Top 10 Things to Do in Canggu, Bali

Everybody who lives for a while in Canggu, seems to become the best version of themselves they can be. Fit, glowing, tanned, happy, and productive. Is Canggu the place to be if you are a digital nomad? YES!

Canggu is heaven and a haven for digital nomads, online entrepreneurs, influencers, remote workers, coaches, vloggers and bloggers, and so on (we call them free birds!). If you work online and want to live for a fraction of the price in a beautiful paradise environment with many western traits, then Canggu is the place to be. This awesome coastal region has fast internet, a thousand and one great cafes with amazing food, excellent coffee, epic gyms, amazing coworking spaces, and many like-minded souls!

Canggu is like the perfect mix of authentic local culture mixed with all international necessities you could desire. Let us show you exactly why Canggu is awesome, and what you can do and see here if you choose (wisely) to come to Bali and stay in Canggu. These are the top 10 things to do in Canggu, Bali!

Join the healthy vibes

As mentioned in the intro, almost everybody seems to be so healthy! It's a bit of a culture shock for us who´ve been a while in the Netherlands and Mexico before coming to Bali, because almost 70-80% of the people living in these aforementioned countries have a little gut or are just really obese. The opposite seems to be true in Canggu. Almost all Indonesian locals, visiting Asians and westerners seem to be in the best shape they can be. We quickly discovered why that is.

There are many factors in play that create a healthy human, like sunshine, good weather, fast internet (lol), a good workout in the gym, some yoga, solid 7-8 hours of sleep, fresh air, a good massage from time to time, being productive and effective with your work, and the feeling of freedom. You will find all of this in Canggu!

Because of the healthy vibes here, we quickly turned our bad habits into healthy ones. We shed some fat, ate way better, did daily workouts, got a more clear mind, and got a whole bunch of work done. Because of this upward spiral, we didn´t want to leave Canggu. It´s just good for your health to stay here!

> The 4 best places to get a good massage in Canggu, Bali

But we forgot the most important thing that keeps people in shape, glowing, and happy: excellent nutritious food (more on that in the next suggestion of this list).

Foodie-heaven: high quality, delicious, and very affordable!

Another culture shock is how crazy good the quality, the taste, and how healthy the food is in Bali, and especially in Canggu. There are more than hundreds of high-quality cafes, health shops, and restaurants where you can eat as healthy as you desire. Vegan, Paleo, Keto, Organic, andwhatyamacallit? No problem here, they have whole restaurants dedicated to helping you with the perfect meals for your desired lifestyle, diet, or taste.

Smoothie bowls, salads, poke bowls, avocado toasts, eggs benedicts, ramen, nasi campur, juices, smoothies, bars, coconuts etc etc. You will find these items at almost all cafes and restaurants, and all of these dishes taste fantastic at every place. Quite a shocker in how consistently good the food quality is in Canggu!

Our favorites

We visited more than 40 cafes and restaurants in Canggu, which were all shocking good in food quality, menu options, and how cozy or cool the interior and exterior are. The most awesome thing about the food is yet to be mentioned, and that is that it´s all so friggin affordable! We haven´t cooked a meal in two months and ate out 2-3 times a day. A delicious filling dinner for two in a pretty cool western-themed restaurant, with two drinks, would cost about 10 dollars total.

Funny detail: we had the best coffee we ever had (Miel), the best pasta (La Baracca), the best salad (Bali Buda), the best almond croissant (Miel), the best nasi camper (Ulekan), the best smoothie (The Keto at Motion Cafe), and the best egg dish of all time (Korean Scrambled Eggs at Sensorium). Bon appetite!

Our favorite places for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Of course, we made a big item about that 🙂 – And more!

> The 10 best places for breakfast and lunch in Canggu, Bali

> The best warungs in Canggu, Bali: our 6 recommendations!

> The best coffee in Canggu, Bali: our 3 must-visit recommendations!

The many cool beaches

Echo Beach, Berawa Beach, Batu Bolong Beach, Pererenan Beach etc etc. Get used to those names, because you will be visiting these amazing beaches quite often. These wonderful beaches are actually one big long beach, but they are all divided into multiple beaches with all very different looks and vibes. One beach might be very peaceful and quiet, and the other might be one big party. And then you have a beach where everybody seems to own a dog and a surfboard.

Our favorite beach? Hard to choose, depends on what you are looking for that day, but we kinda loved the more local, the more simple, and the very affordable Berewa Beach. A cold coconut costs a buck, sunbeds costs nothing, and you sit right next to crashing waves. And they even have a free outdoor gym!

For the best sunset views in Canggu, go to Echo Beach, which has that awesome elephant statue in the far distance. And preferably go to La Brisa Beach Club for the very best seats in the house, but more on that in the next suggestion.

The many cool beach clubs

There are sooooo many awesome, fun, and cool beach clubs in Canggu. Names like La Brisa, Como Beach, Finns Beach Club, and many more cool venues will be visited by you when you come to Canggu. We went to the best ones so that you can skip the average ones and go have fun at some of the very best beach clubs in the world.

Cheers to the good life!

>> The 6+ best beach clubs in Canggu, Bali

Get (digital) work done

As said before in the intro, Canggu is heaven and a haven for free birds (digital nomads, online entrepreneurs, coaches, influencers, and so on). You can really get into the flow here in Canggu, mainly because of the vibe here. Many like-minded souls are working hard on their business, their book, their course, their growth, and so on.

The coworking spaces and cafes here are legendary good and I promise you that you will get so much quality work done here!

>> The best cafes in Canggu for digital nomads, expats, and entrepreneurs to get work done

>> The best coworking spaces to get work done in Canggu, Bali

And the greatest thing about working in Canggu is that after working your butt off, you can close the laptop and be at the beach within just 2 minutes.

Are you a digital nomad or in process of becoming one? Then please check out our best tips: Digital Nomad Tools >

Tanah Lot

Just 15-20 minutes north from Canggu lies the beautiful temple-area of Tanah Lot. This big tourist trap attraction is a must-visit when you´re in Bali. It can be too busy for comfort and feel quite touristic, but the views are stupendous and worth the hassle. The entry price is just 60k IDR per person (+- 4 dollars).

Tanah Lot is not just that unique Balinese temple on that rock in the water, it´s a huge area with many temples, shops, and cafes. We really liked sitting at the terraces that had a great view of the main attraction (see picture below). Try a coffee Luwak while you´re there!

When we were there in June of 2021, we were the only ones at Tanah Lot, which is quite unique, to say the least. Normally it's one of the busiest tourist attractions in Bali.

Pro-tip: be there at 7 am at sunrise. Be there before the jampacked busses arrive here.

Surfing

Surfers, you are gonna be so happy in Canggu! The oceans are just around the corner from every villa in Canggu. Within 1-6 minutes, you are on the beach. You see many surfers scooting towards the beaches in the early morning, having their surfboard tied up on the side of their scooter. You´ll encounter many Aussies, Balinese locals, pros, amateurs, and everything in between while trying to catch waves. And there are plenty of awesome waves here on Echo Beach, Berewa Beach, Batu Bolong Beach, and so on.

There are many surfschools, surfhotels, and surfguesthouses all around Canggu. Just get over here and discover this surfing-Walhalla for yourself!

* shaka sign *

And if these waves in Canggu aren´t epic enough for you, you can always go to Uluwatu, which is just an hour's drive from Canggu.

We shared so many Stories on Instagram of our adventures in Canggu. Must-visit beach clubs in Canggu, cafes, temples, coworking spaces and so much more. Check it out free birds!

Scootering through Canggu

Forget cars, forget walking, forget cycling. In Canggu, everybody drives a blazing-fast scooter. And it´s soooo much fun!

The sidewalks are pretty shitty, the hotspots are not close to one another, and the roads are pretty small, so a scooter is the optimal way of transportation in Canggu. Renting a scooter costs almost nothing, it´s about +- 60-70 dollars a month, and gas costs about 1 dollar per liter, which is extremely cheap. You can fill up your scooter for a small price and scoot around the area for a whole week for the price of a pizza.

Scootin around Canggu (and in Bali!) is absolutely one of the most fun things you can do here. It´s a bit tricky at first (it can be busy, and driving left can be a challenge), but you will love the feeling of freedom it gives to blast through lush green jungles, enormous ricefields, big busy streets, and small picturesque towns.

Pro-tip: Bring your international driving license with you. Cops will bribe/scam/extort you with this if you don´t have it.

Pro-tip 2: If you´re a well-experienced driver, rent yourself a blazing fast NMAX or PCX scooter. Bwoaaapppp!

We use these handy tools to travel affordable and get work done: Travel Resources >

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Partying & drinks & hooking up & happy hours

Up for some socializing, partying, and hooking up? You will find that in Canggu! You will encounter many or any of the next options: a new lover, new friends, the love of your life, weirdos, a bad romance, a best friend for life, and so on and so on. And the happy hours are daily!

But, we would have to point to the neighbors for a more complete experience. A better area for partying and the aforementioned desires is Seminyak and Kuta. These coastal areas are about 20-30 minutes from Canggu, and here you will find epic clubs, bars, and a wild nightlife. Booze, drugs, crazy women, pumped up guys, locals gone wild, tourists gone wild, they are all to be found here in this area. Good luck 😛

Are you insured for these wild nights out? Crazy things happen, don´t forget. Doublecheck that on our Travel Insurance page >

And so much more!

We have to admit that we had some stress in our first month of living as digital nomads in Canggu. And by stress, I mean ´choice stress´. There is just sooooo much to do, to see, to eat, to drink, to visit. And we still – after two months of having the time of our life here – haven´t visited all cafes, temples, gyms, and restaurants…

But there´s even more to do in Canggu beyond what I have mentioned above. For instance, you can go horseback riding, drive an ATV, go on tours with a guide, take long hikes on the beach, foster a rescue dog, fly a kite, kitesurfing, and so on, like:

> Love to shop? Go shop at cute boutiques and malls (like Atilla, Billabong, Tamora Gallery, and all the lovely boutiques close to Love Anchor). For serious shopping, a visit to the huge Beach Walk mall in Seminyak is a must.

> Staying at expensive villas or hotels is a blast as well, they provide epic pools, flower baths, floating breakfast in the pool etc.

> Take a class in for example breathwork, traditional Indonesian cuisine cooking, connecting with your spirituality, or something like painting, writing, or public speaking. There are hundreds of specialists to be found on every topic possible in Canggu.

Conclusion: Canggu is awesome!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Canggu, and we can recommend it for anyone who is looking for a hub that provides multiple upsides like affordability, nature close by, like-minded people, great food, and an overall happy vibe. It might not be a hotspot for typical tourists that want to cross highlights of their list, but it's really a wonderful nest for free birds!

Nothing exciting happens staring at screens all day, Canggu is waiting on you. So book a flight and hotel today, and live a little!

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