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How to find a place to rent in Canggu for short-term?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @mrtkawa | 2yr 2yr | 2 comments

Hi ,

I will be staying in Canggu for approx. 3 weeks but still I havent found the place to stay yet.
I will be arriving on 5/19 and thinking of doing house search for first few days in Canggu.

If you know any good place around Canggu for short housing I would appreciate your advice!

Its my first time being nomad worker and any suggestion would appreciate.

Thank you!

Tetsushi

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@levelsio | 2yr 2yr

Best to book an Airbnb for first 2/3 nights, then drive around and find a place yourself. Many apartments have a VACANT sign. Although renting 3 weeks is quite short.

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@mrtkawa | 2yr 2yr

Thank you very much for your advice!
I wanted to stay longer but I have no clue of how this turns out and it may possible that i need to go back ;_;

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Experience with "Adobe Connect" in Bali/Ubud or Canggu?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @hg.weber_nomads | 3yr 3yr | 1 comment

Hello, is there anybody around with experience with “Adobe Connect” meetings?

We are thinking to move to Bali - Canggu or Ubud, however our business demands working with this Adobe platform. Our concern is if latency is good enough and connection stable to do the teaching job from Bali to European located Adobe Connect servers.

Thanks so much fore any hint on this.

You can test the connection quality with Adobe Connect from your location to different servers worldwide from this page - for Europe there is a UK-based server listed to test:

Thanks again!
Gunter

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@working_9to5 | 3yr 3yr

No experience with adobe connect, but I ran the test from the UK server, these are the results

it says LAN speed and:
BW Test Results: up=2382.9 kbit/s, latency=28 msec, down=605.2 kbit/s

This is from Canggu btw.

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What's the difference between Ubud and Canggu in Bali?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @edmoyse | 5yr 5yr | 4 comments

Hey nomads,

I’m hoping for some advice from people who’ve lived in Ubud or Canggu. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each place? If you’ve lived in both, which did you prefer and why? (e.g. surfing vs yoga, or varying WiFi availability, or better accommodation, or number of nomads)

Thanks!
Ed

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@poppyjikko | 5yr 5yr

Also, I like Canggu weather much more !

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@don_lee | 5yr 5yr

Most digital nomads prefer Ubud for some reason which I don’t understand. For me, it’s too boring & quiet there, and far from everything. Canggu has everything, rice fields, fancy villas, bars, clubs, restaurants, a coworking space, especially a beach, an amazing place to surf. About coworking spaces, Salty Volt is far much better than Hubud. It’s cheaper, open 24/7, fast internet, large space, plenty of desks, it has a swimming pool, 100m from the beach, restaurants and bars are around.

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@conni | 5yr 5yr

I lived in Ubud for 3+ months this year, spent on and off time in Canggu during that time. I just returned to Bali and am moving into a long-term rental house in Canggu.

My two cents:
I love Ubud. It has a great coworking space, Hubud, and a pretty established digital nomad/online entrepreneur community there.
I love the yoga and amazing healthy restaurant scene there. I’m a total hippie myself. So yeah, definitely an awesome place. And one, that needs a while to get to know, so as a tourist not as fun, but to live really great.

But: You are an hour scooter drive away from the beach and surf. It rains much more in Ubud in rainy season. Traffic is a bitch most of the time in town. And Canggu is just more chilled out. But it guess it’s a matter of preference. I dont think one is better than the other. You can also get a house outside of Ubud in the ricefields, where it’s quiet.

I find 3G and wifi in cafes etc better in Canggu too. Ubud is lagging a bit behind in that department, but Hubud has great speeds now.
There is a lot of yoga in Canggu now too, pleeenty. Awesome cafes and restaurants.
The online entrepreneur community is not quite properly established yet, but I would like to change that… there is a cool coworking space, Dojo Bali, which just took over Salty Volt. Let’s see what these guys are doing with the space, apparently they have big plans.

The way I will keep it from now on: Have a house in Canggu and then go to Ubud every other week or so.

Let me know if you have any further questions!

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@adventureinmyveins | 4yr 4yr

Thanks for the tips. Me and my girlfriend are planning to head to bali next year for a month or two (or however long is possible).
Is it relatively easy to get set up, like finding a villa/studio with internet and kitchen?

And in your honest opinion, how much do you think it costs per month, say, for a couple who don’t drink much, but would want to do things like yoga, co-working, and eating at cafes/restaurants/street food?

Thanks!

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Looking for mid-term accomodation in Canggu (±3 months)

in Canggu, Indonesia by @tvrhe | 5yr 5yr | 11 comments

Hi,

any tips, suggestions? It’s for Jan-2015 through March-2015.

I’m ideally looking for a nomad house-style type of setup, in which 4 or more digital nomads all live together in a nice, modern villa. But I’m not sure if there are too many of those around in Canggu.

Otherwise a private room+bathroom or private apt. for around $600-800 will be fine (depending on the speed of the Internet).

Any help or tips are more than welcome : )

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@adrienbetweets | 5yr 5yr

3G is pretty bad in Canggu.

I suspect this is due to the amount of people who now come here on holiday. The network probably was never built to support this amount of users.

Basically, the closer you get to the beach, the worst it gets. I was planning to work from home using the 3G but it was never very good. I had to go to some cafes/restaurants to use their wifi. Or just go to a cafe/restaurant that was in an area where the 3G was better.

The Nerdmanship Collective in Canggu seems like a pretty cool place to live. If anything, they will be able to help you figure things out I’m sure. https://web.facebook.com/theNerdmanshipCollective/

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@jnpkr | 5yr 5yr

3G/4G in Canggu is very much dependant on your location and it’s certainly not bad in all places

Obviously, if you want to pick an apartment to work from, make sure you do a speed test using 3G when you are there

First speed test I was literally sitting on Echo Beach the other day:

And here’s what’s possible from AquaBlu apartments using 4g where I stayed previously

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@adrienbetweets | 5yr 5yr

+1 for doing a speed test in potential apartments.

Regarding that:

Were you on Telkomsel mobile network?
I was using that Telkomsel as a mobile network provider & I suppose others could be better. Although it seems like it provides the best coverage across Indonesia, it does not mean it’s the best for Canggu!

3G/4G in Canggu is very much dependant on your location and it’s certainly not bad in all places

Too true! Batu Bulong beach was terrible for Telkomsel 3G, but Berawa area was much better if I remember correctly.

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@jnpkr | 5yr 5yr

Yeah those two speed tests are with Telkomsel

I’ve also got a couple of other sims from when I worked from home and had reasonable 3g speeds (~4meg) very consistently with Smartfren and Tri

Tri is the cheapest option around if you can find somewhere that has good signal

I found coverage for both Smartfren and Tri is crap in some areas so if you’re going to chose one sim, I’d go with Simpati (Telkomsel) as it has good coverage and 4g

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@jnpkr | 5yr 5yr

Depending where you stay mobile internet can be very good now. 4g speeds with Simpati are up to 30meg if you find somewhere with a good signal, which obviously opens up a lot more options rather than having to commit to a 12 month lease.

Arriving in wet season, you’ll probably have more leverage about monthly vs yearly rent anyway as the rental market will be slower.

Your budget will get you a nice private apartment if you want to go down that route. I’m currently staying in this place which includes 5meg internet and is monthly rental.

Facebook groups to look at include the following:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/345470402201472/?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1380848555535084/?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/231171780241689/?ref=ts&fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/746999628699757/?ref=ts&fref=ts

The Bali Budget Housing site also has some good options

There was also a guy in the Bali Digital Nomads FB group who has a villa and was keen to rent out to other Digital Nomads. I think this was the FB page.

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@ldarcy | 5yr 5yr

@jnpkr - how much is that place you’re staying at, if you don’t mind sharing the info? Also, those 5 meg - are they real (in speedtest/etc)?

Thanks for sharing it!

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@jnpkr | 5yr 5yr

It’s 8.5m IDR per month as I’m paying monthly rather than yearly

Internet was 4.9 meg when I checked earlier but it’s like any in Bali that isn’t completely reliable

Normally I find internet here is either fast or reliable but rarely both

The only option I’ve found for reliable and fast internet is Dojo coworking as they have 20 meg with a second redundant 20 meg connection

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@adrienbetweets | 5yr 5yr

There are many options for that type of accommodation. Many friends rent a room in a villa (usually with swimming pool) for around 500USD per month.

Renting a whole house might be more complicated though - i.e. pay for 12 months at once as Miles wrote.

Join those Canggu related Facebook groups. Canggu community Fb group: people share a lot of info on them & often put up ads for rooms. Acroyoga Canggu Bali: a cool activity with a nice community, if you’re interested in trying something new & meeting new people who could help you, then that’s for you.

Btw, Ubud is a much better place to be a digital nomad.
I was in Canggu for a month or so, internet is slow, the DN community is tiny & it’s full of temptations/distractions (parties & short term “excited” crowd).
In Ubud you will meet much more nomads, have better internet & less temptations (less party & more relaxed atmosphere). No surfing in Ubud though! Just my 2 cents

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@ashishexponential | 5yr 5yr

@Miles ya, I wish I was staying here for a year, then I could get my own fast internet at a yearly rental.

Since I am not, airbnb and Facebook are the only options looking for accommodation. Filtering places for good internet on airbnb is a pain! They really need to a add a parameter in search for speed (They could get hosts to do speed tests regularly to verify speed)

@AdrienBe The community in canggu is growing. There is a co-working space here now, that is usually as crowded as Hubud nowadays, which is starting to get annoying! So the co-working space side of it is covered. Internet at houses is still troublesome. Luckily, I have found one with 4mbps until end of this month, then back to hunting again.

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@miles | 5yr 5yr

There are several Facebook groups for Bali villas for rent…

Also a lively community there… Was at a meetup there about 3 months ago . It was great!

AirBnB is how I found my place…

Btw if you want a great deal, you need to be ready to pay for 12 months at once. That’s how they roll…

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@ashishexponential | 5yr 5yr

I would love to join you in such a house. So let me know if you find one and need another housemate. I have been in Bali since September and need a new place since Jan. I will be here until March too.

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Any fast internet spots in Canggu or Ubud, Bali?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @mark_nagelmann | 6yr 6yr | 5 comments

Looking for a connection I can work from, 2+mb/s would be awesome! Just leaving Seminyak, Bali and heading north to Canggu. I’m desparate for good internet so I can get some work done. I’m a programmer and need to download/upload ~200mb files on the reg. If you have any fast internet spots near Canggu or Ubud, you’d be helping a nomad out!

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@don_lee | 5yr 5yr

Currently working everyday in Salty Volt, it’s the best co-working space I’ve ever been to.

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@adrienbetweets | 5yr 5yr

Just came the across the exact same issue, here is an answer on StackExchange with a list of resources I found on this topic.

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@mike2381 | 6yr 6yr

try http://saltyvolt.com/ coworking in canggu.
I made a map

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@kmander | 6yr 6yr

Numerous. Ubud: Hubud, Atman, Kismet, Telkom Office.

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@richlitt | 6yr 6yr

Check out Hubud, if you haven’t already. hubud.org

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Best place in South East Asia to live for 6+ months per year

in Indonesia by @miklaskroager | 3mo 3mo | 1 comment

We're looking for a country in South East Asia that can function as our base, mainly for tax purposes. Meaning it will have to be a place where we can stay for the 183 days required without too much hassle.

We've been looking at Thailand, but have heard that it's very hard to do visa runs etc., so what other can you recommend? Indonesia looked like a good option, but the income rate is a flat 20% and very high for the region.

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@levelsio | 2mo 2mo

Here's a selection: nomadlist.com/places-in-asia-with-low-tax

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How to find a place to rent in Canggu for short-term?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @mrtkawa | 2yr 2yr | 2 comments

Hi ,

I will be staying in Canggu for approx. 3 weeks but still I havent found the place to stay yet.
I will be arriving on 5/19 and thinking of doing house search for first few days in Canggu.

If you know any good place around Canggu for short housing I would appreciate your advice!

Its my first time being nomad worker and any suggestion would appreciate.

Thank you!

Tetsushi

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@levelsio | 2yr 2yr

Best to book an Airbnb for first 2/3 nights, then drive around and find a place yourself. Many apartments have a VACANT sign. Although renting 3 weeks is quite short.

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@mrtkawa | 2yr 2yr

Thank you very much for your advice!
I wanted to stay longer but I have no clue of how this turns out and it may possible that i need to go back ;_;

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What vaccinations should I get traveling from US to Indonesia?

in Indonesia by @metamas | 3yr 3yr | 5 comments

What are the vaccinations I should get traveling from US to Indonesia? I read the CDC suggstions, but I’m curious on more anecdotal knowledge from experienced travelers to Indonesia.

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@pashley | 3yr 3yr

I’d say Hep A & B and tetanus were essential anywhere in Asia. There is now a vaccine for Dengue fever, available in Indonesia & worth considering.
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Dengue_fever#Vaccine

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@natalie1 | 3yr 3yr

I lived in Ubud for over a year and got no vaccines except Hep A and tetanus.
I got bitten by a dog there, very severe bite. It was my friend’s dog, so I knew it wasn’t rabid, however, no hospital would admit me for treatment until I got a rabies vaccine.
They run out of rabies vaccines on the island at times, but luckily they had it. I needed 3-4 in a row for possible post-exposure. I didn’t want to get it, but i had to.

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@jb510 | 3yr 3yr

Really depends on when and where you’re planning to go in Indonesia.

IMHO, the CDC and Travel Health clinic suggestions tend to be over cautious for most travelers. I think they’re written as if everyone is going to do aid work in some far off jungle village.

Routine + Hepatitis A & B + Typhoid and you’re good almost everywhere globally…

Note: the reason to get Hep B, is because if you end up in a local hospital (this is a a risk globally), plus it’s cheap and free of major side effects.

Japanese Encephalitis - Not unless you’re going somewhere rural where to JE is actively prevalent (ie. somewhere very rural…) .

Regardless of JE, take precautions against mosquitos… because there is also Dengue & Malaria…

However personally… forums are the last source I would trust on this topic… go talk to an actual doctor

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@jb510 | 3yr 3yr

Oh… and I wouldn’t do Rabies vaccine personally, but in Bali, there is a reasonable risk of Rabies from dogs and MONKEYS…

Just be aware that the rabies vaccine isn’t preventative, it just makes treatment for a possible infection easier/less severe. That’s why it’s great if you’re somewhere rural and can’t quickly get to treatment… but if you’re in Bali where you can get to a major hospital and start treatment in an hour it’s not really needed.

Oh… and I heard something about a newer JE vaccine, but as of a year or two ago, I think it was only available in Indonesia and only being given to children… but that’s why you should talk to an actual travel medicine doctor… these things do change over time.

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@jimdabell | 3yr 3yr

If you’re thinking about heading to Bali, definitely get the rabies vaccine. The island has a rabies problem, there are a lot of aggressive stray dogs, and the island isn’t well equipped to deal with it.

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Experience with "Adobe Connect" in Bali/Ubud or Canggu?

in Canggu, Indonesia by @hg.weber_nomads | 3yr 3yr | 1 comment

Hello, is there anybody around with experience with “Adobe Connect” meetings?

Thanks so much fore any hint on this.

You can test the connection quality with Adobe Connect from your location to different servers worldwide from this page - for Europe there is a UK-based server listed to test:

Thanks again!
Gunter

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@working_9to5 | 3yr 3yr

No experience with adobe connect, but I ran the test from the UK server, these are the results

it says LAN speed and:
BW Test Results: up=2382.9 kbit/s, latency=28 msec, down=605.2 kbit/s

This is from Canggu btw.

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How much is scooter hire in Ubud?

in Ubud, Indonesia by @jameswander | 3yr 3yr | 3 comments

Hi,

How much should I expect to pay for scooter hire in Ubud?

Thanks,
James

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@codam | 3yr 3yr

Around $60-$70 / month

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@luigi | 3yr 3yr

Hi,
Between 40’000 and 50’000 IDR per day, depending on how long you rent it for.

Luigi

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@kmander | 3yr 3yr

Around 50k/day if a short amount of time and 600k/month if longer term. A new scooter costs ~16m, so you can use that as a basline to think about costs.

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Post review

To increase honesty, reviews are anonymous. You can only add one review per city or it replaces/edits your old one. Reviews with URLs or emails are removed. If you're writing about data being wrong, please don't do it here as it'll be removed but leave feedback in the bottom right of the frontpage.

Bali is amazing, but Canggu isn't really that great -- actually there are SO MANY better places, like Uluwatu, Gili Islands or even Ubud that I can't understand the hype. As almost everyone said below, beaches are crappy, roads are terrible, sidewalks are non-existent and having a motorbike is a must. On the other side, food is great and cafes are pretty reasonable with all those incredible bowls. Anyway I wouldn't recommend it for more than a week.

3 months ago

Spent a few weeks in Canggu and couldn't wait to leave. Packed with hipster wannabees and douchebag surfers mixed with a few pretentious dropshipppers and the like. Roads are terrible with not lights at night and both locals and foreigners drive like crazy. Beach is pretty crap compared to say Thailand or Philippines. Local food it not very good and the hipster cafes etc are way overpriced. With so many beautiful placed in the world why anyone would spend time in Canggu is beyond me.

I've been here for 5 months and have mixed feelings about Canggu.
Weather: Since rainy season let up the weather has been exceptional. Sunny and warm with a nice breeze. I can’t say enough about how dreamy the weather is here.
Food: Food scene is fabulous. You can get like high quality food of all kinds for well under $10. Local food will run you maybe $2 if you stack your plate high. The food is a major selling point, especially in Canggu. Also, with the covid situation, GoJek and Grab have been really nice to have as the delivery prices are low.

Coworking: (sigh) I tried one coworking place, and decided my guesthouse had good enough wifi for me to work at. Plus the cafe culture here is unreal so there’s always fun places to work. BUT if I’m paying $150/month for a workspace, why isn’t the entire place temperature controlled? It is nearly 40 degrees with the heat index almost every single day here and they put fans up in a closed building? Too hot for me and too hot for my laptop! So I don’t have a great review for coworking but the speed at my guesthouse and coffee shops worked just fine.

Accommodation: I stayed at at a small guesthouse about 10 minutes inland from Echo beach. It’s cheap, but fine. Usually, the further inland, the cheaper. My only gripe is they don’t clean well, and I’ve developed an indoor dust and dander allergy since coming here. I just spend most of my time outside now, but not ideal. If I were to do it over again, I’d find a brand new place to live in. The cleaning standards are very low in bali so keep an eye out when you look at places to rent.

Availability of “home” comforts: For being a small island in the middle of the ocean, you can find pretty much anything in Canggu. You can also order stuff online from Lazada and Tokopedia. I found it really easy to find some western comforts if I really needed them.

Traffic:(another sigh) Traffic is dizzying at best. Driving a motorbike is fun for the adrenaline junkie in me and if you haven’t been in a motorbike accident before, the odds are high you’ll be in one here. If you’re in Canggu, keep Siloham Medical Center as a saved place in your google maps in case, they take really good care of people. Also, the pollution is absolutely awful. So even without covid I began wearing a mask.

Vibe: There’s good people everywhere and I’ve made friends easily as there are tons of digital nomads and just generally alot of people here. Overall though, if you’re not a trustafarian or like real into looking cool on social media, Canggu is not for you my friend. The vibe of the place is just really manufactured. Gili Islands are just a few hours out and Lombok as well, so there’s places to get away.

With all of this said, I likely won’t be back. I adore South East Asia and have traveled it extensively but Canggu just is not for me.

4 months ago

I don't know why everybody is so mad about Bali. There are a lot of good points here. But there are also many issues: traffic is terrible, Internet is slow, good property and healthy food is not so cheap, local governments are corrupt and will try to charge you for any small thing! Сustoms was very rude and searched me at the airport for 2 hours without even telling me a reason!

The center of nomads in the world right now. Amazing food, great cafes and pool parties. A mix of internet entrepreneurs, Instagram models and influencers living in poolside villas. This isn't a place to go for local and authentic, it's not that but that's okay in the case of Canggu, it's something else.

Way too overrated hipster central/instagram influencers ghetto.
Probably it was good 10 years ago, but once everyone and their dog is talking about a place, then it is usually time to leave.
Not my cup of rice all in all.

7 months ago

Spent 2 weeks here. Liked Ubud better, but if you're more of a surfer, you'll like it here, although it's a bit crowded (in terms of nomads) at this point. Food is good and cheap and so is accommodation.

8 months ago

It's a cool place to stay for a while, get to know people at Dojo or Tropical Nomad, work a bit, eat some good food. But it is not relaxing at all. Noisy, dirty, hot, humid. The beach is also not super beautiful or clean. If you don't surf, or are not into beach bars and party, there is not much for you there. Loved to wake up really early when the air was a bit fresher and fewer people on the streets: that was my favorite Canggu, but that is not what Canggu really is. After one month I was ready to leave.

Cons:

- Beaches are filthy
- Oppressively hot (except June-Sep)
- Unsanitary for such a popular tourist destination
- Congested traffic, small roads, constant scooter noise

Pros:
- Amazing health and wellness community
- Great healthy vegan food options
- Amazing networking. Nomad community is always #1 or #2 on Nomadlist
- Some of the best gyms in the world all within 2x2 square km

Personally I hated it. Being somewhat of a SEA vet, I found it crowded, over touristed, expensive and with too many annoying hipsters. You can't walk ten feet without a scooter blocking your path and a red eyed local going "Taxi?" Literally every ten feet in Semniyak. Canggu maybe isn't so bad, but still the traffic is annoying. The roads are super small and traffic is horrible. If you're into walking places, Canngu isn't for you. You'll get run over. So either drive a scooter or get used to dealing with the taxi mafia. There's a war between them and ride hailing apps at the moment. So when you call a grab, after he drops you off there's a chance he'll be beaten to death. But this is normal around the world at the moment, for less affluent countries anyway.

Pros? It's beautiful. Lots of stuff to see and do. Unfortunately you'll be charged money for literally everything, including walking through rice paddies. The landscapes, the architecture. I know Bali is a big island with a lot to do. You can rent a villa for $1200 usd a month and live like a drug dealer with your own indoor swimming pool. So gather four nomads and have your own gated compound. Lots of nightlife, clubs, if you're into that stuff. I'm not. For parties I'd rather go to a beach place with hippies in Thailand. The local food is good, the tourist food is amazing if you're willing to pay western prices. But the quality is very high. Overall it's not an expensive place, but it can be.

I know Bali is a huge island but I'm just referring to Canggu. It's just to westernized for me. Too crowded with westerners. But if you want to go meet nomads and do western priced fitness, meditation and yoga classes it's the place to be. Plus the beaches are super polluted. Argh. I couldn't wait to leave. I doubt I'll be back soon. But if I do I'm definitely renting a villa and learning to surf.

Cool place to do business. But not a place I'd want to live for long. Maybe I'll give it another chance one day.

1 year ago

Excellent place to start your nomadic life, very very easy living here. For example, having your laundry washed and folded for you is about $3 USD, eating out very healthy about $6-7 USD, and co-working spaces about $120 USD. It has been a very soft landing for starting this lifestyle.

+ startup event, good food, a lot of gyms, party, - pollution, and each year more expensive

Oppressively hot. Actually hard to find Balinesian food. There is a lot of overpriced, average, western, hipster food. People are incredibly kind and the Balinesian food is great when you can find it. The roads are ridiculously crowded while a lot of the restaurants, bars, and clubs were less than 30% full. Kind of sad for local business owners. Surrounding area is beautiful and relatively accessible. Aside from western food & beverage lodging, food and beverage can be very cost effective. Other parts of the island are better for experiencing the Balinesian life, but it is more of a challenge to mix socially with local people here than other places as most people work in service industries or agriculture. It is what it is. In the end, if you like oppressive heat & humidity, western millennial cuisine, crowded roads, and a small beach, this may be your place.

There are definitely much better places for digital nomads. Been in Canggu for 2 months (2019) and its turning into another Kuta since there are so many tourists and its not even high season yet. Something like Ibiza in Europe. Also Internet is NOT stable. Rented a place with 40 mbit but it was on 5 most of the time. Even the coworking spaces are not always stable although you are looking at 15 usd or more to pay there for a day. This is more a party holiday place now. Lots of rich kids aka trustafarians. Food can be quite expensive too. Many places you will easily spend 7 usd for a breakfast. Alc is expensive here too compare to most of SE Asia. Not sure how somebody can say this is the number one spot. All in all happy to leave.

The review that begins "Canggu is great. Here's some pointers you need to know before going:" is exactly 100% spot-on except... its not great. Motorbikes are dangerous and there are so many incredibly dangerous tourists on motorbikes either showing off on overpowered bikes or not knowing what they're doing and crashing. I've been crashes and near-misses almost every day. Had someone crash into me just yesterday. Walking is impossible and incredibly dangerous. Its not worth your life to be in a place with filthy beaches, filthy streets and incredible noise pollution from clubs and made-to-be-loud motorbikes. There are some incredibly, incredibly hot Western women but I don't like living like a colonialist. I've never seen an Indonesian in the same restaurant or pool or anything as me. That's creepy. If you miss The Raj, then its probably great for you but I like living among the local people. Not them being only servants with nothing about the place left to enjoy themselves.

Canggu is the best amongst other SE Asian area for chilling and working remotely.

Canggu is great. Here's some pointers you need to know before going:

1) You HAVE TO to drive a motorbike/scooter. Canggu has no sidewalks and walking on the road is very dangerous. If you ride a bicycle you're also just endangering yourself. Drive a bike. Traffic isn't necessarily safe. But if you drive 30km/h you'll be OK. Don't drink and drive, most ppl die because of that.

2) Yes it's very Western. Canggu is essentially a 2-by-2 km resort full of expats, foreigners, nomads and tourists. Locals staff the restaurants, bars and coworkings. It's not unlike a resort in Mexico in that way. Good? I don't know, but it's how it is.

3) Canggu has some of the best international food you can imagine. Italian chefs making Michelin-level food. Amazing pizzas at Crust for $5. Japanese sushi and ramen. Many chefs left their home countries to live in Bali and opened up restaurants here.

4) Canggu nightlife is improving fast. It used to be only Old Man's and then a party on the beach with the same Spotify pop playlist every night. But now we're seeing techno clubs like Volt and many more open. Very good.

5) Traffic is really annoying. There's just too many loud dangerous motorbikes and scooters on too narrow roads driving too fast. And often a giant car clogging everything up in there too. Canggu will kill itself if it doesn't fix this. Canggu needs a ban on petrol bikes, only allow electric bikes, set speed limits that are enforced and promote bicycle usage. Cars should be banned altogether, it's just too small for it.

But apart from that it really is one of the most ideal places to be now. I think what I like most is the people that Canggu attracts. It's creatives and entrepreneurs mostly.

Visit it, get a bike and explore Canggu. Stay for at least a few weeks before judging it. It's not the easiest place to start off and that's purposely to keep the noobs out. Enjoy!

Canggu is a hipster paradise with a vast digital nomade community, health foods, and fitness. Want to be a tourist? Go to Kuta or Seminyak. Want to surf? Go to Uluwatu. Want yoga and fasting retreats? Go to Ubud. Want to be part of a community that lives and breaths for arts, entreprenureal ideas, and a lifestyle of hitting the health foods, secret beach spots, and soul searching? Canggu is the place. Many westerners have settled here, and prices can reflect this unless you take the time to pinpoint the local warungs and guest houses. Not family friendly. CrossFit scene is epic.

Shittiest European Clique

Waves are shit, water is dirty and there's like a thousand kooks from Europe on longboards in the water fighting for that occasional 1ft mushy wave.
Better off going to Uluwatu or Padang for real waves.
Indonesia got some of the worlds best waves, but Canggu shouldn't even be regarded as a surf spot.

I have been there only one time but it was really chilly

This is really great place to be as a digital nomad. It's not insanely Thailand/Laos cheap however if you're a bit older, 30+ and have a moderately successful business its a steal. If you've done Thailand, Laos, Vietnam etc and want a professional alternative to a backpacker lifestyle then Bali is for you. Internet is great. Food is insanely good, people are very nice- expats + locals. Really glad I found this place. Dojo has awesome wifi :)

Dirty beaches, though I heard it's different depending on the time of year. Good food, lots of vegan/veg/clean options. No swimming at all, but good surfing. More expensive than I expected.

I think Canggu is a good place for working remotely.
The good points are that it is cheap to eat healthy and sleep in nice places, if you are acting ok with the balineses and majority of people living in Canggu, you will find them really nice. You can surf, hike, drive motorbike in beautiful rices fields. You might want to find peace and (for exemple) interest yourself in the meditation stuff or you can party like.. a lot !
For Digital Nomading aspects: There is a lot of coworking/coliving spaces and digital nomads to meet and discuss with around the island.
For Safety: Driving in motorbike can be tricky and dangerous in Bali but it might be the first option you'll have if you stay there (or you take motorbike-taxi everytime). BE SURE TO STAY SAFE AND INSURED - Eat in places you trust
Consider: The island just had a touristic boom in the last years and the authenticity of the island might not be preserved at this rythm. Take care of Bali if you visit it.

Vastly overrated. Infrastructure is bad, not densely populated so dating is difficult. Roads are too narrow and congested. The Internet is pathetic. Expensive beer taxed by the Muslim regime and every bill has 20% tax. Amazed this place can be so well regarded. Thailand and Vietnam are far better in SE Asia for everything. Would rather rough it in Cambodia than stay here.

I don't know why this place is ranked so high. It is not cheap, not safe, the internet is craptastic, and the beaches are filthy.

Watch out for the bag snatchers at night, it never happened to me but I've heard some stories. Better to just wear a backpack, because they won't try to snatch that.

2 years ago

What started out as a fishing village with just a few shacks on the beach became a surfer's hotspot around 2005. Surfers would stay in Seminyak and drive north to Canggu's Echo Beach to catch waves. Around 2008, there was the first remote working nomads arriving. Mostly Eastern European and Russian programmers who'd work from Canggu's then few cafes.

After the digital nomad explosion of 2014, many nomads sprawled to Bali and settled down in Ubud. Meanwhile in Canggu, the first coworking space there opened called Salty Volt. It didn't manage to attract many people though and finally closed down. Canggu just wasn't ready yet, with only a few cafes and restaurants, and well, people. It took 2 years for Canggu to get back on the radar and when Ubud's coworking spaces and cafes started getting crowded in 2016, people started mentioning Canggu again. In those 2 years, the Salty Volt had now become Dojo, had a new owner, there was now lots of hip cafes, restaurants with European chefs, and the vibe in Canggu was now a more ambitious and fashionable version of Ubud.

Where Ubud was for hippies, Canggu was for hipsters.

From 2016 on, every year more and more people started to move to Canggu. In late 2017, it became so popular with nomads that for the first time Dojo had to deny new memberships. At the same time, it started becoming a hotspot for Instagrammers, who'd rent luxury villas with flamingo floats and snap pictures. In turn, this started attracting more tourists and have now made Canggu the most popular spot in Bali for nomads. For now, at least.

⭐️ Overall Score	4.58/5 266 reviews
🎒 Nomad Score™	4.58/5
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,261 / mo
📡 Internet	🏎 Fast: 19Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 30°C85°F (feels 37°C99°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 77%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Great: 33 US AQI
👌 Safety	Great
🎓 Education level	Okay
❤️ Liked by members	👍45 likes vs. 👎10 dislikes
🙊 English speaking	Good
😤 People density	🧘‍♀️ Low density: 8k ppl/km² (11x11m)
🚶 Walkability	Okay
✌️ Peace	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety	Bad
🏥 Healthcare	Bad
😄 Happiness	Okay
🍸 Nightlife	Good
📶 Free WiFi in city	Good
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech	Okay
🤚🏿🤚🏻 Racial tolerance	Good
👩 Female friendly	Good
🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly	Good
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Region	Asia
🚩 Country	Indonesia
⏱ Average trip duration	28 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	19 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌥 30°C 85°F + Humid (77%) = feels 37°C 99°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 33 US AQI 🍃 good
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🧔 Best neighborhood to stay	Berawa
🚀 Upcoming neighborhood	Batu Belig
🚕 Best taxi app (in country)	GoJEK
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
📱 Best wireless carrier	XL
💸 100,000 IDR in USD	USD 6.74
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	IDR 1,000,000 = USD 67
💸 Tipping	No
💳 Cashless society	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best coworking space	Dojo
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Tropical Nomad
☕️ Best coffee place	Satu Satu
☕️ Best alt. coffee place	Hungry Bird
🚰 Safe tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
♻️ Return rate	17% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	6,238,300 visitors
📸 Tourists now	119,557 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	30,000 people
😤 Population density	🤨 busy: 11x11m (121m²) per person
⛪️ Religious government	Religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Tokopedia
🏠 Apartment listings	Airbnb
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Air Asia
🏥 Best hospital	BIMC Hospital
Skimming of bank cards is rampant in Bali ATM's, only use ATMs inside bank offices. Watch out for cheap fake alcohol (like Absolut) being served which may be mixed with methanol and be poisonous. Bintang beer is generally okay.

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,261 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$828 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$1,632 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$466 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$337 / month
🏢 Coworking	$236 / month
🏨 Hotel	$458 / month
🏨 Hotel	$21 / night
🏠 Airbnb (1,001 listings)	$1,419 / month
🏠 Airbnb	$47 / night
🍛 Dinner	$3
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$0
🍺 Beer (0.5L)	$2
☕️ Coffee	$2

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