IO things to do in Bali
It’s back to business for every Aussie’s favourite Indonesian island
I Flop at a beach club
Bali is well-honed in coaxing out your relaxed self and one of the quickest routes to locating your chill is by booking a spot at a private beach club. Choose your location, then set yourself up on a luxurious lounge to let any life-lag vanish into a haze of cocktails and cool waters. Try Finns and The
Lawn in Canggu or Potato Head in Seminyak.
2 Cook the cuisine
Gently spiced and fragrant, traditional Indonesian fare is a study in balance. You can never quite replicate the flavours back home, so why not let a local school you in how it’s done? There are many cooking classes to choose from with most in Ubud beginning with a tour of the local market and its kaleidoscopic display of tropical produce spilling from woven baskets.
3 Touch the temple clouds
A richly textured and ancient culture sits below Bali’s poolside lolling and beachside strolling. Make the journey two hours from Ubud to visit one of the island’s oldest temples, Pura Luhur Lempuyang. Here, devotees ascend 1700 stairs with a meditative aura, but you needn’t go all the way. Many simply come for the highly Instaworthy Gates of Heaven that ethereally frame a cloud-shrouded mountain.
4 Swap Kuta for Canggu
Fed by decades of patronage from Aussies, Kuta has morphed into an overgrown, shouty beast. If you’re after a laid-back escape, not one where you’re harangued by stallholders and Bintang-fuelled revellers, continue 40 minutes further to reach the more relaxed Canggu. Here you’ll find plenty of excellent eateries, more mature beach bars and a whole lot fewer Birkenstocked backpackers.
5 Beeline for Bingin Beach
For Australians, Bali’s tourist beaches can be underwhelming. But less than an hour from Seminyak, you’ll find one of the island’s premier surf breaks, Bingin Beach on the Bukit Peninsula. This crystal-water stretch is accessed from the clifftop and rolls out good waves and vibes. Swim, sunbake or watch the action from Kelly’s Warung.
6 Swing in the jungle
Any Bali hashtag you follow will serve up images of diaphanously dressed influencers dangling above the jungle on a giant swing. For the uninitiated, Bali swings are a thing, but they’re not just for Tiktokkers and ’grammers. Pendulously swooshing over forests, rice fields and rivers at heights of up to 78m is a lot of fun for those brave enough buckle up.
7 Go chasing waterfalls
The Bali back-country is crisscrossed with hiking trails, traditional villages and moments of natural majesty. One such moment can be found at Tegenungan Waterfall, tucked midway between Ubud and Denpasar. This lush jungle cascade is far too thunderous to stand beneath, but you can splash about in the waterhole and, being Bali, there’s a pool bar and restaurant adjacent to this spectacular site.
8 Hinterland eats, beats
Pool bars by the beach have their allure, but there’s something exceedingly tranquil about lounging amid the forested beauty of the Wos River Valley. Canopied by verdant greens and with tropical birdsong providing a backing track to the DJ’S beats, Jungle Fish in Ubud, with its farreaching, well-executed menu, is a worthy place to sip and snack the day into dusk.
9 Village-style yoga
Bali and yogic pursuits go hand-in-hand, and while there are plenty of retreats, from ultra-luxe to more humble, if you’re looking for an experience that dovetails wellbeing pursuits into cultural awareness, book Desa Seni (desaseni.com). This village-style resort has a strong community and environmental connection, farm-to-table ethos and breezy open-air yoga studio.
IO Dine on the sand
Enjoying a sunset meal of freshly hauled fish at one of Jimbaran Bay’s restaurants is no secret, but despite it being, or maybe because it is, cultivated specifically for tourists, it remains a must-do. Jimbaran Bay is no pin-up beach, but it’s lovely enough and coupled with a warm breeze, glowing sunset, charcoalgrilled fish, and a serenading troupe, it equals good times.
Explore more of Bali at escape.com.au