Canggu is a beach destination on the island of Bali, it has become famous in recent years with surfer and digital nomads. I didn't meet a lot of them, mostly party people and people living here for a few months.
Some people use it as a base when landing and transferring directly there by car then starting their Bali adventure, I actually prefer my option of starting in Kuta as I find it more central if you want to go to Uluwatu, Denpasar or Sanur first, also easy to go to Ubud.
I think it would really depend on the seasons and the deals you get on hotels in Kuta but since there are more resorts, they compete during low season for tourist so for the same price you might get good value accommodation, upgrades, free breakfast. Especially true if you are a Booking.com Genius member.
The Farm hostel 2 nights
You might have noticed in my previous article that I shared a ride to Canggu with a French woman and she did stay here before, said it was ok. She stopped at the venue to pickup something she left. When I got in staff was nice, you get a bracelet around your hand which you can preload with money to pay inside the venue (also for security to see who are guest or outside person), you get a towel and access to the pool all day which is cool.
As I said this was the first hostel experience I had on the trip as I was doing only private hotel rooms until this point.
I thought the hostel was nice, lot of people but it was heavy focus on partying everyday which I wasn't Viking with at the moment, I didn't think it thought when booking but that was going against my challenge of not drinking for 3 months on my Asian trip. Still manage it for two nights, drink a Mocktail and sprite 😅 but I did feel the urge to drink, specially with everyone around in the mood. I did meet a few people here but I think you need to come to party in order to enjoy this place to the fullest.
Breakfast was pretty good and the pools were social. I walked down to the beach in Canggu which is amazing and has a world reputation for surfing.
It is also the place I was at when the US election was happening (due to time difference)
Moving to a private room with pool
Personally I wasn't the biggest fan of Canggu, it kind of feels like a colony, lot of white people around and not too much local to talk too expect the one in the service industry. They are building a lot around and when I moved to my next private hotel after the farm (still in Canggu) it was on a new part of the city/town. The road was brand new and building are replacing rice fields around. It does feel like everything is aimed at tourist, fancy café and restaurants, big beach clubs. It isn't what I was looking for personally but I can see why people would come here for big parties.
I actually canceled other nights I had planned at another hostel in Canggu in order to get a private room because I got such a good last minute deal on booking that it didn't make since to not go private, I was style within the cancellation window of the hostels so I switch and not regretting the decision, I managed to checkin at lunchtime and I had free small breakfast for 3 days included in the deal. Something to take into consideration in Bali when offseason, you might get paid for your flexibility if you are willing to book last minute when hotels are empty.
Construction going on around Canggu, pretty sure that a photo here in 5 years won't look the same.
The highlight for me was the temple: Tanah Lot.
The Tanah Lot Temple is one of the top attraction in Bali according to trip advisor, apparently even higher up than the famous Uluwatu temple. It is a small bike/car ride away from the city and is really worth it. Most people might do it as part of an organized tour around but if you are staying in Canggu you can go there yourself with Grab, pretty easy. I actually ended up returning with a more traditional bike that was waiting for tourist just outside before I ordered a grab. I negotiated a price that was just a little bit higher then what grab would charge but I was happy to pay the old man, part of the game as well but don't settle for their first price!
You can also make a donation to see a sacred snake in a cave nearby. I went during high tide so couldn't walk to the temple on the highland but maybe you can during low tide, not sure.
Most people are actually going there for sunset so I left just before when Buses where arriving, I had a quick dinner at one of the onsite restaurants and left.
Highly recommend stopping at this site. You can spend easily a few hours here if you want to walk around everything, is it like it is never ending and the temple is basically by itself.
10th of November - Back to Kuta
Stay in my room until checkout around 11h45am, I did get the breakfast one last time here, I ordered a grabCar for my transfer back to Kuta and I got a really good deal, I paid 81 400 IDR which is about $5 USD + tips for an 11km ride which with the classic Bali traffic took exactly 46mins. Still very nice to transfer in a car with AC when the heat is out. The meant I checkin in by 1pm in my next hotel in Kuta, I would only be staying one night as I had already pre-booked my last 2 nights on the islands within walking distance (20mins) of the Airport to make sure I don't get impacted by traffic or taxi problems before my morning flight.
Most people I talked to after didn't really enjoy Kuta that much but I thought it was a really good deal off season for good accommodation and some nice food options too, very close to the beach and I was behind the sunset walk mall which is nice if you don't want to look too fare for a restaurant, sometimes I appreciate the convenience.
Explore the Journey So Far:
- 🪷 WaltInAsia 09 - Lotus café, dance show and ride to Canggu
- ☕ WaltInAsia 08 - Ubud - Waterfall, temple and coffee plantation
- 🐒 WaltInAsia 07 - Ubud Monkey forest and cancelled dance show
- 🚕 WaltInAsia 06 - Relocation to Ubud
- 🐪 WaltInAsia 05 - Day 10 Kuta, Sanur and camel ride
- 📍 WaltInAsia 04 - Pool and Sunset in Kuta, Bali
- ✈️ WaltInAsia 03 - Flight from Jakarta to Bali
- 🛍️ WaltInAsia 02 - Tour of markets and Malls in Jakarta
- 🗺️ WaltInAsia 01 - End of first week in Jakarta, Indonesia
- 🛫 WaltInAsia 00 - Preparation and flight review to Jakarta