Sanur, Bali - Anyone been?
Discussion
Looking likely we will be heading to Sanur in Bali at the beginning of May 2026 for a week.
We're on a longer trip via Kuala Lumpur, then Sydney and this is the chillout section on the way home to blighty!
Staying at this place: Pavillions Villas, Bali
Anyone been or got any experience or tips for must do things in and around the area?
We're on a longer trip via Kuala Lumpur, then Sydney and this is the chillout section on the way home to blighty!
Staying at this place: Pavillions Villas, Bali
Anyone been or got any experience or tips for must do things in and around the area?
Been to Bali many many times, but not Sanur. However, the following points apply.
Get a Wise card for money/purchases.
Use Go/Gojek app to get around. It's like Uber. But you don't need to register a card, just pay cash at ride end.
Taxis - the only official one is Bluebird. You'll see taxis with a bluebird on them, everywhere, but they're not official. They'll scam you as won't have meter on and just name their price.
Bottled water only. Don't, I repeat don't, drink any tap water. Especially for teeth brushing and in the shower. You will get ill.
Day you arrive buy a lot of 1.5ltr bottled water from the local Circle K shops. They're cheap. Don't wait till day 2 as you will need a lot of water.
Roadside stalls selling fake s
t are everywhere. They all sell the same thing. Don't rush to buy straight away.
Renting a scooter/moped. Plenty of people do it. Personally not for me given the high accident rate. And go/Gojek are air conditioned.
Don't change money out at a back street money changer. There are plenty of decent onstreet ones. Less chance of sleight of hand scammers. If the rate is 10% better than everyone else, yeah it's a scam.
Get proper travel insurance.
It's humid. You won't be wearing jeans. Or a jumper. At all. Wear shorts and t-shirt everyday.
Highly recommend a day trip white water rafting. Good fun
Go on Facebook and look for a daily driver. For about £40 to £50 they'll basically drive you everywhere for a day to do your excursions. I used this guy quite a few times and decent. https://jinggobalitour.com/. Names Nyoman and WhatsApp him. +62 812-3665-9957
By the way everyone uses WhatsApp for services to communicate
If you want to climb Mount Batur be aware it isn't a stroll. It's bd hard.
Do Waterbom water park if you like waterparks. Very professional and easy to do. Make sure you go early and get a locker.
Sanur is near Denpasar. Denpasar is a st hole. Don't bother going there's nothing there to see. Kuta is a st hole..Seminyak and Legian are ok and some nice beach club restaurants etc. Seminyak ok for shopping. Ubud is humid as balls (the water rafting is up there) and worth a look around. The west of the island isn't necessarily worth a visit.
It's hot and humid in Bali. Don't try and get out shopping everyday, you'll just get knackered. Have some good.lazy days. Less is more n Bali I believe.
Massages are cheap on the street. I recommend paying more for a proper spa service. So much nicer
The traffic is hellish. Traffic jams everywhere. Allow a lot of time to get anywhere
Make sure you have airport pick up to take you to your villa. It's a proper busy 3rd world airport and a bit of a scrum when you arrive.
Bintang beer is good.
The beaches arent great imho
Take sunscreen with you from Oz. It's cheaper.
Recommend Pocari Sweat for hydralite drinking and it tastes good.
Alcohol like spirits and wine is expensive in Bali. Absolutely buy duty free out of Sydney if you drink spirits.
Couple of places I recommend for a good night out with a meal and chilled vibe are Ku De Ta and Potatohead in Seminyak. Also Uluwatu not far from Sanur well worth a trip. Monkey Bar at Bella Vista is very cool
If you want fake stuff, there's a good fake watch shop in Kuta Square called Bagus Watch. The good stuff is top floor. I have a genuine Rolex GMT and if you ask, behind the front counter is the top tier stuff you can get similar but for £500 which is huge for a fake but I couldn't tell the difference between my real one and a fake one. There's also a perfume shop selling fake perfumes but my god it saves a fortune if your partner likes perfumes and for £5 you can get something that smells the same as a £50-100 real one, and lasts longer. It's near Kuta Square
For your arrival at Bali airport do your Visa and Customs form online beforehand. Will save you soooo much time at the airport. That way you can basically fast gate through - passport control is a nightmare and takes forever if not.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/
https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
Get a Wise card for money/purchases.
Use Go/Gojek app to get around. It's like Uber. But you don't need to register a card, just pay cash at ride end.
Taxis - the only official one is Bluebird. You'll see taxis with a bluebird on them, everywhere, but they're not official. They'll scam you as won't have meter on and just name their price.
Bottled water only. Don't, I repeat don't, drink any tap water. Especially for teeth brushing and in the shower. You will get ill.
Day you arrive buy a lot of 1.5ltr bottled water from the local Circle K shops. They're cheap. Don't wait till day 2 as you will need a lot of water.
Roadside stalls selling fake s
t are everywhere. They all sell the same thing. Don't rush to buy straight away.Renting a scooter/moped. Plenty of people do it. Personally not for me given the high accident rate. And go/Gojek are air conditioned.
Don't change money out at a back street money changer. There are plenty of decent onstreet ones. Less chance of sleight of hand scammers. If the rate is 10% better than everyone else, yeah it's a scam.
Get proper travel insurance.
It's humid. You won't be wearing jeans. Or a jumper. At all. Wear shorts and t-shirt everyday.
Highly recommend a day trip white water rafting. Good fun
Go on Facebook and look for a daily driver. For about £40 to £50 they'll basically drive you everywhere for a day to do your excursions. I used this guy quite a few times and decent. https://jinggobalitour.com/. Names Nyoman and WhatsApp him. +62 812-3665-9957
By the way everyone uses WhatsApp for services to communicate
If you want to climb Mount Batur be aware it isn't a stroll. It's b
d hard.Do Waterbom water park if you like waterparks. Very professional and easy to do. Make sure you go early and get a locker.
Sanur is near Denpasar. Denpasar is a s
t hole. Don't bother going there's nothing there to see. Kuta is a st hole..Seminyak and Legian are ok and some nice beach club restaurants etc. Seminyak ok for shopping. Ubud is humid as balls (the water rafting is up there) and worth a look around. The west of the island isn't necessarily worth a visit. It's hot and humid in Bali. Don't try and get out shopping everyday, you'll just get knackered. Have some good.lazy days. Less is more n Bali I believe.
Massages are cheap on the street. I recommend paying more for a proper spa service. So much nicer
The traffic is hellish. Traffic jams everywhere. Allow a lot of time to get anywhere
Make sure you have airport pick up to take you to your villa. It's a proper busy 3rd world airport and a bit of a scrum when you arrive.
Bintang beer is good.
The beaches arent great imho
Take sunscreen with you from Oz. It's cheaper.
Recommend Pocari Sweat for hydralite drinking and it tastes good.
Alcohol like spirits and wine is expensive in Bali. Absolutely buy duty free out of Sydney if you drink spirits.
Couple of places I recommend for a good night out with a meal and chilled vibe are Ku De Ta and Potatohead in Seminyak. Also Uluwatu not far from Sanur well worth a trip. Monkey Bar at Bella Vista is very cool
If you want fake stuff, there's a good fake watch shop in Kuta Square called Bagus Watch. The good stuff is top floor. I have a genuine Rolex GMT and if you ask, behind the front counter is the top tier stuff you can get similar but for £500 which is huge for a fake but I couldn't tell the difference between my real one and a fake one. There's also a perfume shop selling fake perfumes but my god it saves a fortune if your partner likes perfumes and for £5 you can get something that smells the same as a £50-100 real one, and lasts longer. It's near Kuta Square
For your arrival at Bali airport do your Visa and Customs form online beforehand. Will save you soooo much time at the airport. That way you can basically fast gate through - passport control is a nightmare and takes forever if not.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/
https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
Edited by Pommy on Saturday 2nd August 05:39
Edited by Pommy on Saturday 2nd August 05:43
Not Sanur but me and the wife had our honeymoon in Bali earlier in the year!
We stayed near Ubud, as above traffic is hellish, I ride a motorbike but couldn't be bothered with a scooter so we just used taxi's and hired drivers for stuff.
White water rafting is a must it was a great experience, I have been before in Turkey a few times.
Bottled water is also a must, we carried a little cash but I just used my Barclaycard via Google Play in most places (my Barclaycard is free to use abroad).
RE watches (from the above post), you can get decent "superclones" these days online for £300-500.
And 100% do all of your documents before you arrive, we literally arrived and walked straight through the airport, where as most of our plane ended up queuing up for stuff.
We stayed near Ubud, as above traffic is hellish, I ride a motorbike but couldn't be bothered with a scooter so we just used taxi's and hired drivers for stuff.
White water rafting is a must it was a great experience, I have been before in Turkey a few times.
Bottled water is also a must, we carried a little cash but I just used my Barclaycard via Google Play in most places (my Barclaycard is free to use abroad).
RE watches (from the above post), you can get decent "superclones" these days online for £300-500.
And 100% do all of your documents before you arrive, we literally arrived and walked straight through the airport, where as most of our plane ended up queuing up for stuff.
Pommy said:
Been to Bali many many times, but not Sanur. However, the following points apply.
Get a Wise card for money/purchases.
Use Go/Gojek app to get around. It's like Uber. But you don't need to register a card, just pay cash at ride end.
Taxis - the only official one is Bluebird. You'll see taxis with a bluebird on them, everywhere, but they're not official. They'll scam you as won't have meter on and just name their price.
Bottled water only. Don't, I repeat don't, drink any tap water. Especially for teeth brushing and in the shower. You will get ill.
Day you arrive buy a lot of 1.5ltr bottled water from the local Circle K shops. They're cheap. Don't wait till day 2 as you will need a lot of water.
Roadside stalls selling fake st are everywhere. They all sell the same thing. Don't rush to buy straight away.
Renting a scooter/moped. Plenty of people do it. Personally not for me given the high accident rate. And go/Gojek are air conditioned.
Don't change money out at a back street money changer. There are plenty of decent onstreet ones. Less chance of sleight of hand scammers. If the rate is 10% better than everyone else, yeah it's a scam.
Get proper travel insurance.
It's humid. You won't be wearing jeans. Or a jumper. At all. Wear shorts and t-shirt everyday.
Highly recommend a day trip white water rafting. Good fun
Go on Facebook and look for a daily driver. For about £40 to £50 they'll basically drive you everywhere for a day to do your excursions. I used this guy quite a few times and decent. https://jinggobalitour.com/. Names Nyoman and WhatsApp him. +62 812-3665-9957
By the way everyone uses WhatsApp for services to communicate
If you want to climb Mount Batur be aware it isn't a stroll. It's bd hard.
Do Waterbom water park if you like waterparks. Very professional and easy to do. Make sure you go early and get a locker.
Sanur is near Denpasar. Denpasar is a st hole. Don't bother going there's nothing there to see. Kuta is a st hole..Seminyak and Legian are ok and some nice beach club restaurants etc. Seminyak ok for shopping. Ubud is humid as balls (the water rafting is up there) and worth a look around. The west of the island isn't necessarily worth a visit.
It's hot and humid in Bali. Don't try and get out shopping everyday, you'll just get knackered. Have some good.lazy days. Less is more n Bali I believe.
Massages are cheap on the street. I recommend paying more for a proper spa service. So much nicer
The traffic is hellish. Traffic jams everywhere. Allow a lot of time to get anywhere
Make sure you have airport pick up to take you to your villa. It's a proper busy 3rd world airport and a bit of a scrum when you arrive.
Bintang beer is good.
The beaches arent great imho
Take sunscreen with you from Oz. It's cheaper.
Recommend Pocari Sweat for hydralite drinking and it tastes good.
Alcohol like spirits and wine is expensive in Bali. Absolutely buy duty free out of Sydney if you drink spirits.
Couple of places I recommend for a good night out with a meal and chilled vibe are Ku De Ta and Potatohead in Seminyak. Also Uluwatu not far from Sanur well worth a trip. Monkey Bar at Bella Vista is very cool
If you want fake stuff, there's a good fake watch shop in Kuta Square called Bagus Watch. The good stuff is top floor. I have a genuine Rolex GMT and if you ask, behind the front counter is the top tier stuff you can get similar but for £500 which is huge for a fake but I couldn't tell the difference between my real one and a fake one. There's also a perfume shop selling fake perfumes but my god it saves a fortune if your partner likes perfumes and for £5 you can get something that smells the same as a £50-100 real one, and lasts longer. It's near Kuta Square
For your arrival at Bali airport do your Visa and Customs form online beforehand. Will save you soooo much time at the airport. That way you can basically fast gate through - passport control is a nightmare and takes forever if not.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/
https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
Cheers for this very helpfulGet a Wise card for money/purchases.
Use Go/Gojek app to get around. It's like Uber. But you don't need to register a card, just pay cash at ride end.
Taxis - the only official one is Bluebird. You'll see taxis with a bluebird on them, everywhere, but they're not official. They'll scam you as won't have meter on and just name their price.
Bottled water only. Don't, I repeat don't, drink any tap water. Especially for teeth brushing and in the shower. You will get ill.
Day you arrive buy a lot of 1.5ltr bottled water from the local Circle K shops. They're cheap. Don't wait till day 2 as you will need a lot of water.
Roadside stalls selling fake s
t are everywhere. They all sell the same thing. Don't rush to buy straight away.Renting a scooter/moped. Plenty of people do it. Personally not for me given the high accident rate. And go/Gojek are air conditioned.
Don't change money out at a back street money changer. There are plenty of decent onstreet ones. Less chance of sleight of hand scammers. If the rate is 10% better than everyone else, yeah it's a scam.
Get proper travel insurance.
It's humid. You won't be wearing jeans. Or a jumper. At all. Wear shorts and t-shirt everyday.
Highly recommend a day trip white water rafting. Good fun
Go on Facebook and look for a daily driver. For about £40 to £50 they'll basically drive you everywhere for a day to do your excursions. I used this guy quite a few times and decent. https://jinggobalitour.com/. Names Nyoman and WhatsApp him. +62 812-3665-9957
By the way everyone uses WhatsApp for services to communicate
If you want to climb Mount Batur be aware it isn't a stroll. It's b
d hard.Do Waterbom water park if you like waterparks. Very professional and easy to do. Make sure you go early and get a locker.
Sanur is near Denpasar. Denpasar is a s
t hole. Don't bother going there's nothing there to see. Kuta is a st hole..Seminyak and Legian are ok and some nice beach club restaurants etc. Seminyak ok for shopping. Ubud is humid as balls (the water rafting is up there) and worth a look around. The west of the island isn't necessarily worth a visit. It's hot and humid in Bali. Don't try and get out shopping everyday, you'll just get knackered. Have some good.lazy days. Less is more n Bali I believe.
Massages are cheap on the street. I recommend paying more for a proper spa service. So much nicer
The traffic is hellish. Traffic jams everywhere. Allow a lot of time to get anywhere
Make sure you have airport pick up to take you to your villa. It's a proper busy 3rd world airport and a bit of a scrum when you arrive.
Bintang beer is good.
The beaches arent great imho
Take sunscreen with you from Oz. It's cheaper.
Recommend Pocari Sweat for hydralite drinking and it tastes good.
Alcohol like spirits and wine is expensive in Bali. Absolutely buy duty free out of Sydney if you drink spirits.
Couple of places I recommend for a good night out with a meal and chilled vibe are Ku De Ta and Potatohead in Seminyak. Also Uluwatu not far from Sanur well worth a trip. Monkey Bar at Bella Vista is very cool
If you want fake stuff, there's a good fake watch shop in Kuta Square called Bagus Watch. The good stuff is top floor. I have a genuine Rolex GMT and if you ask, behind the front counter is the top tier stuff you can get similar but for £500 which is huge for a fake but I couldn't tell the difference between my real one and a fake one. There's also a perfume shop selling fake perfumes but my god it saves a fortune if your partner likes perfumes and for £5 you can get something that smells the same as a £50-100 real one, and lasts longer. It's near Kuta Square
For your arrival at Bali airport do your Visa and Customs form online beforehand. Will save you soooo much time at the airport. That way you can basically fast gate through - passport control is a nightmare and takes forever if not.
https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/
https://ecd.beacukai.go.id/
Edited by Pommy on Saturday 2nd August 05:39
Edited by Pommy on Saturday 2nd August 05:43
Very timely post as we re going in a couple of weeks.
Great tips above, if anyone has any recommendations for a family with kids (6 and 9), would be very welcome. We re staying in Ubud and Sanur.
Currently planning water park, monkey forest, maybe elephant sanctuary and turtle conservation (as well as some downtime)
Great tips above, if anyone has any recommendations for a family with kids (6 and 9), would be very welcome. We re staying in Ubud and Sanur.
Currently planning water park, monkey forest, maybe elephant sanctuary and turtle conservation (as well as some downtime)
Been all over the world - went to Bali last year for two weeks - one week up near Ubud at a five star hotel following week down at Jimbaran Bay. Took my wife’s brother and wife who stayed in Airbnbs close to our hotels.
Positives - most of the local Balinese we met were very nice. Island is beautiful in parts.
Negatives- traffic is hell, beaches are not great and pollution of rivers and beaches is very bad so much so that we did not swim in the sea.
Food hygiene and quality leaves a lot to be desired. Wife got very bad food poon next to last day there which took five days to clear up
In summary - we would not go back
Positives - most of the local Balinese we met were very nice. Island is beautiful in parts.
Negatives- traffic is hell, beaches are not great and pollution of rivers and beaches is very bad so much so that we did not swim in the sea.
Food hygiene and quality leaves a lot to be desired. Wife got very bad food poon next to last day there which took five days to clear up
In summary - we would not go back
juggsy said:
Very timely post as we re going in a couple of weeks.
Great tips above, if anyone has any recommendations for a family with kids (6 and 9), would be very welcome. We re staying in Ubud and Sanur.
Currently planning water park, monkey forest, maybe elephant sanctuary and turtle conservation (as well as some downtime)
We went to a monkey forest outside of Ubud rather than the main one, was less busy. Be very careful around them, they are wild animals at the end of the day. If you get bit do get medical attention. Great tips above, if anyone has any recommendations for a family with kids (6 and 9), would be very welcome. We re staying in Ubud and Sanur.
Currently planning water park, monkey forest, maybe elephant sanctuary and turtle conservation (as well as some downtime)
We did the breakfast with Orangutan at the zoo/Elephant experience, that was a really good experience and included lunch as well.
Been all over the world - went to Bali last year for two weeks - one week up near Ubud at a five star hotel following week down at Jimbaran Bay. Took my wife s brother and wife who stayed in Airbnbs close to our hotels.
Positives - most of the local Balinese we met were very nice. Island is beautiful in parts.
Negatives- traffic is hell, beaches are not great and pollution of rivers and beaches is very bad so much so that we did not swim in the sea.
Food hygiene and quality leaves a lot to be desired. Wife got very bad food poisoning next to last day there which took five days to clear up
In summary - we would not go back
Positives - most of the local Balinese we met were very nice. Island is beautiful in parts.
Negatives- traffic is hell, beaches are not great and pollution of rivers and beaches is very bad so much so that we did not swim in the sea.
Food hygiene and quality leaves a lot to be desired. Wife got very bad food poisoning next to last day there which took five days to clear up
In summary - we would not go back
Edited by Mahalo on Saturday 2nd August 20:02
the-norseman said:
We went to a monkey forest outside of Ubud rather than the main one, was less busy. Be very careful around them, they are wild animals at the end of the day. If you get bit do get medical attention.
We did the breakfast with Orangutan at the zoo/Elephant experience, that was a really good experience and included lunch as well.
Thanks norseman , would you be able to link the orangutan experience you went to?We did the breakfast with Orangutan at the zoo/Elephant experience, that was a really good experience and included lunch as well.
we went a while back, UBUD > KATA > ULUWATU
most annoying thing was in Uluwatu they dont allow other (this may have changed) taxis to operate just the mafia ones.
ubud we stayed in Bisma 8 - was decent, uluwatu think we were at anatara was fine. Omnia beach club was a nice day out get a cabana etc have some munch.
i got bitten by a monkey so make sure you got some good health insurance.
most annoying thing was in Uluwatu they dont allow other (this may have changed) taxis to operate just the mafia ones.
ubud we stayed in Bisma 8 - was decent, uluwatu think we were at anatara was fine. Omnia beach club was a nice day out get a cabana etc have some munch.
i got bitten by a monkey so make sure you got some good health insurance.
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