What is Sanur like to visit?

Sanur is the oldest resort area in Bali and the one that ages best. It faces east, so the event of the day is sunrise rather than sunset, and the reef a few hundred metres offshore keeps the water flat.

What it is actually like

A long, low-rise strip along a protected beach, with a paved beachfront path running several kilometres from the north end to the harbour in the south. Hotels are mostly mid-rise and old-fashioned, the restaurants are unglamorous and good, and the pace is noticeably slower than the west coast.

The local nickname among younger visitors is unkind and accurate about who comes here: it is popular with older travellers and families, and that is exactly why it works.

The beach and the water

Shallow, calm, protected by a reef, and safe for children in a way no west-coast beach is. At low tide the water retreats a long way and exposes seagrass, which is the main complaint people have. At high tide it is a lagoon.

Kayaks, paddleboards and small boats operate from the beach. There is no surf apart from a reef break well offshore that works in wet season.

The beachfront path

The single best thing about Sanur. Flat, continuous, and lined with cafes and warungs, it runs the length of the beach and is used for walking, cycling and running. Bicycles are available everywhere and cycling here is genuinely pleasant, which is not a sentence that applies anywhere else in southern Bali.

Eating

Straightforward and good: Indonesian, seafood, Italian, a strong local warung scene, and a growing number of better restaurants at the northern end. Prices are noticeably below Seminyak for equivalent quality.

Why it is the best base for logistics

The airport is 30 to 50 minutes, on the eastern side of the traffic.

The fast boats to Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and the Gilis leave from Sanur's beach and from Sanur Harbour, which makes island day trips genuinely easy rather than a 5am drive.

Ubud is 45 to 60 minutes, closer than from Canggu.

East Bali — Sidemen, Candidasa, Amed — is straight up the coast without crossing the south.

If your trip includes the islands or the east, Sanur saves hours.

Where to stay

The strip is long. The northern end near Jalan Danau Tamblingan has the most restaurants and the newer places. The centre is the traditional hotel zone. The south near the harbour is quieter and convenient for boats.

What Sanur is not

Not fashionable, not lively at night, and not where you go for a scene. The nightlife is a bar with a guitarist. The shopping is a few boutiques and a supermarket.

If you are 25 and came to Bali to go out, this will feel like a retirement village. If you have a five-year-old, or you have done Canggu and had enough, it will feel like the sensible option it is.

Nearby

Serangan, a short drive south, with a wet-season surf break and a turtle conservation centre. Denpasar, ten minutes inland, for the markets and the museum. Bali Safari Park up the coast. Ubud for a day, easily.

Things to do

Cycle the beach path at sunrise, when the fishing boats come in and the whole strip is awake before the heat.

Take a boat to the Nusa Islands for the day. Sanur is the departure point and the crossing is 30 to 45 minutes.

Le Mayeur Museum, the home of the Belgian painter who settled here in the 1930s, on the beach at the northern end.

Turtle Conservation and Education Centre at Serangan, a short drive south.

The Sindhu morning market, for produce and breakfast among people actually shopping.

A sunrise swim. Sanur faces east and the sunrises are the reason people who come here keep coming back.

Practical notes

Low tide exposes a wide shallow flat with seagrass, which some people dislike and which makes mid-afternoon swimming shallow. Check the tide table if swimming matters to you on a given day.

The area is flat and easy to walk, which makes it the most accessible part of Bali for anyone with reduced mobility, and one of very few places here where a wheelchair or a pushchair is workable.