Vacation- Bali

[bozeman]

Anyone been to Bali? Looking at the Conrad as the resort to stay in. This is for our 25th anniversary. Would appreciate any feedback from those who have been. Thanks!

 

[alecvg]

My wife and I went for our honeymoon back in 2017. Loved it, would absolutely go back. We stayed at Padama Resort Ubud, never went to the beach, spent our entire trip up there, which was more in the mountains. We did find if you go out on any 'tours' you need to be pretty forceful on your expectations, as the locals will just bring you to every tourist trap and gift shop they can if you let them. Once we found a good local, we just requested him every time we left for the remainder of the trip. Only thing that shocked me when I was there was the level of pollution, but I have heard they have worked hard to improve that since.

 

[bighornbor]

If you’re into fishing or sea life it isn’t the greatest destination anymore. Last time I went to Labuan Bajo and had several opportunities at land based Giant Trevally in 3 days DIY fishing with a rented scooter. Unreal views scootering around and not very busy. I hope to go back and get my revenge.

 

[bozeman]

Not fishing, just relaxing, seeing some of the beaches and waterfalls. Diff destination. Bora Bora done, Bali was next.

 

[twall13]

I'm headed there next week and can report back after I return home.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[bozeman]

I'm headed there next week and can report back after I return home.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using Tapatalk

Would like to hear about it! Safe travels.

 

[Reburn]

I'm jelly you are getting to bali. I am just making Turk and Caicos this year. Im thinking about Bora Bora for next jan though.

 

[Phaseolus]

I'm jelly you are getting to bali. I am just making Turk and Caicos this year. Im thinking about Bora Bora for next jan though.

It's the rainy season in the south Pacific in December, January, and February, just something to think about.

 

[eddielasvegas]

I'm jelly you are getting to bali. I am just making Turk and Caicos this year. Im thinking about Bora Bora for next jan though.

Leave your rifle and pistol cartridges and spent shells at home.


Eddie

 

[Kenn]

Was there a few months ago after Borneo and it was good, not great. I’m not a beach guy so keep that in mind. Great food and very, very cheap. Went on a snorkeling tour and that was very commercial and an absolute waste of money. A lot of shops and the walk along the beach was nice.

 

[Reburn]

It's the rainy season in the south Pacific in December, January, and February, just something to think about.

Yes sir I am aware. Its pretty hard to take a vacation that long may through october as I generally have alot going on. aug and september I'm hunting and Nov is obviously leaning into holidays. Thats kinda why I havent gone upto this point.

Leave your rifle and pistol cartridges and spent shells at home.


Eddie

Thanks for the head up. I know how to follow rules and regs of other contries though. The US is pretty plain if you violate T&C rules they arent coming to get you.

 

[Cwsharer]

I thought the title said Vacation -Bail…. Haha ! Thought you were roksliding from the pokie

 

[mlevimadden]

I spent a few weeks in Indonesia in 2019 with a week of that being on Bali. Happy to answer any questions you have via PM and offer recommendations depending on what you prefer and are looking for out of the trip.

I'm not sure how long you're planning to stay there, but I would really recommend splitting your time between one of the beach areas and Ubud. It's also a short trip to the Gili islands if you want to experience a muslim island in Indo or do any diving/snorkeling.

I would avoid Kuta unless you're looking for a party scene. Bali is the Las Vegas for Australians, and Kuta is the party area. There were like 4 or 5 bachelor party groups on our flight from Sydney to Bali.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Yes sir I am aware. Its pretty hard to take a vacation that long may through october as I generally have alot going on. aug and september I'm hunting and Nov is obviously leaning into holidays. Thats kinda why I havent gone upto this point.



Thanks for the head up. I know how to follow rules and regs of other contries though. The US is pretty plain if you violate T&C rules they arent coming to get you.

I forgot the smiley emoji indicating I was being a wise acre. Now there's a saying you don't hear too often these days.

Went to T&C (Provo) for three visits in the early 90's. Th Conch fritters are fantastic and "Cay" as in Parrot Cay is pronounced "key" according to the native who made our fritters.

I know it's built up like crazy since I was there. I seem to recall a great snorkeling place a short distance off the beach. A short walk from Grace Bay, IIRC.

Have a good trip,

Eddie

 

[bozeman]

I spent a few weeks in Indonesia in 2019 with a week of that being on Bali. Happy to answer any questions you have via PM and offer recommendations depending on what you prefer and are looking for out of the trip.

I'm not sure how long you're planning to stay there, but I would really recommend splitting your time between one of the beach areas and Ubud. It's also a short trip to the Gili islands if you want to experience a muslim island in Indo or do any diving/snorkeling.

I would avoid Kuta unless you're looking for a party scene. Bali is the Las Vegas for Australians, and Kuta is the party area. There were like 4 or 5 bachelor party groups on our flight from Sydney to Bali.

Chillaxin, some snorkeling. Eat, chillax some more. Visit a waterfall or two. Eat, chillax. Did I mention we want to eat and relax.

 

[idig4au]

It’s great if you want to vacation with aussies and Russians

 

[abbrown]

Spent about 10 days there a few years back. Ubud is the coolest area culturally and has some awesome hotels/air bnbs to stay in and feel high class. Go for some hikes up in the mountainous rice fields for some really cool scenery.
We did a traditional Balinese cooking class for my wife's birthday in Ubud which I highly recommend - it was us two with three Balinese chefs and we got to eat/keep everything we made. Ingredients were fresh, food was fantastic, cool experience.
If you're feeling ballsy, rent a scooter and experience the scooter horde...people go everywhere on all terrain on those things.
For beach - we took a side trip to Nusa Lembongan and I'd highly recommend that area for your beach chillaxin - very tropical relaxed beach vibe. Supposed to have good diving and snorkeling there, I couldn't do it myself due to an ear infection. I did hear there is more garbage than you'd like to see in the reefs there which sucks. Find a cool resort with a pool, pretty easy to do without breaking the bank. Everything is walkable there. Some really cool little coast hikes down to stellar beaches and ocean views.
Watch out for agro monkeys at the temples in Ubud.
We stayed in a hotel briefly in Semanyak beginning and end, not impressed by the beach there.

 

[twall13]

I just got back from Bali and have mixed feelings about it. Overall we had a great time and really enjoyed it. There are some places there that are absolutely stunning. It kind of took away from the experience that there is so much trash along the way to get to those places though. As an example, we did a private boat/snorkeling tour to Nusa Penida via Bluuu Tours to a couple of areas and went to swim with the Manta Rays. Those things are awesome, but I kind of hated the experience. It was full on combat snorkeling with people everywhere. I got kicked in the head from someone diving down near me and had people bumping into me more often than not while watching the rays. The amount of trash in the water was astounding. plastic bags wrapped around my ankles, just garbage everywhere. We did go to another area to snorkel for a bit that had a lot less trash and people and had a great time there but as cool as the Manta Rays themselves were, that part of the tour was a negative for me. The water was rough there and several people in our group go seasick so if you're prone to that it's worth planning ahead.

We stayed at the Nusa Dua Hotel and Spa and it was a clean facility with lots of clean pools and food options. We felt like the food was quite good overall. I got an hour long massage on the beach there for about $20, that's tough to beat.

It is the rainy season and not quite as busy as other times of the year, but the road infrastructure is pretty terrible there. If you're willing to rent a scooter and battle it out you can probably get around a bit quicker, but we were in a van and I felt like we wasted a lot of time in traffic just trying to get different places. As an example, we wanted to go to a temple that was 20 miles away. It took us over 2 hours to get there. If you want to get out and see the culture and sites, plan on some extra time battling traffic to get around. If you just want to stay at a resort and relax, it can be an awesome place, but it's also a lot of travel to get there.

We went up to see the monkey forest sanctuary and my wife really enjoyed that. You pay to get in and walk around and you will be up close and personal with the monkeys. You can pay more to hold one and get some photos with it but you'll likely have encounters without paying the extra. They can be pretty aggressive as far as taking stuff from you. They stole some bug spray from my Dad and some lip gloss from my sister and were pulling on other clothing items from a few others. We thought it was worth the trip up there. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a restaurant overlooking some rice terraces and that was an awesome place. Infinity pools you can swim in with great views, etc. I'll include some photos below.

Here's my take regarding going during the rainy season. I think you can likely get a better deal on accommodations during the rainy season and have less other tourists there, though it is still somewhat crowded. We still had multiple sunny days to enjoy things but the last couple of days it was rainy the entire day. In fact, we saw a news article that there was some flooding happening right after we left where some tourists were being evacuated from their hotels, but it wasn't a real issue for us. We still had fun hanging out in the ocean and in the pools while it rained. Even though it's rainy, it's still like 80 degrees outside so it wasn't awful. I did make the mistake of bringing light rain jackets for my wife and I and I wouldn't do that again. It's too hot to want to put a rain jacket on. The hotel had umbrellas we could borrow and I'd go that route 100% next time with bringing my own.

If you do plan on doing a lot of in country travel and site seeing, I'd recommend our driver Chalik. Contact him well ahead of time via WhatsApp (+62 813 3735 2352) and he can price out and arrange a whole travel itinerary for you if you want. He was honest, reliable and flexible as we changed our schedule. If you are just needing a ride to and from the airport, a taxi or Grab (their version of an Uber) probably works better.

I'm still jet lagged with about 10 hours of sleep over the last 3 days so I'm not excited to go back just yet but I wouldn't rule out going again at some point in the future.