Bali Insider Tips: Wellness, Music, Coworking & Island Gems

After many months on Bali, these are my personal favourites beyond the usual rice terraces and temples: creative spaces, wellness, music studios, beach clubs and quiet islands I revisit and recommend to friends.

Nuanu Creative City

Nuanu, between Canggu and Tanah Lot, is a little-known creative city. At Labyrinth, lie back beneath a movie dome with shows projected overhead. Luna Beach Club has bookable daybeds, an excellent restaurant and ocean views — a relaxed coastal stop.

Wellness Lumeira — Banya, Sound Journeys and Ice Baths

Wellness Lumeira offers a Russian-style banya with sauna infusions and pleasant, massage-like, painless birch-branch treatments — usually on weekends or privately, though the website barely explains this.

Its unique massage pairs two high-quality speakers beside your ears with a relaxing sound journey. Facilities include an ice bath, cold plunge, thermal pool and classic sauna. “Spa Rty” events bring steam journeys, melukat water blessings, sound healing, artists and DJs. Check Instagram or WhatsApp for dates.

Aya Studios — Music Production and DJ Retreats

Aya Studios Bali has high-end studios, equipment and synthesizers. Music-production lessons welcome complete beginners; I tried them and loved it. They also offer DJ lessons and retreats teaching mixing. My retreat in Nuanu included hobbit-style houses, with everything on site — a special experience.

Bambu Indah — Bamboo Sauna and Volcanic Spring Water

Bambu Indah is a beautiful, spacious riverside resort with a bamboo sauna and thermal water from Balinese volcanic springs, also used for water healing. Expect excellent food, Sunday brunch and a sunset bar.

The standout is the spa: a half-day pass covers 11 am–5 pm, with part of the price credited toward restaurant consumption. You can usually stay longer, especially when dining there.

Sound Healing: Udara and Pyramids of Chi

Udara offers sound healing in a unique dome and personal events: special, but slightly pricier than Pyramids of Chi.

Pyramids of Chi runs four sound healings daily, plus personal tarot and soulmap readings. My pick for one session is Ancient Sound Healing; try the new AMA multisensory dome too. LSV and scalar healing impressed me less, especially scalar’s small screens. The beautiful full-moon ceremonies with sound healing felt “stronger”.

The Yoga Barn, Ubud

Ubud’s Yoga Barn runs countless daily classes and events. I recommend the one-minute eye reading with Moxa: Chinese practitioner Miao Miao brings a different perspective, especially for Western visitors. Try Watsu (water shiatsu) too.

Yoga Barn, Udara, Alchemy and Pyramids of Chi are good starting points for finding healers and coaches to try and work with.

Island Escape: Nusa Ceningan

Peaceful Nusa Ceningan connects to white-sand Nusa Lembongan by a small yellow bridge, about 30 minutes by boat from Bali.

My favourite, ARNA Suites and Ocean Lounge, has a reef-edge infinity pool, tables or couches to rent all day, excellent food, good music and an incredible sunset into the ocean directly ahead. Its glamping-style accommodation is lovely too. Open in Google Maps

Next door, Klyf Club Blue Lagoon is similar, but I prefer ARNA.

Nusa Penida

I loved Semaya Beach Resort on Nusa Penida: excellent clifftop rooms with sweeping ocean views and the lovely Silo Beach Club.

Where to Stay and Eat around Canggu

I prefer quieter Pererenan or further-out Seseh, still minutes from Canggu’s endless restaurants and cafés. My picks:

• Copenhagen Cafe: lovely bakery-style breakfast; some outlets offer 3–5 items to mix and match. Try the bakery branches to avoid busy weekend queues elsewhere.
• Touche: incredible Japanese pancakes; several locations, including Pererenan.
• Open House: good for working, with inexpensive sauna and ice-bath access.
• Zai Cafe: excellent Mediterranean-Turkish-style breakfast and high-quality alternatives.

Health Tips: Bali Belly, Acupuncture and IV Drips

Tao Medicine does acupuncture and moxibustion well. Its Digestive tincture worked best for my Bali belly when I took it at the first stomach symptoms; in my experience, they then cleared.

IV drips are widely offered for Bali belly. My favourite is Prastha Medical: immediate appointments without queues, lower prices than others and, in my experience, the same ingredients. They also send nurses for home visits and IVs. Open in Google Maps. These are personal experiences, not medical advice; discuss treatments with a qualified clinician.

Nightlife: Savaya and The Iron Fairies

Savaya, on Uluwatu’s cliffs, is among the most beautiful clubs I’ve seen and has ranked in the world’s top 10. Famous acts play regularly; some parties run from 1 or 3 pm until around 1 am — easier on the next day.

The Iron Fairies is another interesting nightlife bar. Open in Google Maps

Coworking on Bali

Omni — my favourite: external monitors, plentiful seats and standing desks; easy ordering of healthy food and coffee. Gym, classes, sauna, cold plunge, pool and restaurant are available with a combined ticket. Short stays of less than a few weeks feel pricey.

House of Kairos, Seseh: new, beautiful and uniquely designed, with a lovely gym, pool and sports classes. Pricier than alternatives, especially the restaurant’s small portions. Calls make coworking louder than Omni, and desks fill quickly. Membership suits four weeks; shorter options make little sense.

Nirvana: beautiful pool and rice-field/jungle setting; a huge gym with different areas and more group classes than Kairos or Omni. Sauna, steam bath, cold plunge, massage, yoga shala and a great healthy restaurant with build-your-own meals and displayed carbs/macros. Its tiny coworking area above the entrance is disappointing.

BWork Bali: nice facilities and a stepped main room with a café, accessible without membership. It feels office-like and offers little beyond coworking. I disliked the café’s less-healthy, unappealing food and app-based ordering: typing, waiting and dealing with delivery drivers rather than grabbing something quickly.

Amed — Freediving and Slow Living

Amed, in eastern Bali, is known for freediving (apnoea), beautiful sea and beaches. It is more relaxed and cheaper than Ubud, Canggu or Uluwatu, with gyms, yoga, healthy food, cafés and massages. My lovely clifftop-view villa made the stay special — a quieter, more authentic Bali escape.

These tips come from my own months on Bali. Check current opening hours and event schedules — things change quickly — and share your favourite spots.