Bali spoiled our eyes, hearts, and bodies from coast to coast with its enchanting beauty. If somehow you need a place to contemplate, a place to raise a beautiful life with a stunning sunrise, Sanur is the suitable choice. Here is the Sanur travel guide for a traveler with an exhausted heart, to enjoy the most of your stay in every corner of Sanur.
The Perks Of Sanur
Sanur was known as a passive village compared to other popular tourist areas. However, the dynamic has changed over time. Along with the changes, it somehow keeps its natural attraction for domestic and foreign tourists with the traditional Balinese ambiance.
Sanur is away from the hustle-bustle. Hence you’ll find a comfortable walking, jogging, or bicycling session from dawn to dusk. This place offers serenity while modern touches like malls, the internet, restaurants, trendy coffee shops, and many other contemporary elements develop and bring a new touch to its daily life.
The other perk that you may find as an astonishing fact is how strategic its location is. Tourists only need 30 minutes from Bali International Airport, Kuta, or Seminyak to head to Sanur. Through Sanur, tourists can access Seminyak and Ubud easily. From its beaches, people can get a magnificent peak of Nusa Penida. Moreover, if you want to go to Nusa Lembongan, staying in Sanur is an excellent decision since Sanur is the main gate to go to Nusa Lembongan.
The beaches in Sanur provide shades that are perfect for chilling out under the beach beds. This fact proves that being strategic does not mean always having a bunch of traffic and crowds.
What to do
In this Sanur travel guide, you will find things to do while wandering around in Sanur during your staycation with family, friends, or as a solo traveler. You won’t get easily bored since this laid-back corner of Bali prepares lively activities.
Observe The Sunrise
First, once your weary body is charged with energy, watch the beautiful sunrise in Pantai Matahari Terbit early in the dawn by bicycle or on foot. While watching the sunrise and capturing it with your gadgets, you can dip your bare feet in the sand and stroll on the shore to feel the clear and calm water touch welcoming you to the Island.
Morning Walk In Sanur Boardwalk
After pulling off the good vibe from watching the sunrise, take a calm walk to breathe out the heavy heart along the paved footpath on the Sanur boardwalk. The walk will eventually take you across various views.
Enjoy the view of Mount Agung when the weather is excellent with a clear sky, or occasionally stop by the restaurant-lined along the boardwalk to have breakfast.
Refresh Yourself With Water Sport
While the sand and the waves can sometimes be mundane compared to more popular beaches in other places in Bali, the offshore reefs formed safe lagoons with shallow waves and clear water. No wonder beaches in Sanur are commonly known for their warm, clear water color and shallow characteristics. Those profiles allow people to do various family and child-friendly water sports. For a family, swimming, snorkeling, and hiring a banana boat will fit them best.
Instead, if you need more challenging yet lively watersports, give a shot for kitesurfing, wakeboarding, paragliding, or windsurfing after the walk-in Sanur boardwalk, or nice sunrise catching will uplift the mood throughout the day.
Souvenir And Miscellaneous Shopping
After the sporty morning and a hearty breakfast from the restaurant-lined along the boardwalk, do not hesitate to befriend locals by window shopping or buying some handmade souvenirs.
You can take time to shop from the beach sellers while strolling around the coastal paved footpath and hop from the beach line to another beach line. You can get handmade crafts from wooden paintings and art from friendly yet genuine beach sellers.
The main street, Jalan Danau Tamblingan, and also Jalan Mertasari can be an alternative. You will find a chain of local shops, department stores, and even the malls for surfing supplies, clothing, antiquity, groceries, till art shops with awe-inspiring vibes.
Treat Yourself An Indulgent Relaxation
After spending the day with full mobility, indulgent relaxation in the Spa house won’t hurt, will it? There are plenty of Spa house choices around Sanur. One of the most popular is The Nest Beach Spa. Not only will you get your muscles stretched out, but a seaside view will calm your mind.
Don’t worry about your little girls, The Nest Beach Spa is thoughtful and serves a special treatment menu for them.
Another Spa boutique house is Leha Leha Spa. At an affordable price, you can get massage treatment. The menu and prices are available on their official website. Customers can make an online reservation through responsive Whatsapp chat and choose the therapist’s gender.
Couples often go to KOA Boutique Spa to pamper themselves for about 1,5 to 2,5 hours. Massage and beauty treatment can’t go wrong after an adventurous day!
Sanur Travel Guide: When To Visit
If you want to visit Bali in general, do this first step: gather as much information about places, activities, festivals, and events as you wish to observe or experience. Based on that initial step, you can decide which months will suit better your visit purpose. Still, the weather is generally hot all year round on the Island.
However, according to common weather predictions, you can hit the plane to land on the Island around April to November to catch the best time for your vacation.
The windy but excellent weather with cooler, sunny, and easy breezy days will come from May to August. Various Sanur Festivals will usually take place around June to August.
Hence if your travel purpose is to experience those festivals, don’t forget to book your flight and accommodation before the festivals. It will be crowded with domestic and foreign tourists!
November to early April is the rainy season. But, the rain will hit more frequently and intensely in December and January. The rainy season might not be the best if you want to go for water sports.
How to Get there
As indicated earlier, Sanur is located quite strategically. From Ngurah Rai Bali International Airport, tourists can take around a 30 minutes taxi ride heading to the southeast coast of Bali.
It takes more or less than a 15 minutes ride from Denpasar, the capital of the Island. From Kuta or Legian, it takes around 30 minutes to drive.
Visiting Sanur from Seminyak or Ubud, while it takes a bit longer drive, about 45 minutes, is worth the while.
You may choose other public transport, like the Perama shuttle bus. Tourists can take the Perama shuttle bus from Kuta, Candidasa, Lovina, Padang Bai and Ubud to be transferred directly to Sanur, at their office in Jalan Hang Tuah.
Another alternative is taking bemo that serves Sanur from the north and south, and the terminal Denpasar Tegal.
Where to Stay
Family-friendly Beach Hotels:
Located primarily on the main street, Jalan Tamblingan, here are some options to make the most of family-bonding time:
- Prama Sanur Beach Bali: offers a nearby location, really close, to Mertasari Beach, with plenty of activities from 2 impressive outdoor pools and kids’ splash zone pools, tennis and volleyball courts with a kids club where parents can let them play sometimes while having their date.
Various palatable menus for tourists from Asian, International, fine Indonesian dining (Lada restaurant), and Italian (Basilico restaurant) are ready to fill your empty stomach.
- Peneeda Beach View Hotel: situated in a stunning location in front of the beach, you and your family can enjoy strolling and swimming on the beach. A hop to their pool won’t fail you. The library is ready to accommodate children with different activities.
You can expect a Balinese vibe blended with pop arts in their rooms. Aside, hearty meals are reachable at their beachside restaurant, or you can grab some snacks from the pool bar.
Luxury 5 Stars Hotel:
- Andaz Bali – a Concept by Hyatt: is meticulously built with the concept of a Balinese village in mind. The hotel offers a comprehensive range of 127 rooms, 18 Garden Villas, and 4 Beach Villas to meet the needs of a family or grouped tourists.
Various activities are also provided on the spot. The options open from paragliding, a chocolate-making workshop called Sweet Success, or a clay pottery workshop in Play n Clay. Despite the price, all the activities, rooms and services are worth it.
Where to Eat
Local And Cheap Foods
When traveling, tasting the local plates can be daunting. Go to Sindhu Night Market, which starts around 6 pm, and find the most popular Indonesian meal and street food menus, freshly made and cooked. You may also find the on-season fruits, spices, and veggies.
Breakfast recommendations: Nice Bakery Bali, Canvas Cafe, Genius Cafe Sanur
Lunch and Dinner: The Lebanesian Warung, The Restaurant at Tandjung Sari, Curry in Bali, Terrace Sanur, Patio Coffee and Comfort Food.
By walking along Jalan Danau Tamblingan, you’ll discover a broader range of culinary destinations, from the typical warung to trendy and fancy dining types.
Getting around
Breathe In The Exotic Wildlife
You might consider Bali as a place to reach out for close-to-nature bonding moments, especially if you are staying in with children with energetic batteries. Going to malls or shopping might not be the correct answer.
Visiting Bali Zoo and Bali Bird Park, 30 minutes drive north from Sanur heading, is an advantageous adventure for you and your family. Going there in the morning can be a brainer option to drain your children’s batteries so they can sleep soundly during the night.
Petting or feeding zoos or from a safe distance during their meal hours might entertain your children as much as they can for you as well.
The parks conserve wide ranges of tropical birds from Indonesia and Southeast Asia. With over 1000 bird species, your family can submerge into fun-loving wildlife observation activities.
You can experience the feeling of holding iguanas and turtles or sighting crocodiles and other reptiles from a safe distance in Bali Bird Park.
Exploring Abandoned, Historic Places, or Island Hopping
Challenge yourself to have an odd exploration of the abandoned Taman Festival. With an affordable entrance fee of 20K, you can discover the whole area of Taman Festival, an entertainment park that closed in 1997 due to the Asian financial crisis.
The first impression can trigger goosebumps. But if you are lucky enough to go in nice weather, you can find some Instagrammable spots to capture the odd exploration. A building in the abandoned Taman Festival is petit-a-petit covered by a huge Banyan tree, creating an Angkor-Wat look-a-like scenery.
Are you uncomfortable with the idea of exploration in a ‘haunted place’ mentioned previously? Expand your historical knowledge about the Balinese people’s struggle over the centuries by visiting Bajra Sandhi Monument.
Or else, spend a calm walk in Museum Le Mayeur to savor the paintings created by a Belgian painter and imagine how the situation in Bali was before the tourist century arose.
If none of the above options suit your traveling taste, or you just want to clear out your sight with some scenic eye-feasting views, get on board a boat toward Nusa Lembongan to spend a night. You can reach Gili Trawangan by a 20 minutes drive to Serangan and ride a boat for around 3 hours to Gili Trawangan while enjoying the gentle sheer of sea waves and wind.
Local costs
Speaking of living a lively life in Sanur, the idea of staying longer on the picturesque Island might cross your mind. If you consider doing so, understanding how locals are living will help.
Local people prefer to live in a neighborhood outside the center of the city since the house or room rent cost will be cheaper and more affordable.
For daily meals and supper, buying local and fresh groceries in a traditional market and cooking at home will cost you less than going in and out of cafes and restaurants for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner.
For daily transportation, you can hire a scooter which will cost you around $9 -$11 daily (it includes a raincoat, helmet, and free delivery around the south area of Bali). Taking a weekly and monthly rent package may cost you less than daily rent.
According to Nomadlist statistics, this kind of local living will only cost someone around $303.
From Ubud, Seminyak, Nusa Dua, and Uluwatu, each of Bali’s popular tourist areas offer uniqueness. Everyone who visits the Island will find peace and a piece of a lost soul just by walking around the beach.
Yet, Sanur, the oldest beach resort destination, keeps attracting tourists, travelers, and wanderers by preserving its traditional vibes. This Sanur travel guide shows you how the docile destination transformed over time with the development and how it can transform your weary heart into a lively one once again.
