Bali's NEW SHOW STOPPER
ON THE SOUTH COAST OF BALI, COMO HOTELS AND RESORTS HAS JUST UNVEILED THEIR NEWEST RESORT, COMO UMA CANGGU. OLIVIA LEE REPORTS FROM THE BEST PERCH IN TOWN AS SHE BECOMES THE FIRST GUEST TO CHECK INTO THE RESORT’S HEADLINE COMO PENTHOUSES
In Canggu, you know it’s dawn when the surfers start padding across the smooth, dark sand. It’s the silent signal that the show will soon begin. Out on the ocean, the waves are building. But surf is not the only draw to this authentic corner of beachside Bali. In the settlement of Canggu – where cows lazily trim the grass beneath the coconut trees, and you can still hear the gentle ‘ch-ch’ of a farmer’s plough – there is a sense of excitement about Bali’s hottest new hotel: COMO Uma Canggu.
Opened in February 2018, this elegant resort becomes the third COMO property to open on Bali, alongside COMO Uma Ubud, and the wellness flagship, COMO Shambhala Estate, both of which are located inland. Three resorts within an hour’s drive of each other adds a new dimension to the Bali experience – one tied up with the roll of the waves, the rhythm of the setting sun, and the front row tickets to the island’s greatest show. I’m watching it all from one of the resort’s 12 new COMO Penthouses. There are other residences to book – equally contemporary, with one or two bedrooms – but this is why COMO Uma Canggu deserves its hotspot on the map: each Penthouse has its own 10m infinity pool that melts into the sky and ocean, the view framed by a dramatic curling arch.
“It’s an exciting time to visit,” says Javier Beneyto, General Manager of COMO Uma Canggu, who draws my attention back down to Earth over a Mentawai cocktail at COMO Beach Club. “Canggu is fast becoming a cosmopolitan buzzword, yet it still retains all the charm of a Balinese village.”
Canggu, pronounced ‘chan-goo’, has a split personality. There is still something of the farming village with rice fields and chickens pecking at the dust, which makes Canggu feel like Bali 50 years ago. Yet there are also restaurants that wouldn’t be out of place on the streets of New York. Canggu may be on the same coastline as Kuta, but it feels a world away with its city-sleek bars and artisanal cafes – a mashup of the world’s top talking points under a bright blue Balinese sky: Berlin’s street art, Melbourne’s coffee scene, Brooklyn’s vegan cafés, and beach bars you’d expect in Hawaii.
From left to right: The Canggu coastline. Canggu is still a village with rice fields, farmers and temples, not just tourists
The expat influence means that cuisines like Tahitian, Georgian and Scandinavian sit side-by-side among the rice fields and local warungs. “Where else would you find a rural town a world away from Europe that has a pizzeria with an Italian chef, and a brasserie with a French cook?” asks Eugene Feklistov, part of the launch team at COMO Uma Canggu.
The opening of COMO Beach Club – the resort’s open-sided dining and pool space – adds another dimension to this diverse culinary scene, with a peaceful ocean-facing location. Unlike the famed Potato Head or Ku De Ta in Seminyak, where over 1,000 people regularly crowd the space, COMO Beach Club stops at 150. The music is more acoustic rhythm than thumping beats. But it is the food and drink that make the venue stand out. An ever-evolving menu based on the catch of the day is paired with an original cocktail list inspired by the island. Wood-fired dishes keep the offering familial, unpretentious, and above all healthy, from freshly-caught grilled sea bass to a whole chicken cooked three ways.
There are those who come to watch the surf from the Beach Club’s swings. Then there are others who can’t keep out of the water. Surf is one of Canggu’s biggest lures. The waves are famously consistent, with beginner breaks to the left of the beach and advanced surfing to the right. “You can walk to at least seven breaks from the doorstep of COMO Uma Canggu,” says Ross Phillips, founder of luxury surf company Tropicsurf, which has partnered with the resort to offer instruction and guiding services. “This convenience makes a huge difference. Where surfers in other destinations will have to drive an hour or more to reach a good break, Canggu has some of the island’s biggest and best waves right there, in view of the penthouses.” But if keen surfers do want more, Tropicsurf also offer day trips to the north of the island, to experience secluded beaches few others get to see. The resort’s Activities Team also focus on inland excursions, from rice paddy hikes and temple visits, to shopping in the artists’ town of Ubud, with Play by COMO to take care of the children when the grown-ups want their own day.
It’s this opportunity to experience both ‘beach Bali’ and ‘inland Bali’ that COMO Uma Canggu prides itself on. Where Kuta is a two-hour drive from Ubud, Canggu is only an hour. Where Seminyak is a traffic jam away from the iconic ocean temple of Tanah Lot, Canggu is a quick drive through the rice fields. “Canggu has the beaches and the sunsets, but it also has the farming and tradition,” says Feklistov. “The location means you can party in Kuta one day, then bike past rice fields, climb a mountain, and shop in Ubud the next. Canggu is the gateway to every kind of Bali there is, with COMO Uma Canggu the perfect access point.”
As for getting about, it’s easy. Guests of the resort have the concierge to sort things out, from private drivers to activities guides leading volcano hikes. In the local town, everyone seems to ride a moped. It goes hand-in-hand with Canggu’s sense of freedom – a feeling summed up by a colourful mural beside a rice field, which reads ‘Life’s Good’. Wellness feels innate here, almost as if the yogic lifestyle is part of Canggu’s foundations. The new COMO Shambhala Retreat – the wellness centre at the heart of COMO Uma Canggu, with a 100 square metre gym – has captured this sentiment with conviction. Here, guests hold downward-facing dog in light-drenched studios, and grab wheatgrass shots from the healthy juice bar, ‘glow’, on their way to the beach. This bright white space – the largest wellness centre on the strip – brings two decades of experience from award-winning wellness brand COMO Shambhala, along with a comprehensive menu of treatments and therapies. It is a place where rigorous Pilates, crossfit, or the TRX-style ‘jungle sport’ sessions can be followed by a massage to melt away the ache.
As evening draws near, I’m back in my villa in the sky. I can almost hear the drum roll as people flock to the shore to watch the show’s finale. From COMO Uma Canggu’s penthouses – the best seats in the house – the sky explodes in pinks and purples as the sun takes its final curtain call. Soon the scene grows quiet, the tide washing in and out, wiping the sand smooth for another day. That’s why I like Canggu: it’s the perfect combination of high octane when you want it, and serene downtime when you need it – a balancing act no other resort on the island pulls off with quite the same integrity.