I'm by no means an expert on Bali, but having spent an amazing 2 weeks there last April with my best pal Ellie I thought I'd put my suggestions up online. I'll be covering everything in 3 parts based on the areas we travelled to so check out parts 2 and 3 for more tips and recommendations!
When we first got to Bali we went straight to the Uluwatu peninsula, we decided to stay pretty much in the middle of the peninsula to make travelling around to all the coastal spots a bit easier.
We stayed in the most beautiful
Air BnB (I'm sure they have a proper website as well but I'm not sure where it's listed!) I can't sing the praises of this place enough, everyone stays in a little raised hut which was immaculately clean and very spacious.
They have a pool which looks over the stunning island and their own restaurant and massage services on offer. But what was even better was the staff were willing to help with everything, hiring us taxis, offering advice etc! And although it felt like luxury accommodation the price didn't reflect that at all - if I could I would have stayed here longer.
There are a host of beaches around the peninsula, each with a different look and feel, unfortunately we didn't have time to go to them all but the ones we did reach were each as stunning as the last.
When it came to getting around the easiest and cheapest option is renting a scooter, but I don't have a license and Ellie wasn't confident on the scooter so we opted for taxis. While obviously still affordable they are a more expensive option, a good thing though is that you can essentially hire a driver for a full day to take you wherever you'd like and wait for you at that place.
First up, Balangan beach which is a popular surfer spot but also great for relaxation and surfer spotting. If you drive down you'll be dropped off at a car park with the stairs to the beach to the left, but before heading down take a right and there's a bit of cliff jutting out that gives gorgeous views over the whole beach, and makes a great photo spot.
In Bali you can obviously just chill out on your towel on the beach, but sun loungers are so inexpensive it's definitely worth investing in one. Although they offer surf lessons here things can get pretty intense so I'd leave these waves to the professionals and just enjoy the perfect sun and soft sand instead. When the tide's out you're able to walk down the beach and grab some simple lunch at one of the restaurants on stilts - you'll learn to love nasi goreng!
Before I went a friend recommended to me Single Fin bar as a great place to spend an evening so one afternoon we made our way down to Uluwatu Beach. When we first arrived and made our way down the stairs we came into a small beach in what was almost a cave but as the tide went out and we adventured over some rocks we realised there was a long beach on the other side. We relaxed here as the tide went out revealing rock pools you could sit in and rocks which meant you could walk far out where the sea had been only an hour before.
As the sun began to set we headed back up the Single Fin bar which was full of very cool and attractive people (we felt a little worse for wear in our bikinis and beach clothes!) Although obviously more expensive then a local cafe the music here is really fun and there's a great evening atmosphere. One heads up though, if like us you're relying on taxis to get you around we had to wait a fair while before one showed up to get us home - which was a tad stressful!
One of the main attractions of the area is Uluwatu Temple, my main tip for this is set off in good time. There's just one road into the temple and especially towards the end of the day when the performance is due to begin it becomes packed. We arrived just in time to take in the stunning views the cliff top temple afforded and get a good seat for the traditional performance which was really captivating (if extremely cramped).
When it came to eating out we usually just looked up a well reviewed Warung on trip advisor and were never disappointed. Opting for a warung usually meant much more reasonably priced food and alcohol which was a plus!
I'll cover the rest of our trip in another post to avoid things getting too long!
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