Where to live in Bali, the areas compared

How to choose

Distances in Bali are short on the map and long on the road. Crossing the south at rush hour can take an hour, and there is no train or metro to save you. You will live inside a radius of a few kilometres.

So pick the area where your days happen. Decide first what you need close by.

• a surf break
• a coworking space or good cafes
• a school
• a hospital
• quiet
• people your age

Then look at rent. The same villa costs twice as much in one area as in another.

The areas at a glance

The medians are monthly asking prices from the current listings, all sizes together. Most of what is posted is villas, so a room or a local house costs much less than these figures.

Canggu, Berawa and Pererenan

The west coast strip where most long stay foreigners live.

Canggu has the highest number of cafes, gyms and coworking spaces on the island, and a surf beach at the end of every main road. You can run a full social life here without planning anything. The price is traffic. The shortcut roads between Canggu and Berawa are jammed for much of the afternoon, and building sites are everywhere.

Berawa is the eastern side, closer to Seminyak. It has the big gyms and beach clubs, an international school nearby, and a busy main street with residential lanes a few turns back.

Pererenan is one river west. It is newer and calmer, with more rice fields left between the lanes, good restaurants and the same beach road with less traffic. It was the cheap alternative a few years ago. It is not anymore.

Rents here are among the highest in Bali. Pay attention to the exact location, because a villa 10 minutes inland costs far less than one near the beach.

Seseh and Tumbak Bayuh

Where people go when Pererenan feels too busy or too expensive.

Seseh is the next village west along the coast. It has recent villas, open views over rice fields and the sea, and very few shops. It suits people who want space and do not mind riding to Pererenan or Canggu for everything else.

Tumbak Bayuh is inland from Pererenan. Recent villas among rice fields, 10 minutes from the beach by scooter, at lower prices than the coast.

Both are changing fast. Check what is being built next door before you sign.

Umalas and Kerobokan

Inland from Berawa and Seminyak, and central to everything.

Umalas is residential, with large family villas on quiet lanes, a few good cafes and schools close by. Families and long-term residents like it. Rents for big villas are high.

Kerobokan stretches north of Seminyak. It is more mixed and more local, with compounds, workshops and villas side by side, and lower prices for a location that is still 15 minutes from the beach.

Seminyak

Seminyak was the centre before Canggu took over. It has pavements, shops and restaurants within walking distance, which is rare in Bali. Housing is mostly apartments, small villas and older compounds.

It suits people who want to walk to dinner and do not need the remote work crowd. It is busy with tourists all year.

Ubud

Ubud is inland and green, about an hour from the beaches and more in traffic. Yoga, food, art, rice terraces and cooler nights. The crowd is older and quieter than on the coast.

Most people live in the villages around the centre, such as Penestanan, Nyuh Kuning, Sayan, Tegallalang and Mas, and ride in. Houses and guesthouses there cost less than a villa on the coast, which makes Ubud the best value among the main expat areas.

The trade-offs are distance from the sea, more rain all year, and a town centre that is clogged for much of the day.

Uluwatu and the Bukit

The southern peninsula. Uluwatu means cliffs, the best surf breaks on the island, and long rides between places. Villas are spread out, the air is drier, and a new restaurant opens every week.

It suits surfers and people who want space and views. It does not suit anyone who dislikes riding. Nothing is walkable, and the airport road can be slow.

Jimbaran sits between Uluwatu and the airport, around a calm bay, with lower rents and a university up the hill. Nusa Dua, on the east side, has calm beaches, large resorts and gated estates.

Sanur and Denpasar

The east side. Sanur has a calm, shallow beach protected by a reef, a long seaside path for walking and cycling, and flat streets. The pace is slower. It is popular with families and retirees, and it has the best cluster of clinics and hospitals within reach.

Denpasar is the capital, where most Balinese people live and work. Rooms and houses rent at local prices, and almost nothing is aimed at tourists. It suits people on a tight budget who speak some Indonesian.

Tabanan and the west

Tabanan is the regency west of Canggu, from the surf beach of Kedungu to rice terraces further inland. Villas here are cheap for what you get, and the landscape is what Canggu looked like 15 years ago.

You trade services for space. Shops, clinics and restaurants are a ride away.

The north

Lovina and the north coast are three hours from the airport. Very quiet, with black sand beaches and the lowest rents among the areas where foreigners live. A small community of long-term residents, many of them retired, lives there. It is far from hospitals and from everything else.

By profile

Remote workers and digital nomads. Canggu, Berawa or Pererenan for the community, Ubud for quiet and lower rent. See Bali for digital nomads.

Families. Choose the school first. Umalas, Berawa and Sanur have the most options within a short drive.

Retirees. Sanur for the flat streets and the hospitals, Ubud for the green and the community. See retiring in Bali.

Surfers. Uluwatu for the best waves, Canggu and Pererenan for beach breaks and an easier daily life, Kedungu in Tabanan for fewer people.

On a budget. Ubud’s villages, Kerobokan, Tabanan and Denpasar. See the cheap monthly rentals.

Staying a year or more. Long-term residents tend to move one area out from where they started, for space and price. See the long term rentals in Bali.

How to test an area

1. Book a week in a guesthouse there.
2. Ride your real routes at 8am and at 5pm.
3. Work a normal day from the place you would work from.
4. Go out at night and listen. Bars, roosters, dogs and ceremonies all carry.
5. Rent by the month for two or three months before any yearly contract.

The guide on how to rent in Bali covers the rest, and living in Bali describes daily life once you have settled.