21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Insiders' guide to Canggu, Bali, home to some of the hottest beach clubs
Canggu in
Bali is a 5km-long strip of black sand surf beaches backlit by the biggest and most ostentatious beach clubs in the world. Behind them lies a maze of streets and alleyways lined with an ever-changing smorgasbord of cafes, restaurants, bars, gyms, nightclubs, massage and tattoo parlours, boutiques and boutique hotels.
To help us navigate these complex warrens, we asked for tips from three well-connected locals: Theodora Hurustiati, an Indonesian culinary instructor and consultant; Hasianti Deamita, a marketing and public relations specialist, also Indonesian; and Jeremy Louin, a real-estate agent from France.
Where to flex
Muay Thai training at Soma Fight Club. Photo: @somafightclub/Instagram
Working out is part and parcel of the Canggu experience.
'There's a gym, Pilates studio or padel ball court on nearly every corner,' says Louin, who managed boxing gyms before pivoting into real estate. Now he works out at
Soma Fight Club , a boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu gym on Jalan Raya Canggu.
'They have a floor dedicated to boxing, another for grappling and a warehouse-size training gym with pull-up bars, medicine balls and crossfit equipment,' he says. 'Around the corner is an even bigger gym,
Nirvana
'At Soma the focus is on training but at Nirvana, it's more about the healthy lifestyle. They have a co-working space, juice bar, kitchen, a pool and lots of equipment and fitness classes. It's very popular with the influencers.'
A sunset game of beach volleyball.
Soma charges 2.9 million rupiah (US$175) per month or 300,000 rupiah (US$18) for a day pass. Nirvana costs slightly more, but there's a more affordable and convenient way for holidaymakers to workout in
Bali , says Hurustiati.
'Most of the popular fitness and sports clubs in Canggu are part of
ClassPass , an app that lets you buy passes to different studios and gyms and it costs about half of the door price,' she says. 'My favourite yoga teacher is Maximilien from France. I love his style, he's quite spiritual but doesn't try to be a guru. With ClassPass I can go to his classes no matter where he teaches; some days he's at Empowered Bali and on other days he teaches at
The Path .'
Where to eat
Japanese fusion restaurant and cocktail bar, Billy Ho. Photo: Will Meyrick
For breakfast, Hurustiati doesn't stray far from her home in Pererenan, an upmarket seaside village on the western fringe of Canggu.
'Emerson, a baker from the Philippines, honed his expertise in America. His cafe is called Baro,' she says. 'I think he makes the best sourdough in Bali, though I also go there for the sausage rolls and empanadas.
'Right next door is another great bakery, called that has a wider selection of goodies. I love their goat cheese quiche and maritozzi, an Italian pastry made with brioche buns filled with whipped cream.'
When Louin grabs lunch, it needs to be fast, healthy and delicious. 'There's this popular place called Warung Dua near my office in [the satellite suburb of] Umalas,' he says. 'It's a gentrified version of your traditional Indonesian warung, where the food is pre-cooked and displayed behind a glass counter. You choose a plate of different things: rice, fish, curries, steamed vegetables. They have Western things, too: potato gratin, schnitzel, lasagne and Greek salad. It's cheap. A big beautiful plate is like 100,000 rupiah.'
