Bali Family Adventure
Our first Bali trip as a family of five (with kids aged 10, 9, and 6) was amazing and full of learning experiences. It was also the kids' first time in a different time zone, which came with its own challenges. I know how fortunate we are to be able to travel, on so many levels, and am incredibly grateful for the experience.
Here’s a recap for those interested:
We stayed in three different areas in Bali: Seminyak, Nusa Lembongan (island), and Sanur.
The Journey
We took a direct flight from Auckland to Bali, which was about 8 hours and 40 minutes. We had to get up early in Hawke’s Bay to catch our connecting flight. It was a huge day for the kids because of that extra early Hawkes Bay flight, and they were up for about 20 hours that day.
Tip: Take it slow for the first couple of days. Bali is four hours behind us, so an 8 PM bedtime feels like midnight to the kids if you’re in NZ. (for the first 3-4 days, anyway).
A friend who travels a lot and works with professional athletes follows a general rule of allowing one hour per day to adjust to a new time zone. This means it takes around 3-4 days to feel fully adjusted.
Accommodation
We stayed in a villa in Seminyak and resorts in Nusa Lembongan and Sanur. Next time, we’ll stick to villas due to our family size. Villas are better suited for larger families, whereas resorts, despite offering amenities like kids clubs and on-site restaurants, have smaller rooms and extra mattress charges that weren’t worth it for us.
Seminyak
Our favorite place to eat was Sisterfields. We went there multiple times! We also enjoyed Grill’d, a burger place that catered to my gluten-free, low-meat, and low-dairy diet. In fact, all of Bali accommodates dietary restrictions very well. Always order bottled water and for safety we stayed away from ice.
We loved Finn’s Recreation Club, especially the water park and the Thursday night movie nights for kids.
While in Seminyak, friends booked us into Sunday Mood (based in Canggu - a short scooter ride away) a luxury sauna and ice bath place, for a 45-minute session. It was amazing! We could only do this because our friends looked after our children. I’ve heard of other families hiring nannies or babysitters, but we didn’t.
Transport
We occasionally used Blue Taxis and downloaded the GoJek app, which is the cheapest way to get around and what we mainly used. GoJek is incredible for ordering food, scooters, and taxis. We sometimes ordered scooters, especially when traveling alone, as they were quicker and cheaper.
To give you an idea of travel costs using GoJek: I travelled by Scooter from Seminyak to Sanur one Friday night. This took about 45 mins by scooter, would’ve taken 2 hours by taxi. (This cost me about $7.50) They have helmets you can wear too.
Nusa Lembongan
We loved it here! We stayed at Jenggala Hill, which was beautiful but too hilly to hire scooters. Many restaurants offer free pick-up and drop-off, so check their websites and WhatsApp them.
Our two favorite places to eat were:
Sandy Bay Lembongan: Our absolute favourite. Absolutely stunning.
Ohana’s: Right in town and beach-front. We loved it so much we went back the next day to hang out by the beach, with pools, great food, and kid-friendly facilities.
We went snorkeling for a few hours one morning. you can do this either with a group or by booking a private boat. We went with another family who live in Bali, so we were spoilt with local knowledge and help. The kids’ ages ranged from 3 to 10 years.
WhatsApp is used for everything, which is fantastic. You can contact any business or service through it, and it works seamlessly.
Sanur
Sanur was good, but probably our third favorite out of the three. It has a new mall, Icon Bali, where we enjoyed Timezone and the movies on a rainy day.
We visited the Sea Turtle Conservation and Education Center, which was amazing and relies on donations. For an extra fee, you can “adopt” a turtle. We took a baby turtle each, rode in a rescue van to the ocean, hopped on a boat, and released the turtle into the sea. The kids and I loved it. I called my turtle ‘Andrew’ - much to my husbands dismay. Hope Andrew is doing okay out there!
Pampering
Bali is great for cheap massages and salon treatments. We treated ourselves to these occasionally. It’s very affordable, costing around $8-15 for the girls to have their hair washed and blow-dried before we headed home.
The Return Journey
The flight home was challenging. It’s a short overnight flight of 7.5 hours. By the time you’re fed and the sky couch is set up, there aren’t many hours left to sleep. I hoped the sky couch would fit all three kids, but it only fit my two youngest (9 and 6). I sat at the end of their row and got no sleep. The kids didn’t sleep much either. My 10-year-old daughter and husband sat a few rows up, and she got zero hours of sleep for the first time ever. It’s taking us a few days to adjust, but it’s all part of the experience! Thankfully, we timed it with school holidays.
Next time, I would look to fly Air New Zealand on the way over for a day flight, and possibly fly Qantas on the way home with a stopover in Australia to break up the journey.
Future Plans
Next time, we plan to head to Ubud. We wanted to go this trip but couldn’t for a few reasons. We’d also love to visit Canggu for longer and maybe explore northern Bali, up in the mountains.
While the whole trip was expensive due to flights and other costs for a family of five, the cost of living in Bali, including food and transport, is much cheaper than in New Zealand.
Tips
Regarding water and insects, two concerns I had before leaving, we adjusted quickly. Drink only bottled water and never from the taps, even for brushing your teeth. Mosquitoes weren’t much of an issue at all. I sprayed myself and the kids with Soffell, a Bali-bought repellent in a pink bottle, a couple of times a day. Only $21 NZD, it smells good and is very effective. Out of all five of us, I was the only one who got a single itchy bite.
Also there are some vaccinations you can get before going to Bali, be sure to chat to your GP if you are interested in these for you and the kids. These can be expensive!
Also, take a set of cards! We played endless games of last card, they kids loved it way more than just sitting there waiting for their food, especially if we were all hangry! ha! Great for connection too.
Another highlight I wasn’t expecting was the scooter rides on the back of a jogek bike! It was so exciting and so much to look at. Being a family of 5 makes it hard to catch scooters, if you were a family of 4 you could with one adult and one child on the back on a Gojek comfort scooter, but two kids and two adults on a scooter is not ideal, and most say no. Taxi’s just take longer to get places due to the traffic, so plan your day trips allowing plenty of time for traffic. It is worth it.
I also got a tattoo while I was here - my first one. I actually got two... An amazing place to go for one is La Femme Tattoo in Seminyak. It is quite famous, and specialises in fine line, which is what I wanted. Really happy with what I got.
The people of Bali are truly special. They are kind, genuine, generous and want to help in anyway they can. We learnt some basic words in Indonesian which was fun for the kids. We adore Bali and can’t wait to go back!
Hope this helps!
Gemma
