After the craziest half term ever, the holiday was finally here! It seems crazy that I have never been to Bali since I’ve lived in SE Asia for a while now so finally I thought it was about time I found out what all the fuss was about. As we only had a week we decided to do half beach half nature, stopping at Sanur and Ubud.

Sanur

So, firstly, landing in Bali airport is a bit of a nightmare. You need to get a visa if you are a UK passport holder and fill in an online arrival form. If you dont do it before you arrive, you will face hell on earth at the airport arrivals hall. Luckily we did sort it before so it was pain free for us. You can get your visa done online for around $30 per person.

Secondly, the traffic in Bali is mayhem. Honestly, it makes the whole situation very difficult for anyone with a young child, pushchair or not. The traffic jams are insane and the bikes weave in and out worse than Malaysia! If you can, get Grab app and use that for all taxi needs.

We stayed at Arena Living for 3 nights in Sanur. Sanur itself is nothing to write home about. It has a nice promenade beach front with bars and restaurants but the beach is dirty and litter galore. If you have children, check out Shotgun Social for a great restaurant with play area and kids club. Moreno Beach Bali has beach front seats and nice cocktails. If you want pristine tropical beaches, this won’t deliver. The visibility and calmness of the water did improve later in the afternoon though.

If you want to snorkel, you’ll need to get the ferry over to Nusa Penida. The fast boat takes about 45 minutes and it is a covered boat. Once you are in Nuda Penida you will find lots of snorkel companies near the ferry. I booked mine through a company on the beach in Sanur.  We visited 4 snorkel spots. The sea was ROUGH. The current was strong and half the boat was vomiting. However, it was worth it for me to see the manta rays!

I also got to have a private photo shoot as the only person on our boat who could swim properly and so the boat guy followed me around with camera directing me where to swim.

I sort of wish we had stayed on Nusa Penida and would advise that over Sanur. Arena Living is a great hotel with huge rooms, if you’re looking for a nice place to stay within a moderate budget.

Ubud

Everyone knows Ubud. Famous for its rice paddies and temples, it is one of the most popular places to visit in Bali. As a vegetarian or vegan you’ll be in HEAVEN. There are restaurants every few paces offering the biggest variety of vegan food you could ever wish for.

On our first night we went to Indus Restaurant. Amazing views, amazing food. Couldn’t fault them, definitely go there.

Check out the Campuhan ridge walk for an easy wander through some greenery and temples.

Another  restaurant recommendation is Tis restaurant up by the famous rice fields. Although the food was average, the view was great.

Annnd finally, a really great one..Kelapa Muda Ubud. This place is nestled in a rice field, with a free pool and a playground. It’s perfect.

Another place worth visiting is the Petulu bird rescue cafe.  They help the egrit population and they have very friendly tortoises and rabbits. Worth a drink for sure.

My main event was hiking Mount Batur at sunrise. Since having Ayla, and especially since she got too heavy to easily carry, I really miss a proper hike. So, I got up at 2am and hiked to the top of Mount Batur for sunrise. It was steep and pitch black but oh so worth it.

We also visited Ulu Petanu waterfall because we were looking for an easily accessible waterfalls, but I was disappointed. You can’t swim in it and it is just a short walk around really. I think there are so many better waterfalls in Ubud if you don’t have a 3 year old!

Overall, I preferred Ubud to Sanur and Nusa Penida. It has some beautiful spots, really great food and the people are friendly. However the roads are unforgiving and it is hard to be a pedestrian. We stayed at Alas Petulu and we had a huge house to ourselves. Again, great accommodation.

I wouldn’t rush back to these same parts of Bali but I would like to go back and visit North next time for some different snorkel spots. Overall, considering we had a sick and feverish, tantruming 3 year old we did pretty well with our activities! Indonesia continues to be cheap, considerably cheaper than Malaysia so it felt nice to feel as though the ringgit was going a long way for once!