Sacred Temples & Beach Clubs
Which beach club should I go to?
When we woke up the next day, we realized we were still exhausted after exploring Ubud the day before. Good thing we planned for this! We planned for a relaxation day and didn’t schedule as many activities. We went to Uluwatu Temple and to switch it up, we decided to go to Finns Beach Club.
The grab ride from our resort to Uluwatu Temple took over an hour. The temple is located on the southern tip of Bali. We left around 11 am thinking we would avoid the morning traffic, but it was still horrible. The driver dropped us off a bit of ways from the entrance so it took a minute for us to find the entrance. On the way there, we stopped by for some food at a small warung. Â
We befriended this demon kitty who guilt tripped me into giving food. This little guy would not stop meowing while we ate. When another group sat down at a different table, this swindler got up and left to try his luck over there.
You may have noticed these handmade, coconut leaf bowls with seemingly randomly assorted items at the entrance of every residence, shop, temple, and building in Bali. These bowls are known as Canang Sari. This bowl is part of the Balinese Hindu tradition to honor the gods every morning and thank them for peace in the world. Each item in the bowl symbolizes and honors a specific deity.
When I first arrived, I accidentally stepped on a canang sari, and immediately started apologizing to the store owner. She was not mad at all and instead just smiled at me and told me not to worry. What’s important with canang sari is what it symbolizes, and not the actual bowl itself.
We walked to the entrance and bought tickets for US$2 per person. There is a bin of sarung you can borrow. And if you’re an idiot like me, there’s also someone there to help you put one on. 😂
The best scenic views of the cliffs in all of Bali are from the Uluwatu Temple. There is a pathway along the cliffs you can walk down to enjoy the views of the ocean and the cliffs. The temple itself resides at the highest point on the cliff. We did not go during the temple anniversary celebrations, but the visit was still well worth it!
We walked along the edge of the cliffs on this walkway until we got to the end. It takes about 10 minutes and there’s a great viewpoint to take pictures. While we were walking, guess who we ran into? The monkeys! They also populate this area so make sure to have all your belongings safe in your backpacks as well. We spent about 2 hours eating and walking around the Uluwatu Temple and its surrounding areas. We called a grab to go directly to Finns.
As we got closer and closer to Finns, the traffic became considerably worse. It got to a point where I was debating whether or not walking to Finns would be faster. I knew Canggu traffic was bad, but I didn’t know it was this bad! It took over an hour and a half in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get there.
Finns Beach Club was packed but not too crowded. When we arrived around 3 pm, we were able to find seating at the restaurant bar almost immediately.
The Finns menu caters to westerners so I didn’t have trouble figuring out what I wanted. We ended up ordering the nachos. (Don’t get the nachos 😂.) The drinks were anywhere between US$8-15, similar to prices back in the US.
It was a fun crowd and the DJ brought out a singer for extra vocals. She was an amazing singer and her singing brought everyone to the dance floor. As the sun set and got darker, people went from drinking in the pool to drinking at the bar. We were still partially jet lagged and left around 8 pm. At this point, there were a bunch of people so drunk they were barely able to walk 🤪.
Today’s total spend was slightly more compared to yesterday’s spend. But money well spent!