Wellness Guide To Canggu, Bali

6 min readJan 10, 2023

Canggu is so hip. Every local we met talked about how Canggu is “blowing up” right now + it’s true! TONS of cafes + yoga + digital nomads + amazing restaurants + incredible shopping + spas. There’s a relaxed vibe to Canggu that I really liked — probably because Canggu is one of the best places in the world to learn how to surf! (Surfing culture always brings the chill, IMO 🤗). There’s also SO many young expats in Canggu… it was easy to forgot that we were in Bali.

We stayed in Canggu for 4 nights + similar to Ubud I had major restaurant FOMO, knowing that there was no way I could eat my way through all the amazing restaurants. We almost didn’t go to Canggu because we heard mixed reviews, but we were SO happy we went. It felt perfect for a long weekend. Highly recommend going to Canggu to decide for yourself what you think of Bali’s tourism boom town.

Something to note: I would not recommend going to Canggu for a typical “beach vacation.” The beaches aren’t filled dreamy white sand + beautiful blue water. If you’re looking for a beach vacation in Bali, go to Uluwatu! Go to Canggu for food, surfing, shopping, + thriving digital nomad scene!

Coffee + Cafes

The coffee [+ cafe] scene in Canggu is incredible! Try to go to ask many cafes as you possibly can.

BGS Bali — Their almond milk is out of this world. Get an almond milk latte + see for yourself!
Miel Coffee — MUST. It’s very close to In Da Surf Camp, so if you decide to take a surf lesson… treat yourself to a coffee here afterwards. Absolutely stunning interior + amazing coffee.
Sensorium — Go early because the line is always so, so long to get in. I regret not going here!
Bull’s Coffee
Superfood Canggu
Nude
Sari Kitchen
Pels Supershop
Secret Spot Canggu
Doppio Cafe
Koast Cafe
EZY. Cafe
Cafe Coach

Restaurants

One of your nights in Canggu do “appy hour”. Go to a restaurant + get one appetizer/entree to share… + then, go to the next closest restaurant + repeat [as many times as possible!]. Aka it’s a bar crawl… but instead of drinks, it’s with food. The food is truly the best part of Canggu — it’s a foodie heaven.

Ulekan — MUST! So good we went here twice. Get the Beng Beng Cheesecake for dessert 😋
Skool Kitchen — Super bummed we didn’t get to go here. It was closed for an event the days we were in Canggu. It looks amazing!
Sa’Mesa — Concept is very cool… 15–20 shared tasting menu experience. “Come as strangers, leave as friendsd”
Sunday Kitchen — Get the banana gnocchi. It blew my mind.
Lusa By/Suka
The Slow Kitchen + Bar
HOME
Milk + Madu
MASON
Kajan Eatery
Penny Lane
Casa Tua
Santanera
Black Sand Brewery — Beautiful beer garden

Wellness

#1] Get your yoga on. There are so many amazing yoga studios to try in Canggu! The Practice might be the most beautiful yoga studio I’ve ever been in. Also on my list to try:

Guan Yin Yoga Shala
The Canggu Studio
Radiantly Alive
Revive + Pilates
Candra Yoga Bali
Samadi Bali

#2] Treat yourself to a Balinese massage at a spa. Loved my facial + massage at GOLDUST Beauty Lounge. Heard good things about Desa Seni. Therapy Canggu.

#3] GO SURFING! *MUST! Canggu is one of the best places to learn how to surf in the world. We loved our surf lessons at Batu Balong Beach with In Da Surf Camp.

*Our instructor at In Da Surf Camp was the owner Indra, but their entire staff was amazing. Highly recommend! In Da Surf is a hostel surf camp, so it could be a great option to stay at if you really want to improve your surfing [they film you surfing!] + are looking for budget friendly accommodation!

Things To Explore

#1] GO SHOPPING! This is my one regret… I wish I would have shopped more in Canggu! Lots of cute, local + hip shops.

#2] Check out a Beach Club — The Lawn + La Brisa are two very popular ones. A lot of times there’s special events going on there, too!

#3] Visit a temple — The most popular temple near Canggu is Tanah Lot! Go for sunset.

#4] Watch the sunset — One of my favorite parts about beach towns is that it seems like the entire town goes to the beach for sunset. Highly recommend drinking a coconut 🤗

#5] Rent a driver for the day — depending on your Bali intinerary, you should definitely do a day trip to Ubud [if you aren’t spending multiple days there! See my Ubud Guide here]. There are also many rice fields, water falls, temples, etc to visit. Your driver will be able to help you make an itinerary for the day based on what you want to do!

Stay

We stayed at the Zin Hotel. We really liked the coworking space + cafe attached to the hotel + it was in an amazing location, but I think I’d check out one of these places next time:

COMO Uma Ubud
Grun Canggu Garden — this is further from the center, but looks so cool
Blossom Eco Luxe Villas

Pro Tips

Canggu is very walkable, yet the mopeds still run the streets. Traffic can get really, really bad, so plan accordingly.
Gojek or Grab: Both great choices for transportation… basically the “Uber” of Bali.
Sadly, the beach is covered in trash. Locals says the raining season brings it out, but there are a lot of creeks that overflow with sewage. When we visited in November it was the most trash I’ve ever seen on a beach.
The digital nomad life is thriving here. The internet seemed to be amazing at every cafe. B Work Bali is a gorgeous coworking space.
Chances are you won’t be grocery shopping, since the cafes are incredible + so affordable… BUT, if you need groceries, check out Alive Wholefoods Store. The Organic market is also on Sundays!
Don’t drink the tap water in Bali. Drink all the coconut waters, though 🤩
When to visit? Dry season is April-October. We visited in early November + it was perfect! We may have gotten lucky with no rain though… the rain can be unpredictable that time of year!