Night life in Bali starts late, which
means around midnight. Many visitors wonder where crowds of expats suddenly
come from around 1:00 in the morning – even when all of Kuta has been
very quiet during the whole evening, the IN-places often become crowded after
midnight.
There's a simple explanation: during
the early evenings many of Bali's night owls either still work, visit friends
at home, or simply sleep. Most of them visit pubs, bars, or discos only in the
early morning hours. Therefore, if you plan a night out don't start your dinner
too early. Between 9:00 p.m. and midnight there are not many places we can recommend.
Visitors looking for company don't
need to worry. Wherever you go in Sanur and the Kuta area, there are many other
single travellers with the same problem around – day and night. In Bali's
discos you'll meet also many "kupu kupu malams" ("night butterflies"
or working girls) and young boys who compete with the females and service all
sexes. All taxi drivers know the more popular karaoke bars and massage parlours
in Kuta and Denpasar, and the various "Houses of ill Repute" in Sanur's
narrow back lanes.
As reported in the BALI travel FORUM:
"Prostitution is illegal in Bali. However, like in many countries, everyone
turns a blind eye. Many girls can be found in nightclubs and bars in most areas.
They look usually just like the girl next door, albeit with a bit more make
up on, and they usually dress to please the eye. For the most part, they are
gentle, easy to be with, and a lot of fun if you want to dance, drink and have
a little fun with. Most will be yours for the whole night for about 300,000
Rupiah although prices range from 100,000 Rupiah to 1,000,000 Rupiah and more
– depending on the season, the time of night, the situation and the quality
of service".
SANUR & NUSA DUA
Some quite popular places in Sanur are the BORNEO PUB on Jalan Danau Tamblingan
and the TROPHY PUB in front of the Sanur Beach Hotel. Both, however, close around
1:00 a.m.
The JAZZ GRILLE, located at the Komplek
Pertokoan Sanur Raya No. 15/16 at the By-Pass opposite the Radisson hotel, was
opened in February 1999 and attracts tourists and locals alike with live bands
(from 9:30 to 12:00 p.m.), a smallish menu, and a billiard table upstairs. KAFE
WAYANG in the same building has life music with a good local band and jam sessions
with foreign guests every Friday – no wonder it's very popular with many
residents. JANGER is currently the only disco in Sanur. Most tourists and even
the expats living in Sanur prefer to go to "Kuta" if they look for
some fun.
The discos and pubs in Nusa Dua's
5-star hotels are often rather empty. They are mostly frequented by those visitors
who stay in-house and are too tired to make the 30 minutes drive to Kuta.
THE "KUTA" AREA
Everybody looking for some action and fun in the evening goes to "Kuta"
which nowadays means the area extending about 4 miles or 7 kilometers North
from the original village of Kuta and includes now Legian, Seminyak and even
Basangkasa. Here are most of the better entertainment places offering EVERYTHING
single male or female visitors as well as couples might be looking for.
There are several places such as
CASABLANCA etc. – down-market open-air pubs and very noisy discos full
of stoned Aussies courting Javanese "Kupu Kupu Malams". PEANUTS Discotheque
on Jalan Raya Legian at the Jalan Melasti corner (about the border between Kuta
and Legian) has been re-opened very soon after it was gutted by a fire. The
huge (air-conditioned) dance floor is often crowded, guests are a mix of locals
and younger foreign visitors.
Closer to the center of Kuta you
find the BOUNTY SHIP with a noisy, over-air-conditioned disco in the basement
and the re-built PADDY'S RELOADED not far from the original PADDY'S. When most
places close around 2.00 or 3.00 in the morning, night owls of all kinds continue
drinking at nearby MAMA'S until sunrise.
For a somewhat more civilized evening
out, you can have dinner and a couple of drinks at the bar at either TJ's or
KORI in Kuta, at POCO LOCO in Legian, at the open street side bar at NERO Bali
right opposite AROMAS Restaurant in Kuta, at the re-built MACCARONI CLUB in
Kuta, at MADE'S WARUNG in Basangkasa (see BALI - Restaurants to Enjoy), or at
the trendy HU'U Bar & Lounge near the Petitenget temple, LA LUCIOLA and
THE LIVING ROOM.
Something more outrageous and only
for open-minded people is HULU CAFE between Jalan Padma and Jalan Melasti in
Kuta/Legian, a place which calls itself the "only real gay bar in all of
Bali" with drag shows starting at 11:00 p.m. three times per week. The
performances are actually kind of funny!
You'll find a large and quite popular
HARD ROCK CAFE right at the beginning of Kuta's beach road with live music from
11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Expect to find many singles of all kinds here looking for
company. If you think this is too noisy, too crowded, or the air-conditioning
too cold for you, try the CENTER STAGE at the HARD ROCK RESORT located in the
back of the CAFE. As the name implies, the band performs on a raised stage in
the middle of the huge round lobby bar until 11:00 p.m. Both HARD ROCK outlets
are expensive by Bali standards.
The JAYA PUB on the main road in
Seminyak features also live music and attracts many Indonesian customers who
don't mind the chilling air-conditioning and the sometimes horrible bands and
singers.
Seminyak's best place to have a drink
and some fun at night is nowadays probably SANTA FEE Bar & Grill, Jalan
Abimanyu No. 11 (also known as Gado Gado Road or Jalan Dhyana Pura). Life music,
reasonably priced cocktails, a surprisingly good wine list (you have to ask
for it, but the prices are very low for Bali standards), and a menu offering
local, Mexican, and Japanese dishes as well as a choice of pizzas around the
clock and the friendly service attract many visitors until the early hours.
If you feel too hot downstairs, you can move to the small air-conditioned "Wine
Lounge" upstairs where you find also a rather good choice of wines to take
home.
Other popular night spots nearby
in the same street are SPY BAR, LIQUID, Q Bar ("for the alternative lifestyle"),
Antique Bar, SPACE, THE GLOBE and "A" BAR. New bars and "Chill-Out
Lounges" are opening all the time, and most of them feature DJ's and/or
live music on certain nights. Just walk down the road and check them out !
Later, from 2:00 a.m., it's party
time at the PAPARAZZI LOUNGE and DOUBLE SIX, a large open-air disco with several
bars, big dance floor, and many tables. Both are located next to each other
on the beach in Seminyak and charge an entrance fee of 30,000 to 100,000 Rupiah
(depending on the day) for which you get a voucher for a free drink. Here you'll
find most of Bali's night owls drinking and dancing the night away until 4:30
a.m. or so. (The legendary GADO GADO Disco has been re-converted into a restaurant.)
Also, watch out for notices and small
posters in Kuta and Seminyak announcing special events such as Full Moon Parties,
House Warming Parties, Body Painting Parties, etc, etc. If these "parties"
are announced to the public (even if only by word-of-mouth), they are open for
everybody. You'll have to pay for your drinks, therefore, don't be shy.
UBUD
Don't expect too much here. We are not Ubud nightlife experts, but names frequently
mentioned include PUTRA BAR, Jl. Monkey Forest (every night live music ranging
from Reggae to rock), MAGIC BAR, Jl. Monkey Forest (live music and sometimes
great atmosphere), JAZZ CAFE, Jl. Tebesaya (live music and jam sessions on different
nights), EXILE BAR (Saturday nights only, great music), and FUNKY MONKEY (early
hours cafe).
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