Sadhbh

Having spent 2 whole weeks in Canguu Bali in December, I got to test out a little bit of everything in this beautiful beach town. Below I have a breakdown of all of my favourite spots and activities around Canguu to act as some inspiration for your next trip!

Food!

Canguu is absolutely full of cute cafés and restaurants with great food but here is a brekdown of my favourites.

• Penny Lane – A beautiful cafe where you wont know if you are inside or out! They have a great brunch selection as well as plenty of coffee and smoothie options that will give you instagram photos for days!
• Dang Cookies – Dang only sell coffee and cookies and they have perfected both! There are plenty of options to choose from as well as some great vegan options if that is more you’re thing. They make the cookies fresh throughout the day so if you time it right you might even get one fresh out of the oven.
• Shady Shack – Shady Shake is great for coffee, smoothies, breakfast, lunch or even dinner. It is always busy and for good reason. the staff are great and service is quick. It is also a great spot to do some remote working and you will find plenty of digital nomads set up here for the day. If you go definitely try the Smashed Spuds, you can thank me later.

Shopping

In general I am not a big shopper, whether I am travelling or at home. The one exception to this is markets. Whether it is a Sunday market at home or the souks in Morocco, markets are where I will spend my time and money. That said if you are a better shopper than me then there are endless boutiques and stores in Canguu to keep you busy. All of the main streets have endless options. If you are more like me and ,arets are your thing then I have 2 main suggestions.

• Love Anchor Bazaar – This market has all of the usual souveniers you might want to bring home from Bali. Woodwork, jewellery, incense, bags, the list goes on. The sellers in this market are generally less intense than elsewhere which I always appreciated. When you ask a price they will often give you a number and immediately say, “but we can do less”. I did not haggle as intensly as I would in other countries since the prices were already reasonable and I didn’t mind spending a bit ore to support the vendors, but if you really want to haggle to get the best bargin you absolutely can.
• La Brisa Sunday Market – Unlike Love Anchor, La Brisa is only open on a Sunday. Some of the stalls sell very similar items to the other markets, but I did find a few stalls with more unique items like linen clothing sets. The general rule of haggling prices also applies here, but if you get there early, some vendors will give you a better prices for good luck for the first sale of the day!

Night Life

I have to admit that night life is not my area of expertise, but some friends had some great options lined up which were great fun.

• Secret Spot – Secret spot is a very chilled indoor-outdoor setup which is great for a quite drink or two with a great atmosphere. They even have live music which was a beautiful addition.
• Old Mans – A Canguu institution. Old Mans host a weekly beer pong tournament which is equal parts chaos and order. The organisation of the tournament is not to be messed with, if your team is not there when they call you, they will move on and not look back! However, with a mix of tourist and local teams it becomes a chaotic and wonderful experience of rooting for just about everyone. If beer pong s your particular skill (mine it is not) there are some incredible prizes to be one. Old Mans also have a DG and dance floor on the other side which carry on after the beer pong tournament ends.
• Mexicola – After Old Mans, a trip across the street to Mexicola (or Motel Mexicola) is a must. Pure dancing on the tables fun with great tunes that will have everyone in a good mood and joining you on the table in no time.

Beaches

• Batu Bolong Beach – Always a popular spot to watch the sunset. If you are in the area Old Mans is a very popular spot at the beach and you can even watch the sunset from there if you get the right spot.
• Echo Beach – Black sand and great vibes all round. You’ll find plenty of beach bars, beach clean ups and plenty of surfers here all day long. Lots of the bars even have bean bags on the beach where you can relax and watch the sun set with your drink of choice.

Must do activities

• Balinese Massage – A must do while in Bali, with low costs compared to european standards. My favourite was the Lotus Massage Echo. The staff were fantastic and it was a great way to unwind, s much so I even made multiple trips!
• Big Tree Jewellery making class – You can make your own silver ring in under an hour here. You will start by deciding on a design, which can be pretty much anything, and they wil bring lots of samples as inspiration. They will then help you melt the silver, form your band and the specifics of your design before sizing it for you. You will finish off polishing your creation and leaving with a truly unique souvener and some great memories.
• Tanah Lot – If you want to visit a tample while in Canguu, Tanah Lot is likely the easiest to get to. It took me about 40 minutes to drive there with the tour company (which if you’ve been to Bali you will know that a 40 minute drive is nothing). Tanah Lot was built on a rock fomation which is often cut off from the main land by high tide. Do be prepared though, if you go you likely will not get to go inside the Temple, but rather view it from a distance in a large viewing site which has shops and stalls as well as sit down restaurants from which you can watch the sunset. When I visited it was very crowded and loud, but still worth it for the experience and views I would say.

• Cooking Class – while it may no sound like the most exciting thing, if you are going to do one thing while in Bali, make it this. The Kubu Terrace cooking class in the Jatiluwih rice terrace. I am going to make a separate post about the experience as a whole but in the meantime you can find more info on their website www.jatiluwihcookingclass.com. This was the absolute best thing I did in Bali and is well worth dedicating a day to it.

So that is a summary of my Canguu highlights, but if you have been and have your own highlights let me know what I missed! I might just have to go back 😉 .