Staying in Kuta, Bali

Kuta is one of the most popular spots in Bali and it is definitely a party town. If you’re looking to experience living like a local, Kuta isn’t the place for you. But is is fun and in a quite central location.

What you want to get from your trip will determine whether you will like Kuta or how long you should shay there. Here’s five pros and cons to give an idea of what the place is like:

Pros

1. It’s central and close to the airport 
Getting to Kuta from the airport will only take about 45mins and only takes that long because of the traffic, so it’s handy if you’ve had a long journey. It’s also situated between the big northern bit of Bali and the southern section and accompanying islands, and is packed full of tour operators so it’s easy to get out of town to explore, making Kuta a good place to have as your base.

2. It’s a great place to eat and party

You can eat really cheaply here, especially in comparison to nearby Seminyak (so I’m told anyway) – so it’s good if you’re on a budget. And it has a big night life with loads of bars, so if you want to party you can have a great time here. See my post on the Sky Garden for having a big feed and big night cheaply. You can also escape the party if you stay a hundred metres or so from Legian (the main strip) if you want to sleep! I’ve also done a post on 10 cheap places to eat in Kuta.

3. It has a really nice beach

The golden sand and turquoise blue sea is beautiful to look at, and if you wander up the beach about 10mins from the Hard Rock hotel it’s wider and more quiet. You can also enjoy great surfing on this beach, and release baby turtles, which is dead exciting! See my post on Kuta beach.

4. Shopping

I haven’t really done this as I have a small budget and a small backpack, but there are tonnes of cheap market stalls, loads of shops, and a few big shopping malls so if you want to shop you are spoilt for choice!

5. It’s very busy

It’s a bustling town so has quite a buzzy atmosphere and is full of people travelling from all around the world. People also come here to work from across Indonesia so the ‘locals’ aren’t just limited to Balinese. If you want to meet a variety of different people this is a great place for that, it’s heaving!

Cons

1. It’s very busy

So this will be a pro or a con depending on what you want. The traffic here is an absolute nightmare and the streets are filled with just as much pedestrian traffic. As I said in the pros – it’s heaving! If you’re looking for a quiet, peaceful break this isn’t the place. Having so many tourists also means that you aren’t really going to experience traditional Balinese/Indonesian life, you’ll need to get out of town for that.

2. The traffic
I’ve already mentioned this above but as it really is horrendous I felt it merited it’s very own con point ha! It will take you forever to get anywhere a car here – you can generally double the time you expect it to take ever time. Also the stink of fumes in the streets isn’t particularly nice! However, traffic is generally pretty bad all across Bali, it’s just especially bad in Denpasar.

3. Pickpockets

We’ve had a couple of occasions where people have attempted to pickpocket us. But either they’ve been extremely bad at it or we’ve been lucky/had our wits about us! People will try to sell you stuff everywhere – bracelets, motorbike hire, henna tattoos, towels etc – and most are absolutely fine, albeit a bit too persistent, bless them. But they generally won’t hassle you with anything other than verbal persuasion, so if they put a hand on you, something is up and secure your pockets/bags straight away as they’re touching you to distract you! Pickpocketing does happen in all busy tourist places across the world, though, so just be careful as you would anywhere.

4. People try a bit too hard to sell you crap

As I’ve touched on above, people try to sell you stuff everywhere. It doesn’t really bother me but I know it does some people so it’s one for the con list. They will wander up to you on the beach with whatever they’re selling and generally you will have to say no at least three times before they go away. I find saying ‘no thanks’ just once and ignoring from them on tends to work best!

5. Taxis will try to rip you off

You’ll get ripped off for a taxi at some point, but this doesn’t have to been a massive con, just learn from it and move on 🙂 they’re just poor people trying to provide so you can’t resent them too much. In Kuta try to stick to blue bird group tacks, or use an app – Uber, Grab, Go Jek. Bear in mind that outside of Kuta, though, some areas boycott these apps and you won’t be able to use them to get back. Try to insist they use a meter, and accept that once or twice you’ll end up paying too much. Also don’t pay more than 100k to get from airport to/from Kuta!