Canggu, Bali

We used to live in Canggu back in 2017, it felt back then like the perfect balance between western development and local culture. You used to have enough cafés and restaurants and stays were mainly affordable villas.

Coming back in 2023 I have to say this place is unrecognizable. Only now I realize how much damage influencers did to Canggu, telling everyone to come here and invest and overdevelop with little to no regard to the local culture. Also the pandemic played its part, you used to need to make a life changing decision like quitting your job or becoming an entrepreneur in order to live here, this was great because everyone you met was on a similar path and it felt like a community of something unique. Now the guy next to you probably works in H.R. for a multinational company and most likely has a salary in Singapore or in Europe, that's why they easily pay $2.500 for a dirty old one bedroom villa. Seems like a really good deal to them.

Now Canggu feels more like Kuta. Only today, me and my wife had to seat next to a disgusting couple who was shouting at the balinese waitress for getting their order wrong. Bringing the worst part of their cultures here, forgetting that that bitterness and stiffness in life is what got them to leave their developed countries in their first place but they only imported that energy to Bali.

It's overwhelming because it feels like some of the amazing Canggu energy is still alive but then on the little day to day things you cannot deny it any longer, the dream place that Canggu was is long gone, only to be replaced by an overhyped, overdeveloped, overpriced place with growing bad taste.

The plan was to live here again but we decided to stay for a month and leave.

Stayed on month. Is great for remote gigs (caffe are better than european counterparts, clean, big etc.) but really busy. No walking area, no shopping mall (in APAC they are life saving thanks to AC). Food poisoning is quite common and come heavy. I think 1-3 months is the maximum stay, for longer period I would suggest somewhere less party-oriented.

That notice is horrible wrong.
Most long term expats are rather on the way out than in. Canggu became the party hotspot over the years,
but though the tourists brought a lot of money, the infrastructure was never upgraded.
Prices are raised to western level for rent, but the quality is not up to.
Pollution is a huge topic, weather it`s air quality - the dumpsite is burning now since 2 weeks - the trash (there`s no system), sound, light or water.

If there`s a place that describes overtourism, it`s Bali - from Kuta to Canggu.

Good for a short trip or vacation but not for staying here long-term. I've mainly stayed in Bali since 2018 (until today 2023) but it is too terrible to stay here any longer. I don't know anyone who prefers Indonesia for long-term stays, most have went on to better places.

1. The air pollution is terrible in Bali.
2. The sound pollution is terrible. I cannot imagine the low level of intelligence one must have to decide to put an alarm on an electric meter that not only alerts the owner but everyone within a 60 meter radius.
3. Loud motorbikes.
4. It is impossible to walk down the sidewalk, street, nearly anywhere without being harassed. Locals are constantly asking if you want "transport", "motorbike". "Yes, you want transport. Where you go?"
5. The international airport is stocked full of depraved men in traditional dresses harassing people as soon as they arrive, asking "where you go." "You need taxi?"
6. Dogs. Dogs run freely everywhere and some are quite vicious and aggressive. I stayed in one area in Legian for a few months and I could not leave my place at night on foot. I could only ride a bike, FAST, or hire transportation. A friend of mine was bit by a dog, which caused us to cancel our travel plans because he had to get rabies shots. I'm glad we cancelled our plans because I wouldn't want to spend more money is this shit hole.

It is something important to mention that if you rent a villa longer term, say 1-2 years, the maintenance will be at your expense. By that I mean if you have mold, it's on you to fix it, if your kitchen cabinets fall apart, it's on you, if termites damage the structure of your house, it's on you, if it floods and submerges your living room,
it's on you. You either fix it and pay yourself or you move and do not get your rent back. The landlords will never ever pay for any renovations, any repairs, and will forever push the responsibility on to you.

I think the investment proprety scheme should be addressed here (it's one of many...) Owners give their empty land for leasehold, 5-10-15 years. They have foreigners build their house/restaurant/store on it, assuring them that when the lease is up, they will be able to renew it without any issue. However, landlords don't have any loyalty and when the lease ends, either refuse to renew or increase the rent of 500%, forcing the tenant to abandon their house. The land owners suddenly own both the land and beautiful villas.

It has become expensive but still a great place to be. Great place to practice your Indonesian too as everyone is generally friendly and speaks slower than in Jakarta

Heard so many good things about Bali in general and Canggu - none of it applies anymore. I'm not exaggerating when I say the traffic is the worst I've ever seen - the traffic in Canggu and Seminyak is worse than Bangkok, Hanoi, and New York City combined. I have no idea why this is the #1 travel destination for nomads, it should be at the bottom of the list for how over-commercialized and jammed full of tourists this place is. Shoddy construction everywhere, most of the restaurants are western or cater to westerners, and Canggu overall just feels like a generic tourist destination with nothing interesting setting it apart from other places.

It's too busy, too loud, too full of extremely irritating Russian influencers. The designer villas LOOK great, but then the details are all broken. For example, the ACs don't cool below 25'C and it's full of mould. When you ask to fix it doesn't get fixed. And that's kinda exemplary of everything. Canggu is like a movie set, but if you look behind the stage walls it's a dysfunctional mess. And in a way it's worse than it's ever been because of its popularity. The dysfunctional mess used to be cheap for $500/mo. Now it's $5,000/mo with worse quality. Canggu DOES have its moments though, you might enter an amazingly beautifully decorated restaurant with amazing food at times. But it's just that the range goes from the best in the world to the worst in the world and this volatility of quality of life gets stressful even if you live here for a long time. I think Canggu had its time in 2017 but it's completely dead to me now.

Just returned to Europe from spending three weeks in Canggu and I can definitely not recommend it. It has changed a lot from the past but to sum it up here are some points:

Pros:
- high level of convenience
- lots of places to eat (for vegans too)
- plenty to do

Cons
- hygiene is bad
- crowded as fuck
- polluted as hell (air quality is bad)

Wouldn't recommend coming here for longer. If you want to see, spend a couple of days here but explore other parts of Bali to get the chill vibe and some relaxation.

Travel warnings should immediately be issued for Bali by developed countries for the random doxxing, deportation, and arrest of foreigners.

I lived in Bali for more than two years and recently left. I watched the island and people go from having nearly zero tourists during COVID to now being quite anti-foreigner. Now, you may not know that this is happening unless you are paying attention, but there is a massive anti-foreigner movement happening among the Balinese and Indonesians as a whole. They are doxxing random people and are increasingly wanted to ban and catch working from Bali. I predict this angry energy will increase. The leader of this wacky nationalist and backwards movement is Niluh Djelantik who nearly won the governorship recently. Over half a million locals follow this woman on both Instagram and Facebook. That is a massive following for a small island with very low population, and the woman constantly spews hate for foreigners. Now, much of this will remain hidden from most visitors since locals hide everything behind a fake smile, including their own corruption. However, the sentiments are real and dangerous. If you don't believe me, check out her pages to see and click translate on the hateful messages. This is now the norm for Bali, even though most are cowards and wouldn't be honest with you. I will never return to Bali. It is not what it once was. And why should anyone go to backwards Bali when they could go to any number of Southeast Asian places that are more progressive and friendly? In Thailand, for example, you can smoke weed completely legally. In Bali, it means immediate prison time and possibly even a life sentence or execution for any form of drugs. It is clear that other Southeast Asian countries have won the tourist market for the future. Bali is now a has been. Don't fall into the trap of buying into the edited, filtered, and carefully crafted pretentious influencer photographs of Bali. The real Bali is a hell these days. It used to not be. But things change, folks. Things change.

Not to mention, the expat population of Bali has a really pretentious vibe these days. It's not a chill and down-to-earth place like other Southeast Asian places.

Avoid it.

Really hard to get a decent price for accomodation. Prices are riddiculous as for Indonesian standards and how much locals earn. New restaurants and buildings popping up taking away rice fields. More and more traffic jams and congestion. Too much influencers vs. too little vibe of authentic Balinese culture.

Gone downhill massively since re-opening in late 2022 post covid. Whilst I've been here since 2017 and experienced most of the pros and cons since day 1, the last 6 months have been nothing other than ridiculous. non-stop construction noise, party noise, and traffic (many routes now take 20-30 minutes instead of the 5 minutes they would have taken before). Rental prices increasing by 300-500% overnight, and availability becoming non-existent.

What can I say that hasn't already been said? Canggu has so much energy and excitement. I think that's partly due to the cost of living plus the weather. People are very nice here but expect general life for the locals to revolve around tourism. You're not going to get an authentic Indonesian cultural experience. It's definitely not perfect and not an easy place to live but considering how cheap it is what can you expect? I think the pros outweigh the cons and cons are plentiful (dirty, cash society, scams, busy vs gorgeous weather, great expat/dm community, cheap, lots to see/eat/do). Did I mention it's cheap??

Stayed in Canggu, Kuta and Uluwatu. This is for Canggu - where I spent 3.5 months in.
Bali is a strange bubble with tech nomads, instagram/tiktok influencers, life coaches and people escaping or seeking something in life. You don't realise how distorted the place is until you leave it (after staying a while) and experience more normalcy elsewhere. No other part of Indonesia is like this at all - this is purely a tourist construct and not all parts of Bali is like Canggu itself. Before this high season (end 2022), rent prices were gradually creeping up, but it got to a point where it's more expensive than other cities in Australia and Europe itself. You can expect to eat out a lot and not cook, especially when a main dish starts from about ~US$3-4. On average, I spent ~US$17 a day on food (not including alcohol and other entertainment).

There are endless options to eat out, mostly western and cafe-style menus, but as my friends and I found out - there is no amazing food around. You'll get good tasty food easily, but I would not describe it as a place for proper foodies on some epicurean quest. Lots of vegan, vegetarian restaurants and options in most places. I started to miss really good food after 5+ months in Bali. A bigger problem with living in Bali (anything more than a month) is that hygiene standards are... not quite up to par. Even eating at well-rated restaurants, drinking only bottled water, avoiding seafood entirely, etc etc, you still get struck with stomach upsets, food poisoning, AKA Bali Belly, or worse - some parasites in your digestive tract. Regularly. I thought I was immune to it but after a few months I finally experienced what other people went through often.

Most beaches are dirty when/after it rains, and there's just so much thrash, debris and dog poo around. You would likely not want to ingest any seawater - bacteria levels get very high. I was stubborn and continued to surf during/after rain, but looking back, I saw that it put my body through unnecessary stress and my health was not as good overall (add this on top of questionable food hygiene standards + water supply is not potable).

Surfing can get crowded - your gripe wouldn't be the lack of waves, it'll be the number of new people learning to surf all the time. If you're a surfer, better to buy your board in Bali itself. Lots of nice boards get cycled as tourists leave the country and don't plan to take it with them.

Getting around is usually by motorbike or goJek/Grab car. Any place will rent you a bike, whether you have a licence or not. The same is true for OTHER eager, clueless tourists. Basically, you can assume that >85% of the foreigners on bikes there do not have an actual bike license and many of them have their first motorbike experiences here in Bali itself. Just be careful. It's not always posted online, but there are real stories of people who got hit by drunk riders - we made friends with locals and 3 of them have been in collisions with drunk bules (white foreigners) who drank and decided to ride home at night anyways. 2 of them have lasting injuries. It's something we all imagine "would not happen to us", but when it does, good luck to you. Without a proper motorbike licence back home + IDP, your insurance will likely f**k you over and not cover your medical treatment. Traffic is hectic and it is bad mainly because there are show-offs, idiots who speed and overtake dangerously, and well, just people who don't know how to ride a bike. I've been through worse traffic in other parts of South East Asia, but there, locals aren't egoistic and don't endanger themselves or others.

Would I go back to Bali again? Yes, for the surfing and the busy vibes. It tires you out after a while though. Canggu seemed like the place to be when I was there in mid 2022, but I left for Thailand and Europe, and I was frankly surprised by how pleasant other cities are to actually live in. If there wasn't surf in Bali, I would not go back without good reason. You will easily find better choices. Bali just has a lot of influencers posting edited photos and videos, it gets a lot of hype, but there's not much to do there except visit some temples, waterfalls, dive, surf, watch sunsets and party. If the price point is right for you though - then it can be fun.

Canggu is a busy but safe tourist destination. I have found the people here to be kind and generous, and the visitor service staff will generally know 3 languages (English, Balinese & Bhasa Indonesian). You'll still see hints of the rice-paddy village that it once was behind the fancy new hotels and developments, but have no doubt this bustling city of30,000 residents (and possibly 90,000 tourists) is not going back. If it's solitude you seek, there are plenty of other Bali destinations, some quite nearby: Canggu is not representative of the whole of the Island. A typical local will earn 125k IDR a day, which right now equals about $7US, but you'll spend that on just one meal here, so have some compassion when dealing with them, it's been a hard pandemic on everyone and most of them are just a "worker bees" who are trying to feed their family. As with any tourist city around the world, beware of touts and be aware of your surroundings. There are some amazing restaurants with talented chefs that await you. As with most Digital Nomad locations, book a room for a few days and search for a longer-term location in person. There are people who truly love Canggu, and there are the haters: vote with your feet.

It is a very easy to adapt place. Everyone speaks english, it is very easy to exchange moneey, to move around, to find western food, etc. You don't feel in Asia at all- take this into consideration if you are looking for a local/cultural experience. It is a digital nomad hub.
For my linking, there is too much noise and it is too hectic. I now moved to another area of Bali (with prettier beaches and more silent) and visit Canggu on weekends for social life.

This is a horrible place, I don't recommend anyone coming over here, I have no clue why it's so so hyped. Tons of people, traffic jams to go anywhere, beaches are dirty and smell horrible (probably because of those ¨rivers¨ flowing to the sea), there's nothing really worth here, don't fall in this touristy trap, it's not worthy. If you want to eat at good places just stay in Europe, for real.

Overpriced and overhyped. Back in 2017 when Canggu got the lead on a site like this, landprices went 10x. Then came the covid situation and now the Balinese like to earn their loses over the last 2 years back in 1 day, which was yesterday. Rape tourism was mentioned not once.

In a review below the diversity of restaurants is mentioned and how good the food is, maybe this person was on a holiday for a few weeks and didn't have to cook and didn't eat for months, but the fact remains - Bali is an island and for diverse produce very dependant on what gets imported. Indonesia is a closed economy and if it ain't produced or grown inside its borders it gets taxed the s$#t of it. Education is non existant, people working the cash register need to take out a calculator to deduct 60 from 100. They never tasted a good pizza, or coffee or burger. How would they be able to cook a decent one?

And to top it off, you better not get into an accident because health care is almost synonymous to having to go to the medicine man who will dance the evil spirits away for you OR having to choose between your arm, leg or lifelong debt like in the US, and that is if the ambulance can make it on time with the amount of traffic and single lane roads.

I'm surprised Canggu still rates this high on Nomadlist all things considered. Must be the selfies and the overhypedness (branding) of Bali.

Come here to find out all which is not shown on Instagram 🤗

The places to rent are not very good. Poor design and low quality furniture. You won't find one that comes with a good desk and chair. Most of them don't have a good place to put one even if you bring your own. Hard water is common and unpleasant.

Can't walk around due to small roads, traffic, sometimes unfriendly stray dogs.

It does have good restaurants, lots of variety from many international cuisines. Not that great for Indonesian food though.

Probably better for a short visit rather than long term.

Best foodie place ever. The beach is very average, but the quality of the food is out of this world. Sun h an insane density of delicious International cuisine!

Early January 2022- Canggu is one of the world's great foodie paradises. Really. You won't find this kind of variety outside a major city (like Manhattan in NYC, Montreal, London, Paris, etc)... but what Canggu has over all these places is that it is SO CONCENTRATED that you can, if you wish, walk between hundreds of them (a scooter is sometimes nicer)... I actually DID it. After over 20 local Google reviews (and counting), I can say if you're wanting vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, halal, Jain, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Japanese, Poki bowls, Indonesian, fusion, Chinese, Korean, French, Turkish, British pub fare, or dozens of street food choices... you name it, it's here, its fabulous, and its cheap by western standards. You want dance clubs and bars? Check. You want cozy breakfasts that will make you smile every time? Check. You want some of the world's best coffee? Super check. Sports bars with ability to stream everything under the sun and feed you some great grub at all hours of the day? Oh yeah. Bars from the ridiculous to the sublime, from beach shacks to upscale spots with bars that are 15m long... yeah they have that too. Really, if you get bored with food in Canggu, you are done with life.

Oh yeah, accommodations are great. I'd suggest 7-10 days in a hotel to get familiar and then go around looking AT PLACES to rent, because with the pandemic still ongoing, the quality varies wildly... many old standards are closed or undergoing renovation. Keep an eye on security of you're in a villa. Nomad workspaces open and close depending on economics, be sure to see if what you want is still in business, and have alternatives. Laundry establishments are plenty and cheap (20k per kilo) on the main streets. Scooter rental will run you 600-900k a month. It will cost you a 250-350k taxi to get from the airport in Den to Canggu, but just do it.

Longer term stays are better than one-week, try a month and go from there. I just keep adding the months on one-at-a-time. The place is addictive, and the sunsets are tough to beat. Be kind.

Canggu is a great place to live. Im a remote worker and have lived here for most of COVID and then some. In total Im thinking something like 20 of the last 24 months! It is brilliantly priced for someone with a steady income who wants their money to go far. I spent about $3,000 USD living like a king with a prime location villa, private chef, the most expensive gym and spa membership, and eating out at least 10 times a week.

Canggu is a great place to live. Im a remote worker and have lived here for most of COVID and then some. In total Im thinking something like 20 of the last 24 months! It is brilliantly priced for someone with a steady income who wants their money to go far. I spent about $3,000 USD living like a king with a prime location villa, private chef, the most expensive gym and spa membership, and eating out at least 10 times a week.

Only cons I see is the road safety and the people who tend to come. For Road Safety, you really need to practice defensive driving here. It wont be you crashing that gets you, but some local moron tearing it up and driving into you. I recommend honking in advance and reminding them you are there.

In addition to the road safety, People from abroad here tend to be a little pretentious. People tend to be more open but you will regularly meet people who are open because they have a few screws loose. I have to be honest though, I was quite a judgmental person and after living in Bali I felt as long as the other person was happy, thats all that mattered. However, you tend to experience people who come to bali and get their "Eat Pray Love" experience by looking for healers. This then attracts people going through severe trauma like Cancer, Breakups, Divorces, and even Evading Law Enforcement back home. These people are a mixed bag, some are fragile and kind, others are malicious and in a "taking care of myself before anyone else" mindset.

The pretentious posers on the other hand are quite interesting. They tend to be extremely shallow, make sure the world knows they are living in Bali, hype it up like some new age Kool aid, but when you run into these people in real life they tend to be "posers" who lack depth and are quite toxic.

Funny mix, but in this mix also comes the cool people, which are:
- Surfers
- Remote, Established Workers
- Chefs from famous restaurants looking to retire

That being said, this place it worth checking out. Live like a King or Queen and kick up your feet.

Cons:
- Traffic was something else!
- Shiddy air quality from half the neighbors burning their trash.
- The honking was super stressful, it's so loud even when you're at home or at a restaurant.
- Many of the roads are really narrow which would've been fine if it wasn't for the congestion; crazy number of people on the roads.
- Beaches = dog crap on your shoes, every time.
- Villas get robbed super often, you read about it happening all the time on the Canggu fb page, but also saw it happen in the daytime.
- Overpriced restaurants and supermarkets.
- Staying in the overpopulated areas of Bali is necessary if you require good internet for work.

Pros:
- Surf is obviously great, the line ups can get very busy though.
- The locals are much friendlier than in Thailand (unless you plan on seeing a volcano, lol)
- Cheap grocery deliveries from market vendors!

My initial reaction wasn't great, but after a year I couldn't wait to escape Bali.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.