The Best of Uluwatu

Bukit Cafe Tomato Egg Bake and Bacon

Single Fin Sundays

Single Fin

Fresh juice at the Corner Cafe

Bukit Cafe Breakfast Burrito 

Suka

After two months in our Uluwatu nook, we're sad to leave but feel accustomed to life in Southern Bali and ready to release our "Best of Uluwatu" list to link you with some of our favorites.  Many of these places you'll need; some of them, you'll want; others you'll wonder how you lived without.  We agree on most, but for a few categories you'll see our personal thoughts...overall, you'll can't go wrong in Uluwatu.  

The best motorbike rental company...

• Ulu's Family, on the right as you turn off towards Single Fin
• Safe bikes, deals for renting for longer periods of time, personable service

The best place to buy, rent, or customize a surf board...

• White Monkey Surf Shop

The best nightlife...

• Single Fin, Sunday Nights
• You have to get there early to get a table, but even if you can't get one you'll enjoy an epic sunset, bird's eye view of awesome surf, great DJs, and people from all over the world

The best driver...

• Mario, WhatsApp +62 896-9832-4488
• Kind, helpful, and so reliable

The best activity coordinator...

• Agung, WhatsApp +62 896-8393-0428
• Organized Mt. Batur, secret waterfalls, Gili transport and beyond
• We met him back in February and he's a gem

The best laundry...

• Padang Padang Laundry, across from Buddha Soul; this small place accounts for every item when you drop it off, giving you a copy of that record that you bring back for pickup
• Laundry smells great and is nicely folded, but they get busy and often need two full days

The best dive company...

• Bali International Diving Professionals
• Avandy Djunaidi is the Yoda of diving; don't learn anywhere else. (Note: He's not technically in Uluwatu, but he'll arrange transport and he knows underwater Bali better than anyone else.)

The best daytime beach...

• If it's low tide, get down to Single Fin and head left though the caves.
• You'll find a secret beach with shipwreck ruins and a lot of privacy

The best sunset...

• Balangan Beach Sunset Point
• Use maps.me to get here through the Bingin Beach entrance; the black sands are worth it

The best place to get a book...

• Yeye's is an Uluwatu staple- great food, beautiful atmosphere, awesome gift shop, and huge selection of books
• Trade two you've read for one that you want

The best breakfast...

• Bukit Cafe- anything on the menu
• Buddha Soul- the chocolate smoothie bowl, and all of their other healthy options, will keep you coming back 
  • Be sure to try Om Burger for lunch (same owner, epic black rice buns)
• Corner Cafe- There are two, and they're both great.  Cash only, but great prices.

Best juices and smoothies

• Yoga Searcher- fresh, healthy, organic (you can do yoga in the back and even book villas there)

The best Italian food...

• La Baracca is a newcomer to the Uluwatu scene, but the owners are from Rome and their food is exceptional (Jay's Pick)
  • Beautiful nighttime ambiance and personable service
• Rolling Fork is one of our favorite places to enjoy a long, slow, blogging dinner (Chantal's pick)
  • Homemade pasta is a must, and the lava cake will make you wish you started with dessert

The best milkshake...

• Suka Espresso has pretty much the best EVERYTHING
• Their Unicorn Milkshake is unbelievable 
  • This isn't about a milkshake, but the Lemme Wrap (chicken wrap) will change your life.

Uncovering Uluwatu

I’m not sure that our first day in Bali could have been any more quintessential of island life.  We landed around 1 am and flew through customs.  At each airport leading up to Denpasar, we got hassled for our tourist visa but, of course, got stamped right through in Indonesia- no cost. Our bag and driver arrived without incident, and we made it to Uluwatu in about 20 minutes with no traffic at that time of night.

Our villa is exceptional.  It’s exactly what we need (minimalist, but clean) and beautiful outside with a pool and neat Bali landscaping.  In true OCD fashion, I unpacked at 2 am so we woke up as official residents of D’Padang.

D'Padang: We live here

We managed to sleep until about 9, at which point I felt Jay flinch and squeeze me.  “Don’t move,” he said. My mind raced to a million possibilities, but my gaze quickly fell on a large spider in the upper corner of our room.  About the size of a chocolate chip cookie (4 inch diameter, if you prefer the scientific reference), this friend was no joke.  Our ceilings are tall and I quickly backed away to the door and told Jay to grab a shoe.  He eyed it curiously, and swears to me it was not a spider, but a special mutant bug with only 6 legs.  I opened the door to our villa and flagged down one of the workers.  He came flying in with two spray cans and handled the beast.  Good morning from Bali!

When we were last in Bali we only had 10 days, and we made a list of all the things we wanted to do when we returned- so we hit the ground running and decided to walk to the Uluwatu Sea Temple.  On our way we, of course, needed breakfast and ended up with amazing fresh juice, free coconuts (why wouldn’t you get free coconuts with your meal?), and amazing organic breakfast burritos and avocado toast.  It was enough to keep us full all day (literally, all day, since we slept through dinner).

Outside Corner, uluwatu

On our 2 mile walk to the temple we also stumbled upon Single Fin Beach, and found some surf that Jay will definitely be taking advantage of.  To get down there, it’s almost like the jumbled market in Aladdin, with restaurants and tiny shops cascading down a cliff, nearly on top of each other.  As you reach the bottom you find a tiny slit of beach between two massive cliffs and paddle out from there.  In the other direction, we found a tiny private beach with a massive shipwreck on the shore.  People lay among the ruins, and a baby played naked- completely unphased.  It reminded me that the most devastating times of our lives, that feel like they’re in ruins forever, can one day heal over and become places of beauty and peace.

Single fin, secret beach

We finally made it to the Uluwatu Sea Temple, where they had us don silk scarves and sashes out of respect.  The silk was not the most comfortable in the 80 degree heat, but the views were beautiful.  Of course there was a cost, and the tiny sea temple on the distant cliff made Jay and I laugh at falling for the tourist trap.  But the monkeys eating potato chips and stalking unassuming, Chanel wearing tourists made us laugh.

monkey brunch at uluwatu sea temple

We concluded the day with our $6 hour massages, assuming we’d make it out to dinner after a shower. We woke up 12 hours later, this morning.