most Instagrammable and most Instagrammed place on Earth.

And that has definitely had an impact over tourism, you can definitely see is having an impact on the islands.

It's also a place where a lot of digital nomads from around the world have been attracted to, because the cost of living versus the quality of life there is phenomenal.

And I will say, you know, for sure, it's busy.

For sure it's different than it used to be.

But don't let that put you off going to Bali.

I would say Just look at how you can make sure your trip is a bit more sustainable.

Are there opportunities to stay at that Airbnb that's a little bit more remote, to stay with locals, to stay in off the beaten tourist track in some different destinations.

You know, one of the places I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about on today's show.

It's not necessarily an undiscovered place by any means, but it is.

I found less of the busyness of some of the rest of the island was I really enjoyed the time we spent in the Uluwatu area.

And probably, you know, at least half the recommendations that I would have that we're going to talk about on today's show all relate to things that we did in that area.

What were some of your favorite parts of Bali?

You know, I, you know, and again, it's not an undiscovered destination, but I did love, love Ubud, you know, right in the middle of the island.

I know in years past, and again, we talked about this a little bit before the episode that it was much sleepier and much quieter and more undiscovered in the past, but it is definitely a favorite place for me.

I mean, I love the water, I love the beach, but in Ubud, I love to go there and just walk through all the, the artisan workshops, go through all the shops.

I love being able to make contact personally with people who are making, you know, carvers who are creating statues or weavers who are creating textiles.

And it's still a place.

I mean, now it is very popular and it is very busy, but you can still go in and you can still have that face to face contact and speak with the person who is, you know, making your.

Your one of a kind souvenir.

And I think that that is something that is extremely special.

There's an art market there that is, that is very cool.

There's a main street that you can just walk along.

I mean, Bali is not the most walkable place in the world, but Ubud is a place where you can walk from one place to the next and you can get coffee here and you can go to an art workshop there and you can go to a market there.

And so, so that is definitely one of my favorites.

What about you?

Yeah, for sure.

The, the local markets are, are a huge attraction, you know, definitely in terms of, you know, things to do.

Why go there?

Another.

The other big thing for us was surfing.

It's a great surfing destination.

It's probably where my kids when they were, you know, both quite young, this was their, their first go at surfing.

And you know, I think we were able to book through Airbnb experiences with a surfing school in Kuta beach where maybe it was 12 to $15 a person to, you know, rent a board and have instruction for a half day.

And they had an awesome time and has, has put them on the path of surfing around the world since there's some great hot springs, great beach clubs and we should talk a bit about the beach club experience in Bali because that's something a bit unique to the islands.

But I'd love to dig into where, where to stay and if we're, we're, you know, if you're getting to Bali where, where you would recommend and some of your favorite hotels.

Tim and I'm going to start off with a place in Uluwatu, the, the Renaissance Bali Uluwatu, which, you know, when I was first looking at staying here, it's a little bit off the beach.

So we weren't sure it was where we wanted to go, but it had good reviews and just happened to line up well with our trips.

We decided to give it a go and it ended up being one of my favorite hotels I've stayed at anywhere in the world.

It's got a breathtaking infinity pool that, that overlooks, you know, overlooks the island.

It's, it's near Uluwatu Temple.

You're maybe a ten minute drive away.

And as I say, that area is definitely a little bit quieter, a little bit more like the, the traditional Bali experience.

But what we really loved about this hotel, first of all, cool modern, you know, modern design, it's beautiful infinity pools.

But then the activities, they had amazing cooking classes happening at their, their main restaurant, Double E Cat, where the, the head chef would come out and, and you know, teach you about local spices, ingredients that define Balinese cuisine.

A really, really good in depth cooking class that we were able to do there while we were, while we were at the hotel.

They also have another restaurant, the hotel where you're, we'll notice all of the, all the dinnerware is all handmade pottery and they have pottery classes where you can go in and the people who have made all the dinnerware that's used at the resort teach you how they did it and you can do it yourself and then have something to bring home as well.

They had an awesome kids club and even though they, they were up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, not on a beach, they did have a beach club.

Maybe A five minute drive away and a, and a, you know, shuttle bus that ran back and forth.

A place called Roosters Beach Club.

Beautiful beach.

So you could still get that beach experience, but also be off the beach and have the experience there.

And there was so much to do in that area in terms of other great restaurants, great beach clubs.

Highly, highly would recommend that.

How about you?

Where's, where's your go to place to stay when you're in Bali?

Well, I will, I will start out by saying, I love a beach club.

I mean, I do, I love, you know, oftentimes if you're staying a little bit off the beach, they'll shuttle you down to their beach club and you can just sit and relax and, and get a, you know, bucket of beers and just relax, you know, just, just enjoy the beach.

My place is a little bit different.

I had a wonderful stay at Mandapa, which is a Ritz Carlton reserve that is again, going back to Ubud.

It's right in the middle of the island.

And I think the thing that I loved most about it was, you know, we're talking about big, beautiful private villas, mostly with their own private pools right in the jungle.

And so you feel like you're a million miles from everywhere.

You know, even though, as we've talked about, Bali is a, is a, you know, big population, very busy, this is a place where you can feel like you can escape.

And I remember the first day, you know, after I checked in, I sat, I was sitting out by the, you know, private pool and I would hear this kind of, kind of roar and these kind of screaming and I was like, what is going on?

And it was because there's a river, I'm going to say it wrong, with the Ayang river that goes right past the resort and you can go river rafting on this river.

And so on this trip, I went river rafting.

And these are not your Costa Rica Class 5 rapids.

These are, you know, Class 1, Class 2 rapids through a canyon, through the jungle, waterfalls.

They even had little impromptu ersatz little bars that you could, they would pull the raft up and you could get a Bintang beer for 50 cents or whatever, take it in the raft.

I don't know if that's like officially recommended, but that was, that was the thing.

So this beautiful, beautiful resort in the middle of the jungle and then you can go and raft down the river and have a little bit of a thrill.

So I love that.

And I'm just going to put in a quick little plug for the Kempinski the Apurma Kempinski Hotel, which is a beautiful clifftop similar to what you've described.

Clifftop hotel.

And I think it really has one of the world's great hotel pools.

So they have this, this pool that runs 60 meters, lined with cushy loungers, palm trees.

And then right if you stand at one end and you look to the other, it drops off and it goes right into the ocean and it's just, you know, the, the blue of the pool into the aquamarine of the ocean.

You know, beautiful rooms and everything else as well, tropical gardens, you know, that kind of thing.

But that pool, you know, I could just go back to that pool and sit there forever.

So.

Well, I think we've, we both, we're both onto something which is, I think, you know, if you're going.

There are two very different types of experiences to have and all three of the hotels that we've recommended are definitely more remote.

Right.

Like the, the, the, the Renaissance in, in Uluwatu.

You're a good, you know, 25, 30 minute Uber ride from, you know, a main town or village.

I think if I'm not mistaken, the Ritz Carlton that you're talking about, it's much the same, right?

It's, it's a very remote sort of jungle location.

Is the Kopinsky as well, I think.

Yeah.

And that, you know, you are going to have one type of Bali experience at those types of resorts versus if you go to, in Kuta beach, there's the Hard Rock Hotel, there's the, you know, others that are beachfront.

The W Hotel in Seminyak, you know, great party locations, beachfront locations.

But it's a totally different Bali.

Right.

Those are like surfer party spots versus you've got the relaxation, wellness, focused, more remote, more remote locations.

So you just really got to decide what type of holiday you're looking to have or maybe it's a mix of the two and, and balance out your time between them.

But you are going to have a much different experience depending on the type of resort that you ultimately agree.

And you know, and I think you've, you've hit the nail on the head in that, you know, Bali, like so many destinations, there are many different Balis, you know, and, and you, you sort of create your own experience in Bali.

So like you've said, you can go and join all the 20 something, you know, Australians at the, you know, at the, at the nightclubs, on the beach, you know, and rock until 3, 4 in the morning or you can go find, you know, Your own personal retreat, you know, health focused, spa focused, you know, remote and peaceful experience.

And, and all those things are available there.

So, Tim, I know we always try and find a, a can't miss or a must do when we're on the islands or, or something a bit more undiscovered.

What's, what's your can't miss when you're in Bali?

This might be a little bit of.

A surprise, but my, my can't miss in Bali is actually not in Bali.

A few years ago, I went on a really interesting trip to a place called the, the Gili Islands.

So you, you would fly to Bali and then you get on a fast ferry.

They have these 250 horsepower motors that propel these fast fairies, or maybe it's more than that.

I'm not really mechanical, but they propel you across in less than two hours.

And you get to these castaway islands called the Gili Islands.

I spent most of my time on Gili Trawangan, which people could just call Gili Tea.

And at the time, no motorized vehicles, horse and horse drawn carriages.

So, you know, landing at the beach on the fast ferry, you get picked up by a horse and buggy that takes you to your hotel and really that feeling of being away, being on that, that, that island paradise, that castaway destination, you know, you could go for the day.

It'll be a long day, but I would definitely recommend it.

You know, even go for a night, two nights, three nights.

If you're in Bali, go to the Gili Islands, give them a try as well.

Excellent.

Well, I know there's a lot to talk about about Bali.

We've gone into a little bit about the why to go there, a little bit about where to stay.

I think we should come back in a bonus episode later this week and maybe to talk a little bit more about what to do once you get there.

I mean, some of the activities and also a drill down into.

I know we both had some great experience in terms of beach clubs and restaurants, so we can dive into that in a bit more detail in a bonus episode later this week.

But thanks again for joining me, Tim.

I know you're out at sea this week, so appreciate you taking the time as you're cruising around the world and we'll talk to you again in a couple of days.

Sounds good, David.

Looking forward to it.