Sanur Highlights

Sanur is rather quiet and family-friendly, with good opportunities for watersports, shopping, eating and drinking. Sharing some of my experiences:

 

Hotel La Taverna

Accomodation. Located on Jl Danau Tamblingan and facing Sanur beach front. Private and beautiful bungalow style rooms. On-site pool, restaurant and bar. Plus for free welcome drink at arrival! 

However, the kitchen staff was too late for work two days in a row, resulting in me missing breakfast (that I had paid a significant amount of money for) due to my diving schedule. Quite annoying. The place is over-priced, I learnt that you can get the same quality or better for much less money.

Three Monkeys Cafe

Food and drinks. Make sure you ignore Starbucks and keep walking a little further down Jl Danau Tamblingan for an extraordinairy cup of coffee. Sit on the second floor balcony for an outlook on the street, and let the superfriendly staff spoil you to the sound of cool jazz tunes and laidback chit-chatting all around. They also have great food and a thrilling variety of other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Manik Organik

Food and drinks/entertainment. Organic restaurant and shop. Lots of interesting superfood dishes, along with exotic fruit juices and healthy deserts. Come here on a Tuesday night to catch an open mic session, and don't be afraid to grab an instrument and jam along! So what if you can't play, no one cares and you WILL want to be a part of this crazy flower power explosion of a party. Warning: You might just end up on an overfilled motorcycle taking you to a sketchy warung for a nightly snack, before drinking arak under the stars to the sound of bongo drums on the finest balinese beach, with a bunch of new friends! 

Ganesha Bookstore

Shopping. Go treasure hunting in this charming, little book paradise. A mix of new and used, Indonesian and international, you have the chance to bring home a very rare piece of literature. You may also donate your own book to the Books for Bali Project, who's mission is to foster literacy, learning and reading pleasure in the Balinese community.

The Reef Breaks

Surfing. 800 m from shore is the Sanur reefs, a great surf spot. Ask any of the watersport centres for a ride, unless you want to paddle all the way out. Rip Curl School of Surf is a good choice if you want to take lessons.

Air Diving Academy

Diving. Offers SSI and PADI courses. A serious and profesionnal school, making sure you feel safe and have lots of fun exploring Bali's best diving spots. I took the open water certificate, and I'm very satisfied.