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.
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.
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 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". Peanut 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.
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 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.
One of the most "in" venues in Bali is KU DE TA right on
the beach adjacent to the Oberoi hotel. This is the place to see and be
seen, and from late afternoon there is a DJ providing rather noisy
entertainment for Bali's beautiful people. This is a great place to
watch Bali's famous sunsets, but expect to pay for a cocktail around
US$10 and more.
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. Mannekepis,
a pleasant Belgian pub/restaurant right opposite the QUEEN'S TANDOOR in
Seminyak, features live Jazz on Thurdays, Fridays and Saturdays and
serves good meals at reasonable prices.
Seminyak's best place to have a drink and some fun after 11 p.m. are
nowadays probably Obsession World Music Bar and Santa Fee Bar & Grill, Jalan Abimanyu (also known as Gado Gado Road or Jalan Dhyana Pura). Life music, reasonably priced cocktails and the friendly girls attract many visitors until the early hours. Other popular night spots nearby in the same street are Spy Bar, Liquid, Q Bar and Mixwell ("for the alternative lifestyle"), Space and The Globe. 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 !
nowadays probably Obsession World Music Bar and Santa Fee Bar & Grill, Jalan Abimanyu (also known as Gado Gado Road or Jalan Dhyana Pura). Life music, reasonably priced cocktails and the friendly girls attract many visitors until the early hours. Other popular night spots nearby in the same street are Spy Bar, Liquid, Q Bar and Mixwell ("for the alternative lifestyle"), Space and The Globe. 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 Syndicate, Bacio and Doible Six,
a large open-air disco with several bars, big dance floor, and many
tables. All three 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 and in nearby Dejavu and La Vita Loca 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.