Bali: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

We’ve been putting off writing this post for awhile now. How can we best explain Bali, the location that ended up being our personal lowlight of Southeast Asia?

We feel insane half the time because based on feedback from friends, the sheer volume of #baligasm IG posts with adoring captions, and that idyllic-looking Kardashians episode, Bali still seems to still be one of the hottest, most-loved travel destinations in the world.

Like any super-touristed location, Bali is characterized by a whole lotta both good and bad. We’ve got to conclude that while many travelers have shared similar disappointments, others who may have visited different parts of the island at different times of year surely got the Bali paradise experience we all dream of.

Here we’ve captured the good, the bad, and the ugly from our experience so you can make your own choices about whether to visit Bali and how to have the getaway you always imagined.

THE GOOD: Some of the most truly oasis-like affordable accommodations we’ve ever experienced.

We’ve all seen the photos. Luxury villas. Floating breakfasts. Infinity pools overlooking lush jungle as far as the eye can see. We’re happy to say that the accommodation options are one part of Bali we found true to the photos, and in fact even better than we expected. See links and descriptions of where we stayed below. We were super impressed with both of these for the low cost, and depending on your price range, you can definitely go even more high-end and luxurious if you wish (cue, Kardashians villa).

Villa Sammy

Jl. Lebaksari, Gang Stap No. 02, 80361 Seminyak, Indonesia | Booking.com

Villa Sammy is located in Seminyak, a popular tourist area in the southern part of Bali. We were in love with it from the second we arrived! It’s a two-story private villa with the bedroom, bathroom, and balcony upstairs and the kitchen, seating area, and private pool downstairs. Hello, skinny dipping multiple times a day! 😜The best part is that the owner, Lisa, is literally the cutest person we’ve ever met. She picked us up at the airport herself, gave us a restaurant recommendation that was still open even though we arrived late at night, and provided her WhatsApp number to answer questions and arrange drivers and tours for us throughout our entire time in southern Bali. Plus, she’s just one of the warmest, happiest people on Earth. You can’t help but smile the whole time you’re around her! You can book Villa Sammy on Booking.com and get $25 off when you use our link.

Taman Rahasia Tropical Sanctuary & Spa

Banjar Penestanan Kaja Sayan, 80571 Ubud, Indonesia | Booking.com

If you visit Bali, chances are you’ll go to Ubud, and the place we stayed there was one of our favorites out of an entire 3.5-month trip. Taman Rahasia translates to secret garden, and that’s exactly what this sanctuary feels like. It’s located a little outside the central part of Ubud, which makes for a bit of a walk downhill to get into town and then a bunch of stairs to get back up — but it was totally worth it for a slightly more off-the-beaten-path experience. After following what seems like a hidden stone pathway from the street, we were greeted with welcome refreshments in the gorgeous open-air lobby and the owner provided us with some local dining recommendations we ended up loving (see below)! Daily breakfast is included as part of your Taman Rahasia booking, and the breakfast options are freshly-made, delicious, and seasonal. The rooms are beautiful — ours even featured an outdoor stone shower — and they all surround a pool that makes a lush oasis after long days spent exploring in the intense heat. Past the back gate, you can wander through local rice paddies filled with other villas and some amazing restaurants. The onsite spa was under construction when we were there, but it seems like a fantastic benefit should you choose to stay there. You can also book Taman Rahasia on Booking.com and get $25 off when you use our link.

THE GOOD: Fresh, beautiful, delicious, healthy, and affordable food.

We’ll get to the downsides of the super Instagram-obsessed tourist culture of Bali later on, but let’s go with tradition and stick with the good before the bad. Bali is an oasis for those seeking a physical and emotional health reset, and certainly isn’t lacking in healthy and delicious food. The variety of fresh exotic fruit alone is to dieeee for! Plus, since Bali relies so heavily on tourism, there’s high competition in the restaurant scene. The food itself — along with the spaces — are super stylish and dare we say, extremely Instagrammable. It’s like LA meets Southeast Asia...which is good and bad at the same time. We found the food and drinks to be delicious and beautiful for the affordable cost. Check out some of our favorite restaurants in Bali below.

Seminyak

Dough Darlings

Jl. Petitenget No.22, Seminyak, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia | Website

Okay, not such a healthy one, but hear us out. We’re huge donut lovers. This adorable place really drew us in with its dozens of unique and beautiful flavors...even though we ended up going with classic chocolate hazelnut and cinnamon sugar. Our first breakfast in Seminyak!

Nebula

Jl. Lebak Sari, Jl. Petitenget No.18, Kerobokan Kelod, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia | Trip Advisor

Another bright and beautiful Bali breakfast spot! We got some traditional food here — Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng — and because they had “happy hour” all day every day, we felt it was a must to also enjoy mojitos with breakfast. 24/7 happy hour was common throughout Bali...they’ve definitely caught on to the power of those two words as a marketing tactic.

Coffee Cartel

Jl. Lb. Sari No.8, Kerobokan Kelod, Kuta Utara, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia | Website

Now this is the place for those iconic Bali breakfast Instagrams we’ve all witnessed. Pink ripple-printed lattes, dragonfruit smoothies, acai bowls full of exotic tropical fruit, toast piled high with mounds of fresh avocado, and all amongst stark white walls, wood tabletops, and tons of natural lighting. Ray got the Marin Tuna breakfast, and Sam got a gorgeous smoothie bowl.

Ubud

Paddy Point

Jl. Banjar Penestanan Kaja, Sayan, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia | Website

Our favorite meal in Bali! Paddy Point was recommended by the owner of Taman Rahasia Sanctuary & Spa as a place he and his wife regularly stop for dinner. It’s located out the back gate of the sanctuary and down a winding path, right in the middle of an actual rice paddy where families live and work. The menu tells the story of the owner and chef who went to culinary school before coming back to Bali to open his own restaurant. And the food is next level! We couldn’t get over the fact that we were sitting in the middle of a rice paddy eating meals that were so professionally and artfully plated. A must-try hidden gem outside the bustle of Ubud’s center. Ray got crispy duck and Sam got beef rendang. So amazing we went twice!

Karsa Kafe

Jl. Bangkiang Sidem, Keliki, Tegallalang, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia | Website

Karsa Kafe can be found at the top of the beautiful Campuhan Ridge hike in Ubud. We only got coconuts and mint lemonade to refresh us after the hike, but the beautiful rooftop ambiance overlooking surrounding rice paddies makes a gorgeous location for any meal.

A view (and refreshments) worth hiking in near 100% humidity for.

Elephant Restaurant

Unnamed Road, Carangsari, Petang, Badung Regency, Bali 80572, Indonesia | Website

Another rec from our hotel owner. This open-air space features luscious views over the Campuhan Ridge paired with fresh health-forward meals. We had pad Thai, coconut soup, and veggie sides.

That sunset view from Elephant Restaurant tho! 😱

Yellow Flower Cafe

Jl. Raya Campuhan, Sayan, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia | Website

This restaurant was located along the longish walk from our sanctuary down to central Ubud, and after passing by the sign for a couple days, we decided to stop in and try it. So glad we did! One of our favorite meals of fresh, healthy Balinese food while we were there.

Cannot even handle the yumness of this plate.

THE BAD: Commerce over culture and nature.

Yes, nearly every economy in Southeast Asia relies heavily on tourism. And yes, every popular travel destination has its Instagram hotspots — ancient temples or natural spaces now completely overrun with humans trying to get the perfect shot. But Bali takes both of these phenomena to a whole new level we’ve never experienced elsewhere, to the point where tourism presents a real issue with being able to experience Balinese culture and nature at all.

Absolutely everything in Bali is commoditized. We’ve all seen the photos of Tegalalang Rice Terrace, but what you can’t see is that you pay to get in, pay for those iconic swing photos, and then pay at a handful of stops all throughout the terraces as you walk through, not to mention competing with lines of other tourists and even drones to get photos. Don’t get us wrong — we’re all for supporting local economies. But when all rice paddies, waterfalls, beaches, forests, and temples require multiple fees to view, it really feels like an unnatural experience where people are encouraged to just pay, take photos, and then head on their way rather than being able to enjoy these sights for what they really are. Due in part to Bali’s Instagram culture and in part to the less than desirable beaches (read on), we saw so many people spending full days at trendy swimming pool bars rather than out exploring any of the would-be beautiful sights.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace — the photos somehow look amazing, but we were actually drenched in sweat and surrounded by other humans.

With the surge of tourism, Bali traffic is also unbearable. What should be a 30-minute drive at most regularly took us upwards of 2 hours throughout our whole time on the island, and while we have rented motorbikes in other countries, we didn’t feel safe doing so in Bali because you’re competing with cars and other motorbikes in heavy traffic at all times (not to mention the plenty of tourists we saw bandaged up from accidents).

We have to emphasize that this was just our personal experience, and we acknowledge that we went to some of the most popular tourist areas of Bali. We’ve heard plenty of tales from others who visited the same areas, rode their own motorbikes around, and had a blast. We’ve also heard that if you choose to visit the more remote locations in the northern, eastern, or western parts of the island, you can find a much more natural and peaceful experience.

Popular tourist attractions we found overrated:

Potato Head Beach Club: People hanging out all day drinking overpriced drinks to avoid the dirty beaches right outside the walls.

Tanah Lot Temple: Very cool, but overcrowded and somewhat gross with trash season (read on).

All the beaches in the South: Again, trash season.

Tegalalang Rice Terrace: Didn’t expect to have to pay so many times just to walk through. We were expecting a more natural experience.
Uluwatu Temple Fire Ceremony: No limit on ticket sales, so they packed people in to the point where we were arm to arm in the bleacher-like seats, while others were seated on the ground dangerously close to the fire. Still a cool cultural experience, but the music and dance is very repetitive and after a disappointing beach tour day we were unfortunately a little over it.

Jimbaran Beach seafood dinners: An absolute waste of money and total tourist trap. Actually our worst decision in Bali.

Gili Islands - Nice, but nothing compared to the beautiful beaches and islands in Thailand, Cambodia, and likely other parts of Indonesia. Interesting fact though: magic mushrooms are extremely popular there. Read about our first time trying shrooms on Gili T (spoiler: it did not go well).

Popular tourist attractions we really enjoyed:

Luwak Coffee: As a total surprise even to ourselves, we found our brief Luwak coffee tasting experience really fun. This is coffee made out of coffee beans eaten then pooped out by luwaks...small cat / lemur looking creatures. So yeah, essentially poop coffee. Drinking luwak coffee hasn’t been part of Balinese culture for many decades, but is still a novelty tourist attraction. We were the only tourists at the plantation we went to at the time, which was a welcome reprieve from the crowds everywhere else. The family that ran it was super cute and nice, and you get like a dozen teas, coffees, and chocolates for free + the luwak coffee at the end. We only tipped for this entire experience. They were all actually delicious too, including the poop coffee! The only really sad part was the luwaks kept in small cages :( For this reason alone, we’d probably reconsider doing the tasting.

Luwak coffee tasting — teas above, chocolates, and the luwak coffee at the bottom.

Monkey Forest in Ubud: We’re a little torn on this one. Definitely a super touristy experience, and we didn’t enjoy seeing monkeys fighting or seeing ones that were hurt. However, for the most part it was pretty cute and beautiful since we adore all animals as long as they’re in a safe and humane environment.

Adorable monkeys at the Monkey Forest in Ubud.

Balinese dance ceremonies in Ubud: You can walk along the main drag in Ubud and book seats at these nightly dance performances at one of several temples. Everything about this traditional dance was fascinating, including the musical instruments, elaborate costumes, and talented dancers themselves. We found it a much better experience than the Uluwatu fire ceremony.

Mt. Batur hike: From Ubud, you can book a hike up Mt. Batur — an active, 5,633’ volcano located about an hour northeast. You leave Ubud around 2:30 AM and hike up in the dark so you can arrive at the top in time for sunrise. It’s actually not the most strenuous hike, but is made much more difficult by the fact that you’re in total darkness, only lit by your own headlamp. You’re advised to bring eggs and bread on the hike, and once you get to the top, the guides boil the eggs in the steam from the freakin volcano itself (!) and make you bread with jelly and coffee for breakfast, as you enjoy one of the most beautiful sunrises over the caldera and lake, with Mt. Agung and Mt. Rinjani in the distance.

THE UGLY: Trash season.

Based on all the photos we’d seen of Bali, we pictured pure white sands, crystal blue waters, and relaxing days spent lounging in beachy paradise. What we got instead was a hilariously different experience.

On our first day in Seminyak, we were one of the first ones in line Potato Head Beach Club when it opened because we’d heard it was the top place to spend a day relaxing in paradise. While Potato Head was indeed beautiful, we were a bit confused. It wasn’t on the beach. It was a walled-in resort pool, a lawn packed with bean bags and umbrellas side by side, an attentive staff bringing festive (but overpriced for SE Asia) tropical drinks in coconuts and placing flowers in your hair, and daybeds rented out by people in perfectly-coordinated outfits working on their photo poses all day long. We enjoyed the drinks and the environment for a couple hours, but we were craving nature and decided to venture beyond the walls of the beach club to, well, the actual beach.

What we saw appalled us.

Yep, Bali has a trash season, which we hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere as we planned our trip. From December through March, thousands of pounds of plastic garbage wash onto the main tourist beaches in popular areas like Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, and Canggu. The trash comes from both Bali itself and surrounding Indonesian islands, and gives an absolutely shocking visual to the impact of plastic pollution on our ocean ecosystems.

We walked along the sand in dismay, alone except for stray dogs picking at the trash (which also broke our hearts). Now we understood why everyone preferred to stay behind resort walls where they couldn’t even get a glimpse of the disturbing reality that was the Balinese beaches.

With no other choice, we decided to try another popular beach club called Ku De Ta and walked about 30 min along the dirty beach to get there.

Strike two...there was a family Easter celebration going on at this one! Children in face paint running around everywhere, people dressed up as bees and flowers to entertain said children, and parents mingling as the party began to die down...HARD NOPE.

We spent the rest of the day exploring temples, bars and restaurants but were determined to find the idyllic Balinese beaches we’d always seen in photos.

The next day, we booked a driver for the full day to take us on a tour of the beaches further south before heading to the Uluwatu Temple fire ceremony that evening. We didn’t think it was possible...but these beaches were even more of a literal dumpster fire than the ones in Seminyak.

Our favorite example was “Dreamland Beach” because we couldn’t imagine a more inaccurate name for just about anything. The beach is located on royal property, so on top of what we’d already paid for the driver, we had to pay at several gates to even enter the premises and then pay for a shuttle down to the beach. You then wander down a dirty boardwalk before ever catching a glimpse of the ocean or sand — stagnant and muddy pool to your left and desolate shops selling tourist trinkets to your right. Then comes the dreamland. The beach is a tiny patch of sand, once again covered in trash. There was even a burning pile off to the side. With all the traffic in Bali, we only had time for about 30 minutes at each beach, so all we did at Dreamland was buy bottled Cokes and the nastiest flavor of Doritos we’ve ever tasted (sweet corn — WTF!?) and quickly scarf them down before heading back to the shuttle. The sand looked so dirty we didn’t even want to sit down. The rest of the beaches on the all-day tour followed suit.

We did see ONE nice beach that day called Melasti Beach, which was not on our original itinerary but we think our driver took us because he felt bad for us having to endure the others. This one was actually beautiful with white sands and crystal blue ocean...and most importantly, no trash! We’re unsure why it was pristine while the others nearby were a hot mess. It could be one of the ones that local resorts clean up each morning to shield tourists from the horrors of trash season. Regardless, we only got to spend about 20 minutes there before we had to continue. If we would have known it’d be the only nice beach of the day, we would have asked to just stay there.

Melasti Beach, the one nice beach we experienced in Bali.

We wish we took photos of all the trash, but didn’t think to at the time, too dismayed by the mismatch between what we excitedly expected and what we witnessed. We’ve heard far too little about the reality of trash season in Bali and in other areas of the world, and feel it’s important to tell you about what we experienced. Should you have a trip to Bali in mind, we’d highly recommend exploring the more remote areas of the island (maybe even other islands of Indonesia instead!), and at the very least avoiding trash season.

So, there you have it. For these reasons, we didn’t enjoy Bali nearly as much as our other stops in SE Asia (Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia), though we did have some super fun and relaxing times there. We hope that by becoming more informed about Bali from all angles — good, bad, and ugly — you can have an even better Bali stay than we did!

We want to hear from our fellow travelers! Did you share in any of the same disappointments? Love Bali or hate it...leave a comment below or on our latest IG post and let us know your experience.

Happy travels!