Bali seems to be totally on trend once again, and with it being super easy to get to, affordable, and so 'hip' friendly, it really is a top destination.
Veronica and her family travelled to Bali recently, and was delighted with her experience, so wanted to share her tales. She also took a copy of the Bali with Kids book to help her on her way. So many thanks Vee for sharing your experiences with us - over to you...
Recently we went to Bali for our first overseas holiday with our 33 month old son Tyler. We travelled with my brother and his family for 10 nights. Leading up to the holiday I was lucky enough to be given the Bali with Kids book. It has everything you needed to know about travelling to Bali with children, and I would definitely recommend it. My nephews aged 6 and 8 loved reading the book, they were so excited about the holiday and the book added to their excitement. The book had heaps of useful information about travelling with kids to bali, including baby hire companies, where to buy baby supplies, what the supermarkets stocked etc, so I knew that all supplies could easily be found in Bali.
We stayed at Bali Dynasty Resort which we picked from Bali with Kids. I would definitely recommend it for families with children, it has a 56 metre waterslide which the kids just loved and we spent many hours watching them go up and down. My nephews went into Kids club for a few days and they did many activities and had a ball. The kids club is “renowned as one of Bali’s best kid’s club facilities” which we had read from “Bali with Kids”. We spent so much time at our resort, we didn’t need to go out much as the pool and waterslide kept the kids entertained. The staff were fantastic they were so friendly and loved the kids. We would definitely stay at this resort again. Our hotel offered some morning tours, we went to Jimbaran Bay which is a fishing village, and we visited a local primary school which was great to see as the local Balinese kids are so beautiful and friendly. These tours cost a couple of dollars and were only an hour or two long... perfect for young kids.
The kids had read about Waterbom Park from our Bali with Kids book, which is a huge waterslide park. I think I had more fun than the kids, it had so many waterslides and it catered for everyone. They have a kiddie’s play area for the younger kids, but Tyler loved the big slides as well. Waterbom Park was one of our favourite days in Bali the kids just loved it.
Of course there is the shopping which was great. There are the markets, you definitely need to bargain and shop around first because you will be surprised how cheap you can get things for. We also did some shopping in Seminyak which has boutique stores (all the kids ones are listed in Bali with Kids) we got some great clothes for Tyler.
We picked out a few restaurants from our Bali with Kids book. We only managed to eat out a few nights as the kids had collapsed into bed early.
- Ku De Ta, located in Seminyak - My sister in law and I left the guys with the kids for an afternoon and went on our own for some cocktails, which we had from the lounge chairs that looked out over the beach. Our Hubby’s and kids came later to watch the sunset and then we all enjoyed Pizzas on the lounge chairs and a play in the beach. Such a gorgeous place.
- Ayana Resort, Rock Bar and Dava Restaurant – The hubby and I got a night out by ourselves which is a great reason to go away with people you know. This resort was amazing; we had read about it in our Bali with Kids book and nearly stayed at this resort, as it looked great for kids. It was so beautiful, it took us about 40 minutes by Taxi (cost $7 so cheap). Our concierge man at the hotel recommended The Rock Bar at Ayana Resort which is located in a cliff and is accessible by a cable car, such an amazing bar and place we thought it was brilliant. We had dinner at Dava one of the Resort’s Restaurants such a beautiful setting and it was so nice to go somewhere a little special with my hubby as we don’t get out on our own often.
Unfortunately my husband got sick the day before we were due to come home (nothing to do with Bali). We got the experience of an ambulance ride and 3 nights in Denpasar Surya Husada Hospital. My hubby is fine now, and the hospital experience was very impressive. The doctors and nurses were very informative and helpful and the hospital was so clean it actually felt like we were staying in a hotel. Our hospital stay was much more than I expected and the nurses were so friendly and very helpful especially with Tyler. The last place you want to end up on a holiday is in a hospital, but I can’t complain the facilities were great.I have travelled to many places before I had a child but I have never met such friendly people like the Balinese, they made my holiday experience so enjoyable.
Bali with Kids was such a great book to have whilst in Bali, it has everything you need to know about travelling to Bali with children, there was so much in there that we didn’t get around to doing so we will need to start planning our next holiday to Bali.
