As a CMPR student I am constantly being encouraged to create a blog. With so many people asking me about my recent trip to Bali I thought this may be more convenient for those asking and helpful for me. I really hope you enjoy this and I don’t come across as a complete DOSE.
•DUBAI
Firstly, I feel it’s necessary that I discuss my stop In Dubai.
We stayed in Dubai for 3 nights/ fours days at the Wyndham Dubai Marina. The location of our accommodation was very convenient and there are numerous other places to stay in this region. Staying here meant we were very close to the famous pier 7 and the Dubai marina.
Most connection flights to the south east Asian including Bali, Thailand and the Philippines stop in Dubai. I decided to stay in Dubai for an extra few days as I have never visited there and was curious to get a feel for their luxury/ wealth.
However the main reason was because the flight to Bali alone is 17 hours.
I chose to stop in Dubai on my way to Bali and not on my way back because my biggest fear was being to exhausted with the travelling and time difference that I wouldn’t enjoy Bali. Dubai is 4 hours ahead of Ireland and Bali is 7. I wanted to wean myself in as I knew my sleeping pattern wouldn’t be use to the drastic change.
So many celebrities take regular trips to Dubai and they are constantly posting their luxurious photographs on Instagram. They made certain places like the five palm Jeremiah look out of this world. I was eager to visit here and after making the time for a famous candy brunch I can confirm it is simply amazing! At all these events you can drink or eat till you drop as it is unlimited. Other famous beach clubs this is available at is Zero gravity, Nikki beach club and Barasti beach.
IMPORTANT- There are ladies day deals and offers in Dubai that are exclusive to women. For example my tickets were far cheaper than Gary’s wi
th more perks.
There is one thing I would encourage those to do if planning on visiting Dubai, this is the desert safari. This was phenomenal and there is so much do. As Dubai is so hot we couldn’t go to the desert until it cooled down. We left at 3pm and spent the whole evening here. Gary and myself took a dune buggy and quads out before ending the evening riding camels. This was the most expensive thing by far because we wanted to do everything on the list they gave but the most memorable. UNREAL IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
Now to discuss all things Bali!
Bali is without a doubt the most picturesque place in the world. The pictures on Instagram do not do it justice.
•SEMINYAK
My first stop in Bali was Seminyak. It made sense to stay here as it wasn’t far from the airport or the small islands I planned on visiting.
We stayed here for three days at the Harris Hotel. Seminyak is the more lively compared to other areas in Bali with plenty of bars and beach clubs including Finns, Potato Head and Miss Sippy . Happy hour is very popular here and all drink is at a reduced price. Seminyak is known for its beautiful beaches including double six beach and La Pancha. This place is full of colourful bean bags you should watch the sunset here as it is truly breath-taking.
WARNING- This place is quite dirty compared to other places in Bali and the islands. Do not let this put you off stopping here as it was my favourite spot.
The food in Seminyak was my favourite compared to other stops as there is so much variety Catering to everyone needs, especially the fussy eaters like myself who wouldn’t dream of touching Balinese food. Seminyak was the one place I didn’t live off carbohydrates. The rest of the stops my diet consisted of only chips and bread.
Here are a few of my favourite restaurants in Seminyak.
Kynd Community -popular Bali bowls
Bali bowls and smoothies
Dusty cafe
Strawberry field Setting cielo- Italian
Ku de ta
Hard Rock Cafe
From Seminyak at Sanur harbour there was easy access to all the small islands around Bali via boat. There were fast boats and slow boats. I recommend taking fast boats and paying that bit extra. Look around and find the best deals. Try to negotiate with the men at the harbour and you are guaranteed to get cheaper and better deals. For example I noticed when walking down the harbour the prices of the boats dropped. All the boats are safe but I did feel at times and on certain boats very unsafe and uncomfortable. This may however be because of the speed of the boat and my travel sickness.
THE NUSA ISLANDS
•Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan
The first island that we stopped at was Nusa Lembongan . This was the closest island to inland Bali at just 30 minutes on boat. It was one of the smallest so we stayed here for two days and one night before heading over the yellow bridge which connected the island to Nusa Ceningan.
IMPORTANT- You can do a day trip to the Ceningan island as it is very small.
All Moped heads are easy to ren
t and cost as little as £2 a day to run. Luckily our accommodation as with most of the places we stayed rented the moped heads out. This made visiting all the tourist places easy to get to.
Nusa Ceningan was a five minute drive via moped head from Lembongan across the yellow bridge. It had numerous swings in the ocean and small shack-like quirky bars. These bars were full of bean bags/ hang chairs and were decorated and beautifully painted according to their themes.
Having visited most of the bars and restaurants the ones that stood out to me in Nusa lembongan and Nusa Ceningan were-
Lemon grass bar and grill
Sea breeze
Sand Ceningan
I sat in these places for hours spending, drinking and eating everything from the menu.
IMPORTANT- There is no tax on food or drink on the islands off Bali so everything was so cheap.
Places I recommend visiting whilst staying in
•Nusa Lembongan-
Jungut Batu beach
dream beach
devils tear
•Nusa Ceningan-
Blue lagoon beach
secret beach
The waters are crystal blue!
• Nusa Penida
From the yellow bridge we made our third stop which was Nusa Penida.
This was the biggest island but it was my least favourite. I felt that everything on the island was so far away from each other. I would recommend a scooter as it is the easiest way around the Island. Unfortunately when it got dark there was barely any lights and the roads were very bad. This made it hard to get back to our accommodation. Two days on this island was enough for me. In my opinion it was over populated with tourists and everywhere scenic we visited we had to pay. I found it unfair because on the other islands this wasn’t the case. However I don’t want to discourage anyone from going here as this island is full of amazing sightseeing places and famous spots.
This island was full of amazing beaches and waterfalls. Some of the famous and beautiful spots we visited include-
Angel billabong
broken beach
Kelingking beach
THE GILI ISLANDS
My fourth stop was Gili Trawangan and we stayed here for three days. We originally had planned to stay only two but added an extra day as we just loved it. From this island I was able to easily access the other Gili islands on day trips which are Gili Meno and Gili Air. These islands are beautiful they are filled with Sandy beaches, palm trees and coral reefs. There is no public transport like cars or buses, the nearest thing to this would be a horse and cart. I absolutely loved the island because of this. We rented bikes from our accommodation but everything was within walking distance.
The sunset at Gili T is amazing and the island is famously known for this. Everyday we made our way to the beach or a near by bar to grab a good seat to watch.
Gili Trawangan is more lively in comparison to the other Gili islands with plenty of bars and restaurants along the beach front. There wasn’t loads to do but instead we took this time to relax. I have no recommendations only to go snorkelling. The boat took us around all of the islands when we done the snorkelling. It made numerous stops including the famous turtle point and here we were able to swim with turtles. We also made a stop at Gili Meno to view the beautiful under water statues.
Places to visit-
Tir na nog- Irish bar
hello Capitano
Pink coco ( pink bicycle )
IMPORTANT- The accommodation on all the islands was very cheap around £30-50 a night including breakfast. These small huts or shacks had outdoor bathrooms beautifully decorated and were nothing like any place I’d stayed before. I didn’t book accommodation until arrival on the islands. I was very uneasy about this but everything went smoothly. This worked out better for me as I was then able to decide when I wanted to move on.
•CANGUU
After visiting these near by islands we got a fast boat back to Bali which took around 2 hours. Here we travelled to Canguu this is small place and we stayed here for just one night. This place is not far from Seminyak but without the loudness. I found a beautiful villa with our own private pool so we travelled for that reason.
places to visit-
Batu Bolong Beach
Love Anchor
•UBUD
Our final stop was Ubud. We got a taxi here before renting another moped head for our stay. I felt this place was a lot more congested with traffic than the other stops. Riding the scooter here was a lot harder for this reason.
Here we stayed in the beautiful Udaya famously known on Instagram by celebrities and bloggers for its popular petal baths and floating breakfast.I was stupidly unaware before I booked this trip that a lot of hotels and resorts do this. I would encourage those travelling to Bali to look around for cheaper alternatives as lots of places specialise in these. Nonetheless the Udaya was something else and I would highly recommend.
Places to visit in Ubud include-
Tegalalang rice terrace
The sacred monkey sanctuary
Tegenungan water fall
Mason elephant park and lounge
Bridget Hughes is a final year Bsc in Communication Management and Public Relations student at Ulster University. She can be found at: Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bridgethughes1/, LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridget-hughes-382474195, and Twitter – @bridgethughes14