Another Bali holiday question I'm afraid.....

Could anybody give me suggestion on where to stay in Bali at the beginning of October for a group of family with a mix of surfers (beginner to intermediate), kids 1-7 years, that would cater for ladies into their heath wellness/yoga type set ups.

If you have any suggestions on resorts in said location that would be great.

Thanks in advance

Should be fine, Ive done it around Sept and Oct winds should be ok and heaps of swell at that time of the year

Thanks Darth. Where about would you recommend staying though based on the group. Canguu, Legan, Nusa Dua etc.... the beginners in the group want beach breaks as they aren't confident in surfing over shallow reefs.

I've never been to Bali so have absolutely no idea. I'm hoping the travel experience in the group will outweigh that of a travel agent.

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Salty Sea Dog said..
Thanks Darth. Where about would you recommend staying though based on the group. Canguu, Legan, Nusa Dua etc.... the beginners in the group want beach breaks as they aren't confident in surfing over shallow reefs.

I've never been to Bali so have absolutely no idea. I'm hoping the travel experience in the group will outweigh that of a travel agent.

Im sure other people will have other ideas but Legian is a great place to start, when the swell is small its a great place to learn. Kuta is good as well and its easy to find a spot even when its super crowded.

Cangu is nice but full of hipsters and not the greatest area for learning, a bit north is oldmans and again when small great for learning.

Above all smile and have fun

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DARTH said..

Salty Sea Dog said..
Thanks Darth. Where about would you recommend staying though based on the group. Canguu, Legan, Nusa Dua etc.... the beginners in the group want beach breaks as they aren't confident in surfing over shallow reefs.

I've never been to Bali so have absolutely no idea. I'm hoping the travel experience in the group will outweigh that of a travel agent.

Im sure other people will have other ideas but Legian is a great place to start, when the swell is small its a great place to learn. Kuta is good as well and its easy to find a spot even when its super crowded.

Cangu is nice but full of hipsters and not the greatest area for learning, a bit north is oldmans and again when small great for learning.

Above all smile and have fun

Darth is pretty much on the money however I need to pick him up,Oldmans is south of Canggu,sorry Darth
Legian around 666 (street) is a good place to base yourself and the group,heaps of accommodation
from budget to hi end.The ladies and kids will enjoy this area plenty for them to do,easy place to hire a driver
and escape the masses,up the hills the other side of the island ect.

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Macaha said..

DARTH said..

Salty Sea Dog said..
Thanks Darth. Where about would you recommend staying though based on the group. Canguu, Legan, Nusa Dua etc.... the beginners in the group want beach breaks as they aren't confident in surfing over shallow reefs.

I've never been to Bali so have absolutely no idea. I'm hoping the travel experience in the group will outweigh that of a travel agent.

Im sure other people will have other ideas but Legian is a great place to start, when the swell is small its a great place to learn. Kuta is good as well and its easy to find a spot even when its super crowded.

Cangu is nice but full of hipsters and not the greatest area for learning, a bit north is oldmans and again when small great for learning.

Above all smile and have fun

Darth is pretty much on the money however I need to pick him up,Oldmans is south of Canggu,sorry Darth
Legian around 666 (street) is a good place to base yourself and the group,heaps of accommodation
from budget to hi end.The ladies and kids will enjoy this area plenty for them to do,easy place to hire a driver
and escape the masses,up the hills the other side of the island ect.

***k sorry I ment south, sorry salty

The Hard Rock in Kuta is the best option if you travel with the kids. Its got huge pool with the slides and a sand island in the middle. The beaches on the west coast are too rough for kiddies that's why you need that pool to keep them entertained. Unless you want to stay in jimbaran bay. No waves there. Pretty cool place actually We stayed there last time at LeMeredien.. Nice beach not crowded at all. Safe for kiddies.

Unfortunately there's nowhere in Bali that can satisfy everyone in your group without a bit of travel here and there. ie there's a few good spots at that time of year that will have good offshore waves and yoga spots but not really suitable for beginners or kids. Alternatively you could stay in legian and (if the swells small) satisfy kids etc but the waves are generally pretty weak and average and you will be left having to spend some time in the car each day to find decent waves. My advice if traveling with family in tow is to split the trip to half in a good surf location and half somewhere family friendly. For your first trip to Bali I'd stay clear of kuta for accom. It can be an overwhelming ****ole until you get used to it

^^we stayed in kuta 7 times (family holidays with"dad wants to go surfing") before decided to go elsewhere for a change (Jimbaran), next year we all want to go back to kuta

For people into wellness/yoga try to get a villa either in Canggu or on the southern side of Canggu for easier access to Seminyak, for example, in Batu Bolong or Batu Belig.

My favourite place to do yoga in the area is Samadi Bali. They also have a very good vegetarian kitchen, juices etc, plus markets on Sundays. The place has an awesome vibe. Damien who runs the joint is a keen surfer and a great guy. Take it from me - I practice yoga daily and I'm vegetarian http://www.samadibali.com

I have not been to Desa Seni in Batu Bolong area but have heard good things so it's worth checking out. http://www.desaseni.com/

There are other organic/vego cafes, juices bars and restaurants in the same area. Check out places like Betelnut, Green Ginger, and others nearby.

You wont get these sorts of places in Kuta/Legian.

Pondok Pitaya

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theDoctor said...


Pondok Pitaya

Good suggestion. This place pretty much ticks every box you wish as long as the swell is not too big. But a 15 min drive further north gets you to a left that handles a bit more size if you so desire. It has a great pool too. A must

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dmitri said...
^^we stayed in kuta 7 times (family holidays with"dad wants to go surfing") before decided to go elsewhere for a change (Jimbaran), next year we all want to go back to kuta

Each to their own but there's a lot more to Bali than kuta.

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theDoctor said..


Pondok Pitaya

Just don't eat there, worst food in town. The warung on the beach and the night markets are the go. And yep, awesome spot unless it's too big. Ticks all the boxes required above.

I reckon balian riverside accom is better though, cheaper too.

Edit# you can still do yoga at pp too. 100m walk.

Ive not stayed their, but what about the Chill House. Apparently they can split groups up and take people to appropriate breaks that are all nearby? Might be a bit dearer though..

As i said not stayed their, it was just explained to me that way

Pondok Pitaya/Balian.
Don't even think of letting young kids swim the beach there, very strong rip, seen a few people get into trouble.

^^^^ yep pool for the kids and girls,big pebbles too which wash around the shorey and will take a kids ankles out if theres a bit of swell,food at the warung on the beach is unreal,its also a good base for exploring the highlands of Bali,but yeah the beach is not kid friendly for swimming by any means,good waves with less crowds ,no sellers and out of the Kuta zoo

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grahamn said...
Pondok Pitaya/Balian.
Don't even think of letting young kids swim the beach there, very strong rip, seen a few people get into trouble.

I pulled a Japanese girl out of the water after watching her battle with the rip for about 15mins. She was getting washed down towards some evil close outs at the north end. When I got to her she was wearing swimming goggles.She said "my goggles have fogged up"!
She was oblivious to the fact that she was about to get completely smashed. I paddled her all the way across to the inside left and pushed her in. As soon as she got to the beach her friend grabs her board and jumps straight into the rip and gets sucked out. Needless to say I didn't hang around to watch. Definitely not a place for beginners

First surf trip for me this year in Bali was Balian.

Totally agree about it not being a kid friendly beach and totally agree with the food - after 2 terrible meals we ended up getting a local to cook for us in our awesome pad in Bonian Surf Village, best decision we made.

I found out the hard way about how big it gets after misjudging the size and power one afternoon on a fast rising swell and dropping tide, got flogged - needless to say we went to the break further north the next day and enjoyed some really long fun left handers.

That rip between the North end of the beach and the break is a shocker, saw so many people get pulled out and by the time they realised they had a massive paddle ahead of them.