Canggu, Uluwatu, Ubud: three sides of Bali I lived

People talk about Bali like it is one place. It is not. I based myself in three different parts of it, Canggu, Uluwatu, and Ubud, and they are three completely different islands wearing the same name. One is loud and alive, one is beautiful and quiet, one is for slowing all the way down. I loved all three, for different reasons. Here is what each one is actually like, and what you do there, from someone who lived in them rather than visited.

Canggu: vibrant, and the things to do never stop

Canggu is the one where you are never bored. There is always something happening, new people to meet, a road you have not driven, a place you have not seen. Every day is beautiful, partly because the island itself is a paradise, and partly because the day just fills itself.

A normal day looked like this. You wake up in your hotel, go down to the hall for the free breakfast, and everyone is friendly, the staff are kind, the food is good, the coffee is good. You smoke a Sampoerna by the pool for fifteen minutes and just sit there. Then you grab your scooter and a towel and ride to the beach for half an hour or an hour, swim, put on a little music, feel the sun. You come back, shower, and the afternoon is yours: the gym, a cafe, a sunset, a drink with someone, or just riding the scooter around with no plan. The sunsets genuinely stop you. You catch yourself thinking, I am lucky to live this way.

You eat out every single day in Canggu, because it is cheap and it is good, so there is no reason not to. My favorite was an open barbecue place, the Meat Emporium, where you pick your cut of steak and they grill it in front of you and bring it over. So good, so cheap. At night you go out, the seaside spots or, my favorite, a secret little bar where you sit in peace with someone, have a drink, talk, and let the night be easy.

If you want the short list of things to do in Canggu: ride a scooter everywhere, beach in the morning, sunset somewhere different each day, eat out every night, and find the secret bars.

Uluwatu: beautiful and quiet, but bring your people

Uluwatu is just as beautiful, every day, but the volume is turned down. It is cliffs and ocean and a slower rhythm. For a month or two it is wonderful. Stay longer with nobody around and it can get a little quiet.

I lived there about two weeks in a beautiful big villa, rented from a lady from Ibiza, and I only paid a little because I took a room from someone already renting the place. Luxury for cheap. But you do not even need that, the hostels in Uluwatu are lovely and full of friendly people, so making friends is easy. I met a good friend, a Spanish guy, in one. A day there is simple: wake up, breakfast, find a coworking space to get your work done, surf if you surf, or just pick the beach you like best that day. Then out to eat, a pizza or something, because the food in Indonesia is so good and so cheap that you are always happy. There is a lot of padel too.

The real thing about Uluwatu is the people. Most travelers stay one, two, three weeks and then move on, so you are always rebuilding your circle, and after a few weeks alone it can feel lonely. But if you find the ones who actually live there, it changes everything. I met a crew like that, and we had parties and activities every weekend. The other thing about Uluwatu is the hidden places: beaches and spots that are hard to find and absolutely beautiful, the kind you stumble on and think no one else knows this exists, and then you bring your friends. The best things to do in Uluwatu are the ones you have to go and find with your own eyes.

Ubud: the reset

Ubud is different again. It is the quiet one, the green one, all jungle and rice terraces and trees and peace. For me Ubud is a reset. I go for three, four, five days, a week at most, and it puts everything back in place. It is a piece of calm, and after it you want the action again, which is exactly the point.

I stayed at a place called Nala’s Home, very cheap, private rooms for less than the price of a basic hotel, and there was this little dog, Nala, playful and sweet, who played with everyone in the house. The vibe was perfect. I also went up to Ubud once for Valentine’s with someone I was seeing, four or five nights across villas. We had a Japanese dinner with friends, explored a bit, drove up into the green hills and took a zip line, which was freezing up there. There is so much around Ubud, waterfalls, jungle, rice fields. The things to do in Ubud are really about the nature and the slowing down.

So which Bali is for you?

The honest answer is you do not pick one. You move between them, and that is the whole trick, because they are all an hour or two apart on the same island. Canggu when you want to live loud and never be bored. Uluwatu when you have your people and want beauty and surf and quiet. Ubud when you need to reset and remember why you came. Three islands, one name, and a scooter between them.

If you want the money side of all this, I wrote what it actually costs to live in Bali, spoiler, less than you think. And the full map of everywhere I have based myself is on the travels page.