Maybe it was the excitement and high exceptions of visiting Bali, but I honestly didn’t plan much before arriving. Figuring I would just book things to do while I was there. Little did I know, it isn’t as easy as it sounded. Mostly due to the fact I was solo.
I wanted something relaxing with a little adventure. I’m definitely not the kind of person you will see in bars or clubs until late in the evening. So I scoured the Internet and Instagram for things to do in Bali.
Kuta Beach
During my first full day in Bali, I went over to Kuta Beach to meet up with a friend. We had lunch at Rosso Vivo which is situated right across from the beach making it a little pricy. They do have happy hour consisting of ‘buy one get one free’ on a selection of drinks every day from 10am-6pm.
Kuta Beach is a lot of things that you don’t want while you’re in Bali. Think of a generic beach town with tons of shops, bars, and restaurants. Now add in traffic, people trying to sell you anything and everything, and overpriced food. I’d probably give Kuta Beach a skip next time.
Spa Time
What’s Bali without booking a spa package?
For the evening I booked a 4 hour spa package at Anika Spa through EazySpaDeals. Anika Spa is located in Kuta and close to the airport.
Eazy Spa Deals is amazing to find deals at spas all over Bali. The staff that I talked to on the website was great at getting back to me to book the same day. My spa package included a foot massage, body massage, body scrub, cream bath, hair treatment, and mani/pedi all for less than $50. Can’t really beat that. The staff at Anika Spa was great and friendly. Highly recommend!
Turtle Conservation Center
My second day in Bali I wanted to find a better beach so I ventured over to the Sanur area and went to the Turtle Conservation Center. This place is one of the few legit businesses that help sea turtles.
At the facility, you can learn about the sea turtle, and the efforts that the center does in helping the local population of sea turtles. Adopting a turtle and releasing it back into the ocean is a highlight of the center. I named my turtle Squirt. I know…I’m very original.
For the sake of logistics and safety, visitors don’t actually go to the ocean and release the turtle themselves. The staff at the conservation center handles that process. However, they do send out a video through WhatsApp of the staff releasing all the turtles that were adopted on the day you went to the center. Which was pretty cool. And you even get a nice certificate for your donation.
Sanur Beach
After leaving the Turtle Conservation Center, I had lunch on Sanur Beach at Genius Cafe. The atmosphere was really fun with beanbag loungers on the beach, and fun social activities at night. It’s also a co-working space so it is filled with all sorts of people. The food was great. I had the vegan pancakes and a cappuccino.
I didn’t know this before I went to Sanur beach, but it is all private beach with access only for hotel resort guests. I did manage to find an area that wasn’t occupied by anyone due to a new resort being built. However, there are tons of restaurants and shops along the beach. It is the opposite of Kuta. No one pushes you to buy anything, mostly due to all the private beaches.
After lounging around for a while I got hungry again and had an early dinner at El Comedor. They were having a promo for a some select items so I decided to eat there. I ordered the chicken satay and a fresh coconut. It was very good and the coconut was a good size.
I ended up heading back to my hotel early but I booked a 10 hour tour with an early start for the next day. The plan was to hit up all the major spots in central Bali which you can read about in my next post here.
