Where to live in Bali ?

[homeinbali]

Have been looking at a number of websites and maps on places to live in bali.....
If you had the finances, the kids were taken care of and your business runs itself and you had the choice of anywhere in Bali to set up home where would you do it and why?
OR
Why are living at the place in Bali that you are at now?

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Well, I "ended up" in the North of Bali, and I am still happy with that.

On my first holiday, after I stayed 3 days in Kuta, I came to the North and had all kind of adventures, and got to know some people.

Took diving lessons, rented my first bike etc etc.

On my next holidays, I always went straight to the North.

Of course there are many more interesting places in Bali, but I am always happy to return home in the North again.

Now, I live in a perumahan, but when I still lived in a simple room, in a village, I felt more happy, even though the gossip, "black magic" and lack of privacy was not always nice.

There are still so many nice spots where one could live. I know this great (empty) spot in the hills above Singaraja, with spectacular views, and relative solitude, but still on the side of a village.

If I ever find the money for it.....

 

[BaliLife]

Hi homiinbali,

Ok, there are a number of things one might consider.. Such as preferences, accessibility, investment returns, etc.. These different factors lead different people to choose different places all over the island.. So some areas that I considered and what and why we ended up goin with.

Ubud - people in ubud love the seclusion, the rich artistic culture, the stront nature elements, including often views over rice fields and the forest. Ubud can be expensive depending on where, be aware that most land advertised as ubud is around ubud, but not in actual ubud. Investment returns can be good here, some of the most expensive hotels in bali are here (amandari and there's another one more expensive).. And some villas that sell there are very high end.. Overall though, I found the market for selling here was more limited than say Jimbaran, legian, seminyak, kerobokan, and maybe even sanur.. Perhaps it's the proximity to the beach that ubud lacks, but it is beautiful..

Seminyak - already expensive, some views of rice fields available but prime is near the water.. Huge western population here and they seem to be very well integrated.. I.e. You see them all over the streets and riding around on motorbikes everywhere.. The area has a beautiful feel with many little stores and a strong cultural feel.. Definitely one of the more expensive areas, with tons of western villas.. The same goes for kerobokan, only kerobokan is a little less mature, so some cheaper land opportunities may exist..

Sanur - sanur is newer to me, we never really ventured to the east side of the island too often, went there once and thought it was great.. There are many villas there, some are older, and the areas a little further away from the central tourism mecca that is kuta, than say jimbaran..

The southern 'tear drop' - class 1 areas including jimbaran (and jimbaran as a location includes parts of ungasan), nusa dua and benoa.. These are my personal favourites - we bought and are building in jimbaran.. (remember all people have diff prefs) I'm very accustomed to this area as we always stay there.. There are big hotels there including the Conrad in benoa, the ritz in jimbaran (I think at bali cliffs) and the many many hotels in nusa dua (inc the sheraton laguna, just to name 1). These areas are largely in the hills, so many have views. There are tons of villas, the terrain is up and down, but very rocky (the soil) so no probs with sinking foundations as can be the problem in the rice field areas. Prized are the areas close to the beach with good access. High potential returns here if u pick your land wisely, but these areas attract a premium.. Expext to pay 75m to 125m per 100m2 inland and more on the coast, though it's very hard to come accross. Tons of westeners here with a nice cultural blend. Close proximity to all major tourist attractions..

The southern 'tear drop' - class 2 areas - including balangan, kampial and non jimbaran ungasan.. Some potential here, providing access is good.. These places will or should be cheaper than jimbaran, benoa and nusa dua.. My friend in bali swears by these places as great investment areas. They are the less westernized bukit areas, also on hills, often with great views.. Sometimes the access is a bit of an issue, but it will just be a matter of time.. U'll see a lot of this product on the market now..

Be careful on land around dreamland.. Most is under dispute.. Also, be very very aware of double certs existing in bali.. If the price seems too good to be true, it just might be..

The areas I've listed are just the ones I've investigated for purchase of land for primary residence and investment.. There are hundreds and hundreds of other locations u might with to consider like tanah lot, sigaraja (dunno how to spell it) and lovina beach (last 2 on the north of the island).. Each area offers something unique, and other members on the forum will be able to give u heaps of info on other places as well as maybe a different perspective on some places I've written about..

Hope this helps and good luck with ur search..

Ct..

 

[homeinbali]

Thanks Bert but the obvious question now is

When we come over in a few weeks will you be showing the special spot on the hill by Singaraja to us as potential buyers we might just buy it from under your nose lol!

Definetely moving towards "away from the hustle and bustle", although the kids say what about when we come to visit we want to be nearer the action!!! I just figure they then won't stay with us for too long! And I suppose we could always have a holiday with them away from our place!

 

[max]

WE ARE OUT IN kEROBOKAN OUT THE BACK NEAR wARUNG GOSSIP.
NICE AND QUIET, FAR ENOUGH AWAY BUT ALSO NEAR ENOUGH .

 

[DCC]

I'm winding up 2 years in the Seminyak area and am looking forward to a move up to Ubud for a number of reasons. BL gave you a pretty good rundown on the dynamics of the popular areas but I'll add my 2 senseless.

Sanur is the oldest coastal tourist area and thus was first to become an expat haven, then as the Kuta surf scene turned into a major holiday maker hangout, it grew - and it's been a non-stop push up the coast ever since and it shows not sign of slowing down - Kuta to Legian to Seminyak and next to Brawa/Canggu.

The problem I have with the nature of tourist/commercial development in Bali is that it is very congested and centralized, thus any biz wanting to cater to Westerners pops up next door the last (usually selling the same thing), then comes another warung, motor shop, rent-a-car, etc., etc., etc. There is little to no planning or controls, or wise decision making on the part of commercial developers for that matter. My little neighborhood and gang have changed much in two short years and to me it's not for the better. But that's just how it is.

The reason all the Westerners congregate in the south is simple economics - they live where they work or play and the great majority of expat employment and biz is there, then add the surf scene. The reason Seminyak is the trend spot is because it became ground zero for the fashion and design crowd. It also has maintained a boutique feel about it due to most buildings there were single story, but don't hold your breath - success leeds to excess. This drive north/west from kuta has relieved pressure in and around Sanur and parts of Jimbaran, to their benefit. But all-in-all there will soon be no noticeable break between all these areas and Denpasar, and that if notice one now.

As for the Bukit, the arid cliffside haunt of hipster hotels and moguls in the making it's all views, isolation, and economics. Cheap land (arid!!!!) good views and no people - so if you’re a developer selling Bali-lite, presto ... gated artificially lush hideaways, everything there being imported.

Why Ubud for me is simply I like the art and culture and the great restaurants, not to mention the incredible scenery – all about an hour or two from the airport. A weekend in the other direction puts your feet in the fine blue waters/white sands of the north coast; my fair skin keeps that to a minimum.

Enjoy!

 

[Ilu]

the first time I came to Bali I lived in Jimbaran for 3 months ( studying there). I went to Lovina when I had 1 month left and I fall in love with the place. So the next time a went to Bali I went straight up to Lovina, and after thet I always stayed in Buleleng. 4 years ago I meet my husband, he is from Banjar so now I have a family ther too. If it gets to quiet in the north we just go to south Bali for a few days and that is more than enough for me in the croud.
If you want peace and quiet, more than the buissey life the the north is perfect.

 

[DCC]

Wanted to add a little more re South Bali - the area along the coast west of Canggu (Pererenan, Seseh, & Tanah Lot) have become popular with highend villa owners due to location (close to the action, but quite and scnenic) and strong holiday rental demand.

 

[jogry blok]

I love north Bali, it is the place for us.

 

[BaliLife]

i've not been to the north coast.. definitely want to get up there and check it out.. it's funny how different relatively close parts of the island appear in terms of vegetation and landscape..

ct (home now after 5 days of fun in the sun)

 

[Dasha]

Chiming in .. I'm in total agreement with every single one of DCC's points.
Ubud's the place I will settle one day.

25 visits over almost 20 years with a few runs up north, I too have had enough of the rat race. Not knocking Sanur Kuta and the Bukit in general but it’s just sooooo busy.

On a recent off the beaten track tour with the Sanurian in the passenger seat, studying the map and doing all navigation we found ourselves out in the middle of nowhere in true Mike and Mal Leyland style somewhere slightly west of Ubud.

The atmosphere and landscape was something I haven’t experienced yet. Coupled with the great people you always seem to run into around the place I reckon you wouldn’t need to give this place a second look.

It’s got these cultural cops too – great idea to keep the town under control.

 

[BaliLife]

Dasha, what do ya mean by the cultural cops??

Ct

 

[tintin]

So many different places in Bali, each with their different appealing characters. Personally, I used to like the Ubud area (my place was Nyuh Kuning) because of its relaxed, yet somewhat cosmopolitan atmosphere, and its central location, allowing easy access to the rest of Bali, but it has changed, not for the best (in my opinion). I love the East Coast: as soon as I pass Klungkung, I feel like being in a new island: the air is clean, and almost always a small sea breeze. There is a feeling of open space which I do not find in any other area of Bali. I love the Karangasem area, and if I had to settle in Bali (but I wont), this is probably where I'd choose to be. But maybe I spoke to quickly: what about along the West coast, around Krambitan? There, one gets another type of feeling of wellbeing. Although I spent a good amount of time in Pemuteran (Northwest coat), this is not "my place," neither is Lovina, although I have spent some great moments, meeting many interesting people there. I find Singaraja great, and for some reason I still have not figured out, I enjoy dumpy Seririt. I do not like the lake areas, Batur and Bratan: too cold. Unfortunately, I do not know the Negara area.

But the most devine place I have experienced, and where I return for a visit as often as possible, is a small village (30 families live there), not far from Mengwi. It's my old friend and boss' village, where he has a small "hotel," which is more like a magic, princely compound (no, it has absolutely nothing to do with the ostentatious Aman properties and the likes), and it is probably as close to nirvana or heaven as one can get.

One of my good friend, a great lady, bought three years ago a small farm in the village of Puakan, north of Taro (now, that's really the boondocks), which has a priceless atmosphere…this is probably as far back in time as one can go in Bali. But this is presumptuous for me to say that, because there is so much to see on this Island, and so many remote places that I have just only driven through, without really experiencing them (there are only 24 hours in a day, and only one life-time).

I am glad that I do not have to make the choice of where to settle in Bali. I'd probably end up like Buridan's ass (no self-disparaging intended) which were standing between two delicious hay stacks, but couldn't make up its mind as to which one it would like to eat: it starved to death… :cry:

 

[Tony]

Where to live in Bali? The choices are many and varied, each area offering something little different than the other. When we were first considering where to purchase land and build, we looked at everything between Kerobokan and Canggu. We decided that these areas in the south were becoming very expensive and overbuilt. In addition, these areas have rapidly become expat central. The upside to this would be that there are lots of choices for dining, shopping & entertainment western style, all easily accessible. The downside, at least for me is that these areas are quite congested, quite touristy, party scene central and, as I mentioned before, getting to be quite pricey. We also checked around Ubud extensively. Again, quite expensive, a little less touristy and with a great comminity feeling. Ubud would have been very convenient as my wife is in the siver export business and works in nearby Celuk a great deal. Price, I think, was the main factor in not giving the Ubud area more consideration.

In the end, we opted for a remote village in west Tabanan, about a half hour's drive south of Soka Beach. When we first drove into the area, our collective breaths were taken away by the incredible beauty... rolling sculptured rice terraces, panoramic ocean & volcano (we can see all 3 from here) views, a few decent & unused surf breaks. Prices at the time we bought were under 20 juta/are. There were only 2 existing expat homes in the area along with 1 under construction. Within our village, there were 5 other parcels of land that were ex-pat owned and conversations with these owners prior to our purchase indicated that everyone was interested in working together to pool funds to upgrade infrastructure like road improvements and bringing electric power to our building sites, etc. Everyone was also interested in working together to develop site plans that would, to the best of each's ability, preserve each other's view corridors. Further meetings with the Kepala Desa and other residents of the area indicated a desire to have foreign development on a limited scale come into this area, which until recently relied on rice, watermelon, tobacco and kapok cultivation. One other plus to this area was the future plans for the Sunset Road to be expanded to pass just outside the villlage sometime during the next 8-10 years. With the sprawl of villa development in Kerobokan, Umalas and Canggu spreading further north, we decided that, with the prices of land at the time we purchased, the probablity of making a good investment in the area was fairly high if we kept an eye to the long term. The downside to this area is that it is currently a bit remote... a bridge connecting Pasut to our village was washed out nearly three years ago, forcing a 2 hour drive thru Kapal & Tabanan city from the Seminyak area. The nearest western style anything would be the Hardy's supermarket in Tabanan. While this might be viewed as a negative by many foreigners looking to live in Bali, we considered it a plus. We are old enough to not be interested in the party scene and can always come into "town" to dine out and stay in a hotel when we get village "cabin fever". The other expat owners and ourselves put up the money for materials to rebuild the bridge in Pasut. That was completed last january and now the drive from our village to Seminyak is just about cut in half to only an hour (about the same time it takes from Seminyak to Ubud). We live currently in Hawaii so we are also interested in avoiding the tourist scene as much as possible. Village life seems attractive to us with it's slow pace, agrarian sensibilities and the opportunity to immerse ourselves in Balinese culture as much as we will be tolerated.

Currently, site plans have been developed and with any luck, construction shall begin in mid-2008. We plan to use the property as our residence and have no interest in going into the villa rental business. If you're curious about this area of which I write, a picture of our village (our parcel is visible in the photo, closer to the ocean) on the front page of today's Bali Times:

http://www.thebalitimes.com/

 

[tintin]

Congrat Tony, for your excellent choice.

This is what I meant by "[the area]around Krambitan." I visit from time to time the area, staying at my friend's Puri Anyar, Krambitan. The Pasut beach and on toward Negara is fantastic and the ocean is wild. There is a beautiful villa (most likely belongs to some expat) right at the end of the road which ends at the beach: what a place! Couldn't ask for a better location. Obviously, he or she has excellent taste.

I wish you the best in your small community.

 

[DCC]

On the topic of high prices in the popular areas.....it's because of 1 reason only; demand. As for buying and building in more remote areas, build something you really love because it's most likely going to be yours for a looooooong time. In rural areas available land far exceeds demand and people attracted to those areas are usually in search of doing their own thing and the adventure that brings rather than buying someone else's dream getaway.

All that is said so as to paint a picture of where vs what are related.

 

[homeinbali]

Bert:- No answer on the possibility of showing this little bit of paradise to us, can understand keeping it to yourself.

Balilife, thanks for the comments, I don't think we could considering living Jimbaren way, we do have a budget, and I agree with other posters it's getting a bit crowded over that way.

Thanks Max, we were looking at Kerobokan for the same reasons you have given but again this area seems to be getting crowded too. Is Warung Gossip a good place to eat, may call in for a meal in the next few weeks.

DCC, how difficult is it to up and move again, did you rent first in Seminyak then have decided to move? Seminyak would be out of our budget anyway I think, but the idea of giving it a try renting before buying is an option we have now having thoughts about.

Ilu, thanks for the comments, I'm thinking that North or West is the place to be and then if it gets too quiet hit the South for a couple of days, or when the kids visit, visit with them.

Again DCC have to say that the highend villas don't really appeal to us, the luxury sounds good but not the crammed in like sardines, each one trying to better the next.

Jogry bloke, you don't say how long you've been in the North or why, but we may be heading in your direction, look out, we'll want answers!

Yes Balilife you will definteley have to check out the North, so different vegetation/scenery wise, just don't go using your mobile whilst driving please.

Dasha. we would like to do a Mike and Mal trip, but honestly we should do Australia first, haven't seen much of Ubud, not really into the artist/cultural thing, don't get me wrong we like a nice painting but thats where our knowledge ends.

Thanks tintin, I do feel like the ass, thats why I'm doing as much research as possible, leaning towards the rent for a few years in each place before settling down. Why aren't you going to settle in Bali?

Tony, your place looks incredible, good luck with the building. Tabanen is on our list to have a looksee, our friend has his family in a little village up that way.

DCC....thanks, "build something you really love because it's most likely going to be yours for a looooooong time"...again maybe renting for a time in a few different areas will be the way to go. Although living in something that isn't "yours" will be so different to something that is "ours" and the community we will be within will also treat us a little differently I feel, if they think we are just here for a test drive.

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm surprised not more of people actually living in Bali has commented, maybe fed up with us newbies or busy enjoying life in Bali too much.

 

[jogry blok]

We are living in Dencarick north Bali already for nearly 4 years.Our house is facing the sea. We like the area, close to Lovina and Singaraja and Siririt. It is not as crowdy as in the south, I lived in Cairns,Aussie, now full with tourists, I still remember the time that we sat fishing from the harbour that is all gone now,I can recommend the north,

 

[homeinbali]

jogry blok, thanks for the reply, it's looking like the North is very popular, but none of you seem to be on each others doorstep...I like that idea. I can understand how some expat's want to group together but I can't say that we want that.
4 years for you, wish we could make the move now. Just a few little obstacles in the way which we are trying to sort out so that we can actually make the move a lot earlier than the aforementioned 5-6 year plan. AND I mean a lot earlier like within the next year or 2.
It's funny we have a couple of acres we are going to sell here, awaiting subdivision approval, a 16 yr.old who still is very much at home, an 18 yr.old who is at home but not (you know what I mean) and a dad who lives in the granny flat but who is in Bali more than we are!

 

[dug]

Tony,like the site,looks like a great place build! Hope we can share a drink some time and shoot the sh**! On the subject of 'where to live in Bali',I have a place in Kaba-Kaba and enjoy it,although it is new and am learning about my new enviorns it is a swell area! Have had a place in Bedugul area for 10years and can positivley say its really sweet! I think any where you are,try to understand the enviornment around you ,i.e. culture,language,flora,fuana etc.and treat people well,you will enjoy a better journey!