The best way to experience a place is to explore on our own and I and my husband exactly did that when we visited Bali. Not only did we visit the touristy places but we also tried to gather some offbeat experiences.So,here is a list of all the activities/experiences which I strongly recommend. However,do visit Tanah Lot,Uluwatu Temple,Ubud palace ,Ubud museum, Kopi Luwak tasting centre, Kelingking beach in Nusa Penida etc. in addition to the following recommendations.
We visited Kuta, Nusa Penida and Ubud on our trip to Bali.
1.Sea Walking: We sea walked at the Nusa Penida island.It was an absolutely mind blowing experience and I suggest that everyone must experience this activity.I am a non-swimmer and initially I had some apprehensions regarding how I would react when I am under the water.But it was absolutely safe and easy. I just had to climb down the ladder from a large vessel and our guide put the helmet on my head just as I was about to get fully under the water. Then Our guide took us down and we were standing on the sea floor. Hordes of colourful fishes swam around us and we fed them with food. The experience was magical!! Sea walking is a little expensive sport but you can of course cut off some other expenses to fit this activity into your itinerary.
2.Snorkeling: This is another activity that I would strongly recommend. When you are on an island surrounded by seas on all the sides, how can you not take a look at the underwater world? Who knows you might even catch a glimpse of the majestic manta rays or the reef sharks!!There are lots of tour organisers in Nusa penida. So, take a look at the rates and prices for snorkeling at as many options as possible and settle for the one which suits you the best. You would have a gala time if you are a swimmer. If you are a non swimmer, you might feel a little nervous while jumping into the splashing sea waters but trust me, your floating jacket will not let you drown. Also, tell your guide that you need guidance and ask for a floating tube as well. I am a non swimmer too but I had enjoyed snorkeling thoroughly.
3)Trek to Mount Batur: This trek would make you wake up at 1am,reach the starting point by 3am and have a tough time while climbing to the top before 6am to watch the sun rise from behind the Mount Agung. Yes,this trek is a little tough one. The climb is really steep, the path is a bit risky with loose rocks, but hundreds of tourists make this journey every morning. You would know why, once you reach the top. You would suddenly feel like you have reached the gateway to heaven and watching the sun slowly come out from behind the mount Agung is an experience you should not miss. Mount Batur is an active volcano and your guide would show you spots from where steam can be seen coming out from beneath the earth. You can also see a caldera lake from Mount Batur while you watch the sunrise.
Before you have a tough time again while trekking down, do not forget to meet the Balinese monkeys. These handsome beings would happily love to glide up on your shoulder. But...I would suggest you not to try. Our guide made one to climb up on me to entertain us but that could have been risky.
Another word of caution: Do carry proper trekking shoes and water.You should not attempt to climb mount Batur in any casual shoes.
3)Tandem Ride: This is one of the unique experiences that you can have in Bali. No youtube video or write-ups suggested this to me while I was researching on Bali before my trip. We came across this activity in a travel agent shop in Ubud while we were checking out their services. The agent told me that we would get to drive a dirt bike through a rice fields of Ubud. I had no interest in rice fields because India has so many of them. But my husband thought differently. He wanted to drive and so he booked the trip and pissed me off as I had plans to visit some temples. But,I would always be thankful to him for this experience. This was a 2 hour drive. My husband drove the the tandem while I sat behind and our guide took us across some lovely routes. This ride actually let us get an experience of true Bali and not the touristy one. We drove across pretty little villages, fields and even forests. The roads were not smooth when we entered the forests and I was constantly worried that either our tandem would topple while negotiating a bend or I might topple off our ride. The forests were dense as one would expect a rainforest to be. We spotted all sorts of tropical trees-Mango,cocoa,coconut,jackfruit, Durian trees and so on. We watched Balinese people in their everyday lives. They often smiled and waved at us.Nothing could have given us a better experience of Bali than this.
4)Pod Chocolate factory: Well, even this one is a not so touristy place and we had to actually face a lot of confusion while trying to reach the factory. I had found the spot on Google maps and the word 'chocolate factory' made my heart jump. It was about 25km from Ubud main market area. We took our scooty and started following the route. We crossed some lovely rice fields and could spot mount Batur from there. We stopped on the roadside to capture the beauty with our camera.
The sky suddenly started getting dark and we hoped we would reach our destination before it rained. But we were mistaken. It started to drizzle and we stopped at a little grocery shop at an unknown village on the way. We asked the shopkeeper in English about the chocolate factory which he did not understand and responded in Balinese which we in turn did not understand. Then we all decided to keep mum and watch the rain. After 30 minutes we drove off from the shop only to be stopped at another roadside shed as it began to rain cats and dogs. Streams of water gushed down the road carrying sacrificed chicken offerings and flowers of Canang sari(daily offerings made to god by Balinese people).But the experience was awesome-Balinese village and the rains.
After an hour or so we started again following our maps and was stopped by a teenager on the way trying to tell us something. We tried to understand what he tried to explain with so much urgency. We didn't understand and so we left by saying okay and thank you and followed google again.After driving for only a kilometer,we found out that a huge tree had been uprooted during the rain and it blocked the road that google suggested. We turned back on the same way and met that helpful guy again who was now smiling at us and saying in Balinese 'I told you not to go'. Finally,We reached the chocolate factory. The entry fee included a chocolate drink and chocolate tasting and also we were showed how chocolates are made from bean to bar. We tasted almost 20 varieties of chocolates. The unique thing about Pod chocolate was that these chocolates were from locally sourced cocoa pods and were dairy free. The experience was awesome.
on the way back we were crossing a road where on one side there were rice fields and the other side had jungles. We spotted a few cocoa trees among other trees and stopped to pluck a few pods.
Our visit to the chocolate factory was awesome-the journey as well as the destination.
5)Balinese dances: After having a roller coaster ride of experiences in Bali, do take out some time in the evening and buy tickets for a Balinese dance show. Everyday different dance shows are organised at different locations in Ubud main market area-either at the Ubud palace or at the Saraswati temple or at the shiva temple. We bought tickets for a show which included 5-6 types of Balinese dance performances. We watched the Barong dance, Legong dance, fisherman dance etc. It was a pleasant and peaceful experience watching beautiful Balinese dances with the Saraswati temple in the backdrop.
6)Atuh beach: Atuh beach is one of the hidden gems of Nusa Penida. The instagram famous kelingking beach view point remains crowded, but Atuh beach has still not attracted the attention of many tourists. The scooty drive to this beach was awesome. We could see some majestic views on the way. I had dressed up casually hoping to enjoy a lovely sandy beach as seen from Google photos but what lay ahead was totally unexpected.
We reached a cliff edge from where we could see the beautiful Atuh beach below. We could not find out the way below and so asked a roadside shopkeeper. He showed us a path. We could find a few steps and a few travellers were coming up. One tourist pointed at my slippers and told me to be careful. After a few minutes we understood why. There were only a few steps and after that it was a steep trek down to the beach. The path was full of loose rocks and soil and there was nothing to hold on to for support. We somehow managed to scramble down. But then the beauty of the beach blew our minds. In addition to this, there were loads and loads of starfishes in the feet deep water!!!! An added bonus to all this was the fact that there were hardly 10-15 tourists in total at the beach and so we could experience the beauty of nature peacefully.
I would strongly recommend you to visit Atuh beach but do carry your proper trekking shoes.
7) Goa Giri putri cave Temple: This is a unique cave temple dedicated to mother goddess in Nusa Penida. Unlike the Goa gajah temple at Ubud, this cave temple is still hidden from the tourists' eye. This cave is said to be the home of a unique species of soft shell crabs which are found only in this cave. To reach the cave entrance, we had to climb a flight of steps and then a person showed us the doorway. It was a small hole in the rocks!!We were doubtful whether we should go inside or not. But on going inside, we realised how huge the cave was. There were shrines, and altars and Balinese temple symbols everywhere. At the end of the cave there was an altar where I could spot a goddess similar to our Maa Durga. There were Chinese patterned decorations adorning the area around the altar. Altogether, the experience was beautiful. Do visit this temple to experience unique Balinese culture.
These are my top 7 recommendations for beautiful Bali trip.