Bali

[ToBMarried24]

Would you recommend? and if so which parts? Possibly looking at booking my honeymoon there for 2024.

we will be taking our kids so we are not looking to party it up.

Thanks.

Kuta is defo off the list!

No, I wouldn’t recommend.

@ToBMarried24

We flew from the airport in Bali to Lombok, it literally took 15 minutes if that! We did Lombok in the middle and finished off with Ubud.

Lombok was definitely the best part!

We loved Bali- we stayed at Sanur- but hired a driver for a couple of days to explore the island- the rice terraces, coffee, spice plantation, Tanah Lot and some silk screen artist workshop amongst other things. We learnt so much from our guide.
Our teens loved the water Park at Kuta (they still say it was the best day EVER 8 years later!!!).
After a day at the water Park head to the beach to watch an amazing sunset.
we loved the Balinese people.
we are going to Lombok this year as we enjoyed Indonesia so much.
We have also been to Langkowi which was also nice.
it is a long way to go- but we love south east Asia!

Yes, hiring a driver to visit other places is the best way to see other parts of the island. We did it on our last day, and wish we had done it sooner. We had done a coach trip which was very interesting, but not as good as hiring a driver for the day.

Look up The Datai in Lankawi. It's amazing.

Flores is also great and Komodo national park

I went last year. Surprised to find that all of the beaches are public and for some reason are full of rubbish. And the airport is mega busy so be careful your hotel is not on the flight path. That said, stayed in a beautiful hotel and had a great time.

I thought I would hate Bali but have found it strangely addictive. DH and I have spent a total of three months there since COVID and go again for a month in August. Location is the key; Sanur is now our favourite place, we rent a villa for a month then do side trips - Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Penida, the Gilli islands, up the coast to Candidasa or Amed. We do go over to Seminyak for fantastic restaurants but are glad to leave to go “home” after dinner. People who hate Bali are usually talking about Kuta and Legian, the beaches on the West coast are filthy in rainy season as the rubbish from other places gets washed up on the beach. As Aussies we don’t go to Bali for the beaches, there are plenty at home and if we want perfect white sand beaches overseas we will go to Vanuatu. The influx of Russians at the moment has also changed the atmosphere in places like Seminyak and Canggu, there is a lot of bad behaviour and resentment from the locals. The resorts in Nusa Dua are nice but tbh you could be anywhere. For a honeymoon I would think of Uluwatu where you get super luxe resorts, amazing views and exclusive access to some of the cool beach clubs, some time on one of the islands (if you already have your diving licence you can get straight to the good stuff) and maybe a few days in Ubud at someplace like the Adiwana Bisma or The Kayon Resort (fab infinity pools in the jungle). The best way to get around is by using a driver, don’t be tempted by the scooters, traffic is nuts and it’s mainly tourists getting hurt. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will try and answer.

How old are your kids? The water park in kits is amazing so unless they are really young it’s worth a visit. You could stay elsewhere in the island though and do a day trip. Sanur is nice and not too far away.

Kuta not kits

They will be 11 and nearly 13 when we go.

How is the safety at the water parks? One of my kids is non verbal but loves water and I always worry at water parks! Even when we went to Disneyworld.

Thank you!! I will be coming from the UK so it’s a long ass flight for us.

I was trying to make a rough plan last night and kept looking up places….

The ones I had on my list was (in no order)

Ubud (maybe do a morning going to munduk to trek up the volcano for a sunset?)
Sanur
Nusa Lemborough

Lombok possibly? I’m not sure how cheap/easy it is to get there via ferry or small plane.

same with Gili Air and Gili Meno…. I would leave Gili T out if possible.

I didn’t notice any safety concerns when I was there. It is routinely listed as one of the best water parks, including on trip advisor.

I loved gili T and it is the biggest so easiest to get to so I wouldn’t rule it out. You can do snorkeling trips/boat trips to the smaller islands easily from there but is probably the better island to base yourself on. The north side of the island is the quieter side with some nice family resorts.

I would look at visiting some temples, tanah lot is great, worth visiting at sunset.
i booked trips with balifulldaytour.com and did a half day temple tour that included tanah lot and did a cycling tour. Would highly recommend the cycling tour, took you through the rice fields and ended with an amazing lunch.

Cambodia and Vietnam have some stunning beaches. It's not well Known as that's not what's plugged. But the traffic, congestion and humidity are not romantic.

I personally enjoyed Bali, but I think for a honeymoon it won't have that magic you would want.

Would you consider Mexico? Further down away from Cancun?

Actually the cycling tour I did was jegeg Bali cycling.

What attracted you to Bali in the first place, out of interest? It's a very long way. As an Australian I wouldn't go.

If you're going all that way, go to Queensland/Whitsundays/Hamilton Island for a beach holiday.

everyone has prob covered it but Kuta sucks, go to some of the other suggestions here, Sanur etc and once we stayed in Ubud at a really nice place which was lovely, go for the best you can afford for sure as some places aren't great. Its a long way from uk and not sure its worth it, I used to go with girlfriends when we lived in Aussie so easy and cheap.

I loved Bali but we did a lot of jungle walks/hikes/waterfalls/temples etc, I don't see it as beach holiday destination at all. Of course there are beaches - its an island, but the ocean waves can be VERY big and currents very strong, I wasn't comfortable at all. Maldives (romantic) or Mauritius (family) imo is better in this regard.

I like Bali, we've been twice in 2011 and 2019 and it was noticeably busier and more built up on our last trip. It is overcrowded (particularly in Ubud) and the beaches aren't great compared to other places but the resorts are amazing and great value (we didn't find any place we stayed seedy in the least) and the restaurants are great. There's a lot of beauty spots inland away from the beaches. A few people here have mentioned Sanur which I would also recommend. Gili Islands are lovely and laid back too, fond memories of cycling around exploring during the day and spending lazy evenings in hammocks in the beach bars watching movies set up on big screens along the beach. The absence of cars is nice too. We combined our trip to Bali with Japan with was a nice combination because they're such different destinations.

However, if you're looking for someplace really outstanding I would highly recommend Philippines. Outstanding beauty, amazing beaches and wonderful people. So many different activities and places to explore. It works well with a stop in Hong Kong for a couple days too.

It's at least 18h away.
Know two people who went, one 18-yr-old who went with friends and loved it, one 40-yr-old who went alone said it wasn't great.

It sounds like Bali is a bit like Majorca - if you pick the wrong resort you will hate it. You have Kuta/Magaluf and Sanur/somewhere quieter and more upmarket in Majorca.

We stayed at the Segara Village Hotel at Sanur. It is a very traditional hotel, and it looks like they have spent a lot of money on it since we went. The beach there is very sheltered as there is a coral reef and a lagoon so there are no big waves. I liked it. We went in 1996 BTW.