Hello All!

I've stumbled on this forum looking for recommendations for honeymooning in bali. (And found some very good info, thank you very much!)

We are staying from June 21st to July 7th. We are 38 and 32 and coming in from Canada. (30 hours travelling). While it is a honeymoon, our budget isn't unlimited (trying to average around 200USD a night for accomodation, but going a bit over this so far)!

Basically, our interest is to experience the Bali culture and life, sample some awesome local cuisine and enjoy nice beaches. We like snorkeling, bicycling (somewhat fit) and walks / treks but nothing extreme. Would love to try surfing but have never done it. We are not into clubbing or partying. We do enjoy a few good drinks and a good meal.

So far I've booked 3 nights in petitenget (seminya beach resort and spa) to recover from the travel, go to the beach, visit a temple and enjoy some of the restaurants and nightlife of the area.

After that we are heading up to ubud for 4 nights (trying a resort called Royal Tulip Visesa). I know there is plenty to do here, such as hikes, bicycling, temples, ceremonies etc.

Now this is where I am, basically a week in with 10 days to go.

I'm thinking of a (spectacular) beach destination (or two) after that. Open to suggestions, stay on bali island, head to Gili's, lombok or Nusa Lembongan, maybe with a stop before for a night if recommended.

Basically what would you suggest in terms of destination, getting there from Ubud. Minimizing the travelling time and hassles of moving too much.

We for sure want to spend a night or two back in the vincinity of the airport before leaving maybe in a different area than petitenget.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I just returned from a short trip to Indonesia...in Ubud I stayed at Sri Ratih. I had no interest in the beach party areas. It isn't that big an island but traffic can be bad, However the travel time from Ubud to the airport is only about 1.5 hours, 2 to be safe..so you may want to consider not relocating to be "near" the airport...since traffic sucks it will take a while no matter where you stay.

We did an excursion to Komodo Island and Flores. I posted a trip report on that today.

Note that the Islamic holidays following Ramadan will take place from June 23 to July 2. Bali is Hindu and won't be directly impact, but millions of Muslim Indonesian will be on the move during this time, many of them to Bali.

The Seminyak Resort is a good value on a good beach. The layout is a bit jumbled and the designs vary from room to room, but it has a big pool on a nice beach, within walking distance (or a short taxi) of some of Bali's best restaurants. End June is a busy time in Bali so make reservations at popular restaurants in advance.

Petitenget beach is a big-wave surfing beach and can be quite rough, especially at high tide or during big swells, but it's great for long walks and sunsets. You can find surfing lessons all up and down the beach. The best place for novices is at Double 6 beach, which is about 1 km south. We like Double D surf school. If you make a reservation, they will pick you up at your hotel.

I haven't been to the Royal Tulip Visesa, but I know the area, not too far from the center of Ubud town (about 30 minute walk). You might also consider a few nights in the country side outside of Ubud, along one of the river valleys. Same situation, make reservations at popular restaurants in advance, especially Locavore.

For the rest of your time, if you want beach, Lombok and the Gilis are good choices. The beaches are pleasant, but not what I would call spectacular. Just don't travel on the big holidays, June 23-26. I don't have a resort recommendation, but everyone likes Kunci Villas on Lombok.

You could also consider the Bukit, the area at Bali's far south. The resorts and villas are situated on the cliffside, with little sandy coves below.

For snorkeling look at north Bali, in the northwest around Pemuteran and Menjangan Island and in the northeast around Amed. These are black sand beaches; atmospheric but not picture perfect.

Midway between Ubud and the north coast is an area of great natural beauty with mountain lakes, river valleys and terraced rice paddies. Look at the areas around Munduk and Sidemen.

Thanks for the advice, we are heading to ubud on the 24th that's already booked until the 28th. Hopefully the big holidays dont make that too difficult

I had checked yesterday and it looks like locavore is already fully booked... If you have other recommendations in ubud let me know I have to look into reservations for seminyak

My understanding was that the beaches were prettier on the gilis or lombok, so I'm tempted maybe to make it to amed, take a boat to the gillis and head to lombok to fly back into dsp a day or two (maybe in the bukit area or sanur) before heading back home.

Other plan would be to go to the northeast and/or northwest and/or Munduk and Sidemen and stay there until a day or two before we have to head home.

How much of your honeymoon do you want to take up with transit? Getting to/from the Gillis or Lombok is quite time consuming - figure a full day each way.

Taking into account how far we come from? Not too much But then taking into account how far we came from we want to see as much as possible... hence the dilemma!

After seminyak and ubud we have 10 days (including the last day where we fly home in the afternoon)

The only impact you'll have in Ubud from the Islamic holidays is that the streets in town will be more crowded, more big tour buses, more people in restaurants and at performances. The boats to and from Lombok will also be busy.

I believe Locavore has a waitlist. They also do a wonderful lunch. My current favorite in Ubud is Hujan Locale (contemporary Asian, sit upstairs). Mosaic has an excellent reputation for fine dining, but I haven't been there for a while. Spice is a friendly place for a light meal, though dishes are inconsistent.

There are zillions of restaurants in Petitenget. My highly partial list: Sardine (seafood in a beautiful bamboo structure), Sarong (pan-Asian, innovative), Metis (serious meat, fine dining, pricey), LaLucciola (lovely setting on the beach, Italian inspired Australian), Watercress and Milk & Madu (in BatuBelig and Brawa respectively, casual great breakfast, lunch), Biku (charming teatime, desserts), Bamboo (upscale Indonesian).

KuDeTa is next to your hotel. I'm not that wild about the food, but it's a stunning beach setting. Less crazy at breakfast and lunch.

The beaches in Lombok and the Gilis are quite nice, but not the pristine white sand, crystal clear turquoise water that you find in parts of Thailand and the Philippines. Overall they're less developed than the beaches in south Bali. The atmosphere is laid-back and beach-y, though some areas of the Gilis can get party-hardy raucous. Most are good swimming beaches, though Lombok also has some big wave surfing beaches. Snorkeling is popular, but many of the reefs are bleached out.

In Ubud, I enjoyed a 'happy hour' special at the Arang Satay Bar, which is right across from where the Ubud Palace dances were held (they moved across the street during renovation). It was a sampling of 5 different snacks of high quality at a very reasonable price. If you are going to one of the Temple Dances it's convenient. I think they also do lunch specials.

http://www.satearang.com/

For traditional food with a great view, I was pleasantly surprised by Murni's Warung which is where we had lunch included in the Bali Bird Walk.

Su is an exceptional guide, even if you don't care about birds

http://www.balibirdwalk.com/walks.html

btw, marmot lives in bali and has excellent info always