Photo to comeA beginner line-up at Batu Bolong in the morning
A morning
Learning to surf
Batu Bolong in Canggu is one of the most forgiving beginner waves anywhere — soft, long and slow. Kuta and Seminyak are pure sand and even kinder to fall on. If you have never stood up before, Bali is a genuinely good place to try.
- Canggu, Kuta, Seminyak
- Boards and lessons on the beach
- Go early
The realistic injury at Batu Bolong is not the reef, it is someone else’s board — the line-up is one of the most crowded in Asia. Ask whether your instructor is actually certified, because the standard of beach lessons varies enormously.
Photo to comeThe line-up at Uluwatu from the cliff
A morning
Surfing the Bukit
Uluwatu, Padang Padang, Bingin and Impossibles — the reefs that made Bali famous, and they are as good as everyone says. Balangan is the most forgiving of them and the sensible first one.
- The Bukit
- Experienced surfers
- Dry season, Apr–Oct
Live reef, real current, and a strong local presence in the water — dropping in is what causes trouble here. The cave entry and exit at Uluwatu catches out more visitors than the wave does. Reef booties are not embarrassing.
Photo to comeThe caldera from the summit as the sun comes up
A whole night and morning
The Mount Batur sunrise trek
A midnight pickup, a two-hour drive and a climb by torchlight to watch the sun come up over the caldera and the lake. On a clear morning it is one of the best things you will do in Indonesia.
- Inland, near Kintamani
- 2am start
- Guides are compulsory
Two honest things. In the wet season you can climb for two hours in the dark and stand in cloud. And a local association controls access — guides are compulsory in practice and there are fees at checkpoints along the way. Go with a guide and go with a company; the people who get into trouble are the ones who try to walk up alone.
Photo to comeThe gorge on the Ayung from the water
Half a day
Rafting the Ayung
Grade two to three on the Ayung near Ubud — genuinely family-grade, and more about the gorge and the carved rock walls than the rapids. Children from about eight.
- Near Ubud
- Family-grade
- Children 8+
The part nobody warns you about is the steps: hundreds down to the river and hundreds back up at the far end. Ask whether insurance is included, because it is not standard. Brown water and debris after heavy rain.
Photo to comeAn abseil into the gorge at Aling-Aling
A full day
Canyoning
Abseiling, jumping and sliding down river gorges in the north. The most technical thing on this page and, with a proper operator, the best supervised.
- The north
- Technical
- Long drives
Trips get cancelled after heavy rain because of flash flooding. An operator who never cancels is the one to avoid, not the one to book.
Photo to comeThe bow of the Liberty with divers above it
A long day, or an overnight
Tulamben and the Liberty
The USAT Liberty at Tulamben is a shore dive — you walk in off the beach onto a wreck that starts at five metres, so snorkellers get a proper look at it too. Warm, little current, and a common place to do an Open Water course.
- The east coast
- Shore dive
- Snorkellers too
It is the most dived site in Bali, so go at first light or stay locally overnight — three hours each way from the south makes it a poor day trip. And do not dive the day before you fly. Leave a clear day.
Read this first
Dolphins at Lovina — what actually happens
This is the famous north Bali morning: out of Lovina before dawn to see wild dolphins. It is on every itinerary and we are not going to put it on yours, so here is why, and you can decide for yourself. Researchers counting boats at Lovina found an average of sixteen around a single school and as many as eighty-one, with about four in ten closer than any code of conduct anywhere allows. This happens at dawn, which is when the pods are resting.
- North Bali
- Not one we suggest
- Decide for yourself
The practical bit, if the welfare argument does not move you: with that many engines around them the dolphins tend to stay down, so a lot of people pay for a very early start and see very little. If you want the north, Munduk and the waterfalls and the hot springs at Banjar make a genuinely good day and we are happy to plan that instead.
Photo to comeGrinding base gede in a cooking class
Half a day
A cooking class
The good ones start at a morning market and have you making base gede — the spice paste almost everything Balinese is built on — from scratch.
- Ubud and Canggu
- Market trip included
- Half a day
The difference between a good class and a hotel demonstration is whether the market trip is included and whether you actually cook rather than watch. Ask both before you book.
Photo to comeA workbench at a Celuk silver workshop
A few hours
Silversmithing at Celuk
Celuk has been the silver village for generations. Two to four hours in a workshop and you keep what you make, which beats anything you would buy in a shop.
- Celuk, near Ubud
- Keep what you make
- 2–4 hours
Book a workshop, not a showroom visit. The Celuk stop on packaged day tours is a shopping halt the tour is paid to take you to, and it is not the same thing at all.
Photo to comeThe jetty at Tanjung Benoa in the morning
A morning
Water sports, Tanjung Benoa
Parasailing, jet skis, banana boats and flyboards, all from one strip in the sheltered bay near Nusa Dua. Mornings, and the timings shift with the tide because the water is shallow.
- Nusa Dua
- Mornings
- Check your insurance
It is an assembly line — you queue, you get ten or fifteen minutes, you get sold the photographs. Plenty of UK travel policies exclude jet skis and parasailing outright, so check yours. And do not let anyone add the turtle island stop — see below.
