This is our 4th trip to Bali, and I am starting to love Bali for the first time! This is a big contrast to my view after our last two trips. I said: I don’t ever want to come back to Bali! hahaha… I guess I am easy to change my mind. You may wonder why? well… because we are having so much fun, doing things that we didn’t do the first 3 trips, less sightseeing, less touristic things, more things that we enjoy. Girls are loving their surfing lessons! I am loving running by the beach path and vegan food. And lastly, the convenience of Bali is unbeatable, you can order food/drinks/taxi anywhere and service is even better than in Jakarta, everyone speaks good english. We are leaving Kuta today to go to Ubud for few days before flying back home, I am already thinking when we can come back!
Day 1 was our arrival at 9pm so I’ll start recapping from Day 2. I ran by the Kuta beach, a 8 mile loop. After my run, I took the girls to a surfing lesson. The lesson price varies a lot, from 250k (12 USD) to 800k (50 USD) to 1.2 million (80 USD) for 2 hours private lessons. After reading reviews on google, I decided to go with the one that is 350k. I had a chair with an umbrella to watch the girls. It was 9am and the beach was starting the get busy mostly with surfers taking lessons. Kuta is famous for surfing because the beach is very shallow for 100 meters and waves are big and nice.
at first Lizzy wasn’t sure she wanted to take lessons as she didn’t have that much fun last time when we came to surf in Nusa Dua. She agreed to try it. As I observed her standing up and laughing with the coach, I knew she is having a good time and will ask to come back. Indeed, after 1.5 hrs., she came to me to say she wants to take lessons everyday!!!
Another important element for making our stay so pleasant is our villa, 10 min walk to the beach very comfortable and quiet. There are many hotels and resorts by the beach, and I am so glad we are not staying there. Kuta is very busy so it’s not peaceful if one stays by the beach. Our little pool has water constantly running, I love the sound of it.
living room area and dining table, where we hang out and watch Netflix at night.
the second floor has two bedrooms, both very big with private bathrooms, again very spacious.
the villa staff comes to clean every day and is on standby for any of our needs, like buying fruits (I went there once with their staff in scooters), ordering in-house massage (I had two), bringing extra towels, etc. Super helpful.
After girls’ surfing lessons, we went back to the villa, shower and changed ready for lunch. We went to Organic Cafe, a vegan restaurant in Seminyak area, super chill vibe which we really like.
girls tried the infamous smoothie bowl and vegan chicken burger (made out of mushrooms)
I had a bowl full of goodies, pumpkin falafel was so good.
we then went to our favorite stores, Indigo kids, Bali shed boat, and few others that we saw on the streets. Girls both got a new outfits and we got new blacelet
we ordered burrito for dinner at the villa, watched an episode of planet animal and ready for bed by 8pm for me as I had a planned long run on Sunday.
Sunday, day 3. I took a scooter to get to the beach as it was dark, and I wasn’t sure I could walk alone in darkness before sunrise. I had 18 miles in the book that I wasn’t sure about as the run the day before was exhausting due to 95% humidity, although not too hot, and luteal phase
It was not the best LR experience, but it was nice to pass by the girls as they took surfing lessons before I had back and soaked in the villa pool for a while. I enjoyed the quiet villa for an hour or so before they came back. They showered, we did manicure together, and got ready to explore another vegan restaurant, KYND. It is definitely an influencer frequented place as the decor is super cute
we all got a drink: I got green juice (spinach, apple, ginger, lemon, celery), Lizzy a mixed fruit juice and Sofia a smoothie.
Lizzy’s reaction to my green juice
my macro plate was everything I wanted after 18 miles run, I was hungry already 2 hrs after breakfast.
We got back to our villa by dinner time, ordered vegan taste and another episode of animal planet.
Day 4 was Bali Waterbom day! We got in early as I couldn’t book a gazebo online and was hoping to get one on site if we got there early enough. Luckily we got one of the last ones. The park is not very large but it is so nice to have a base so everyone can go anywhere and always come back and meet up. Otherwise, it’s easy to get lost and we constantly hear in the speaker people looking for others. The gazebo is super comfortable, we can order food/drink with a bottom, and they bring them to our place
Girls had fun riding most of the extreme rides
Lizzy was brave enough to try a few scary ones too
Sofia recruited daddy to ride with her those that Lizzy was not brave enough to ride
pizza for the girls
my vegan bowl with rice
we left the park an hour before closing and really happy with the experience. We’ve been into many water parks and this is the second best one we’ve been into, the first is the one in Erding Germany. I was surprised to find Bali Watebom to be super well organize, many staff and safety staff to ensure order and safety. Super clean everywhere as people constantly clean the floor and equipment. Plenty of food options, reasonably priced and good quality. It was a good size that we got to ride the favorite ones a few times, lines were not too long, and it’s located in the middle of Kuta area. All around a solid 9/10.
We were planning to go to Kuta beach for the sunset dinner but decided that we just ordered in again as everyone was a bit tired.
Our New Journey 
Looks like a great, relaxing time! I often have thought about those “exotic” beach destinations we hear a lot about over here- like Fiji, Bali, etc. They always look beautiful, but I have wondered if it’s really worth it (for us) since it’s SO far from the midwest U.S. where we live. Like, it looks and sounds amazing, but there are lots of beaches a lot closer to us, you know? Is there anything really special/unique compared to other similar looking beaches? But I’m still always intrigued. Maybe someday! I have a friend who said that French Polynesia was one of the most beautiful places she’s ever been. I looked a little into Fiji before planning Hawaii because my dad has always been interested in Fiji, but then we read that Fiji is sort of more of a place to just go and chill and relax, whereas Hawaii has more mountainous/ adventurous/hiking options (plus beach). So with the family etc opted for Hawaii this time to have more things to do. But the pics I have seen of all of those places do look beautiful! Anyway, hopefully someday I can go and find out for myself. 🙂 Glad you’re having a good time! The villa option seems like a nice choice.
LikeLike
I’m glad you are having such a wonderful trip! Bali would be such a long trip for us that I doubt we’ll ever get there. Even Hawaii is quite the haul for us. It’s great that you are taking advantage of living where you do as the flights must not too terribly long for you!
LikeLike
That villa is stunning and it looks like there is so much fun and adventure for the whole family. Seems like a perfect spot and I’m so glad you’re enjoying it (and trying so many fun things – like the surfing lessons). Lots of memories.
Re. Kae’s comment above: my husband was in Fiji years ago and LOVED it; I’d really like to visit one day. He went there on a surf vacation… 🙂
LikeLike
It looks like such a wonderful time. I have a vacation philosophy question for you. It struck me when you said that you enjoyed this trip more than past trips to Bali because you did less touristic things. I’ve been pondering this a bit lately, hoping to go to Paris with a friend in a couple of years, and I’ve seen so many of the touristic things, I’d like to do more laying low…so, tell me, what were the touristic things that you did? Did you not enjoy doing them, or was it that you were go go go and that is less fun, especially with kids?
LikeLike
great question. The previous trip we did mostly sightseeing, having a car/guide to take us to touristic sites, less doing active adventure kind of things. This time, we did what we like to do since the we’ve been into the usual places. I guess, the more we travel, the more we know about our travel preferences. Going forward, I’ll plan to do a mix of touristic sites and activities that we enjoy even if it’s first time.
LikeLike
This all looks amazing! I LOVE your food! It looks delicious. What a nice vacation for you- the girls are having so much fun and you got in some great runs, plus some nice time to relax. It seems like Bali can be really nice, but you have to know where to stay and what to do. Glad you’re enjoying it so much this time.
LikeLike
I have not been to Bali but from what I see… there’s nothing to complain about 🙂 Your villa looks so nice and all the food and the beach and the water park!
LikeLike