The short answer
With a baby or toddler, choose Sanur or Nusa Dua for calm water and easy days. With school-age kids who want action, Seminyak, Jimbaran or Canggu. For culture, nature and a cooler climate, Ubud. For a quiet, spectacular villa holiday, Uluwatu and the Bukit. Many families split a trip, for example a week by the beach and three or four nights in Ubud.
Sanur: the gentlest beach town
Sanur, on the east coast about 30 to 40 minutes from the airport, is the area we recommend most often for families with young children. A reef protects the beach, so the water is calm, shallow and warm, and a paved promenade runs for several kilometres along the sand past cafes, playgrounds and hotels. It is one of the few places in Bali where a pram is genuinely useful.
The trade-off is that Sanur is quiet. Nightlife is a beachfront dinner, and the surf and beach-club scene of the west coast is a 45-minute drive away. For parents of toddlers, that is usually the point.
Nusa Dua and Tanjung Benoa: resorts and reef-calm water
Nusa Dua is a planned resort enclave on the Bukit peninsula, 25 to 40 minutes from the airport. The beaches are wide and clean, the offshore reef keeps the water calm, and the large resorts have kids' pools and kids' clubs. Everything is tidy and secure, which first-time visitors with babies appreciate.
It is also the least "Bali" of the areas: you are inside a resort zone and will drive to see the real island. Tanjung Benoa, just north, is the water-sports beach for older kids. Prices are generally higher than Sanur for a similar beach experience.
Seminyak, Petitenget and Kerobokan: villas, dining and shopping
Seminyak has the island's biggest choice of private family villas with pools, a long beach for walks and sunsets, and a huge range of restaurants, beach clubs and boutiques within walking or short-taxi distance. For families with school-age children who are happy in a villa pool, and parents who want good food and a night out, it works very well.
The beach is not for swimming with young children: the surf and rips are strong and most of it is unpatrolled. Footpaths are patchy, so a pram is hard work and most trips are by car. Traffic is heavy in the afternoon.
Canggu, Berawa and Pererenan: surf and long stays
Canggu is the surf, cafe and co-working hub north-west of Seminyak and has become home to a large community of families on long stays. Finns Recreation Club with its water park, trampolines and bowling is a hit with kids, there are surf schools for older children and plenty of villas. Berawa has some paved paths and a growing number of family-oriented cafes.
The beaches are dark volcanic sand with strong surf, better for surf lessons than toddler paddling, and the traffic on the narrow roads is slow. It suits active families, surfers and remote workers more than first-timers with a baby.
Jimbaran: a calmer bay and family resorts
Jimbaran, 20 to 30 minutes from the airport, has a sheltered crescent bay with gentler waves than Kuta or Seminyak, a cluster of family-friendly resorts and villas, and the famous beachfront seafood cafes where dinner is served on the sand at sunset. It is a good compromise between the calm of Nusa Dua and the liveliness of Seminyak, and a convenient base for the Uluwatu beaches.
Uluwatu and the Bukit: cliffs, surf and private villas
The Bukit peninsula at Bali's southern tip is dramatic: limestone cliffs, world-famous surf breaks, cliff-top villas with infinity pools and small beaches reached by long flights of steps. For a quiet, private villa holiday with older children, or a honeymoon-style trip with a baby and a live-in nanny, it is hard to beat.
It is less practical with toddlers: the beach access is strenuous, the surf is serious, and there is little to walk to. Padang Padang at low tide, Melasti and the calmer corners of Balangan are the kid-friendly beaches here.
Kuta, Legian and Tuban: convenience and water parks
Kuta and Legian are the original tourist strip, ten minutes from the airport, with big family hotels, malls and Waterbom Bali. The beach is long and good for surf lessons and sunsets. It is busy and commercial, and most families use it for a first or last night or a Waterbom day rather than a whole holiday.
Ubud: rice terraces, temples and animals
Ubud, about an hour to an hour and a half inland, is cooler and greener, with jungle and rice-terrace villas, temples, markets and some of Bali's best restaurants. For children there is the Monkey Forest, the Tegallalang terraces, Bali Zoo, Bali Safari and Marine Park and Bali Bird Park nearby, cooking classes and river tubing for older kids.
There is no beach, villa pools are often unfenced and set on steep sites, and the town centre is congested. It suits a few nights of culture and nature in a longer trip, or families who do not need the sea.
How to decide
- Under two: Sanur or Nusa Dua first, a villa with a fenced or shallow pool, and a nanny or sitter so you get some rest.
- Two to six: Sanur, Nusa Dua or Jimbaran for swimming, with a day or two in Ubud for animals and rice terraces.
- Seven and up: Seminyak, Canggu or Jimbaran for surf lessons, water parks and beach clubs, plus Ubud.
- Mixed ages or a group: a large villa in Seminyak, Canggu or the Bukit with a live-in nanny.
Entry rules, prices and opening hours change. We check these guides regularly, but confirm the details that matter for your trip with the official source before you travel.
