Bali honeymoon! Tips?

There are so many options depending on what city you want to go to! Lots of VRBO listing for awesome places for reasonable prices. I am SUPER jealous. FW and I were going to go there for our HM but she freaked over the length of the flight. ENJOY it!

I just got back from my Bali honeymoon.... it was AMAZING!!!

We were there for 2 weeks (we live in Sydney but are from the States where we got married so we were super jetlagged when we finally arrived... 12 hours is the HARDEST time change). We spent the first three nights in Seminyak, the next 4 nights in Ubud, then 3 in Lovina, and 3 in Nusa Lembongan with a redeye flight afterwards.

Seminyak is great, sort of upscale in parts, very easy to walk around and dine. We stayed at Ziva Villas and it was the perfect place to begin a honeymoon. We had a very private space, our own pool (nobody could see in at all) and outdoor huge bath full of flowers, outdoor kitchen, extremely luxurious room with glass walls. We even had floating breakfast in the pool one morning. My favorite restaurant there was Bambu. The W Hotel has a great location for sunset drinks, as does Potatohead.

Ubud was magical. We were supposed to stay at Bidadari Villas but they overbooked and uprgraded us (though I never saw the original place) to a different villa that was INCREDIBLE called Villa Kelusa. It wasn't close to the main area of Ubud at all but it was so worth it. We had a two story house with an infinity pool over the rice paddies, private outdoor shower (two bathrooms)... it was pure magic. My only complaint was that the staff was constantly buzzing around making our stay luxurious and we really just wanted to be alone alone. Their cook is the best cook in the country though (we decided).

Lovina was unusual because it really isn't much of a tourist destination. We loved our drive through the mountains to get there, but didn't find the actual place to be all that interesting or pleasant. Its like the town has gotten wind of tourism and all dropped their usual farming activities to go into the industry, but there just aren't enough tourists so they are desperate for you to buy things. We ended up spending quite a bit of time at our villa, Villa Patria, which was gorgeous, though a bit odd and less private than we wanted (similar to in Ubud) with the staff being stationed inside of our villa. The view is to die for though. The main tourist activity in Lovina is dolphin watching, which we did, and it was underwhelming because it's 50 little boats chasing down and surrounding a few dolphins who can't catch a break. It was worth it to see dawn on the water though. Next time I would organize a full day trip to Menjangan Island for diving, it's supposed to be fantastic.

In Nusa Lembongan, we wish we would have booked another night or two. We were in an AirBnB called Villa Atas. We had the downstairs apartment in a home that is halfway up the hill by the main village. That is, 100/200 steps up! Not a problem for us, we were backpacking, but we saw people with rollerboard bags struggling around. The staff will carry it for you though. We loved this place! It was more no frills compared to some others, but we were also left alone more. It wasn't 100% private but good enough, and the two guys who are on call to make your stay great are awesome. The snorkelling/diving is great (manta rays if you get lucky, the swell was too big the day we tried) and awesome reef break surfing if you're into that. It's a bit wacky getting to the island and back but the owner organized all of that for us which was super helpful.

Sorry if that was too in-depth! I think you've made the right choice with Bali. We splurged a bit on our accomodations, normally we stay in hostels, but it wasn't THAT much more to get WAY more luxury, so we did it. Have fun!

Following! Our honeymoon is in Bali too. But OP, look on airbnb. We booked a gorgeous private villa with an infinity pool for $200 per night, 14 nights

Was just there this past May. My FH proposed there! It was amazing.

UBER! So cheap compared to cabs. If you do decide to take a cab only go with metered "blue bird" cabs.

Nasi Goreng! My absolute favorite meal there.

The monkey forest in Ubud is amazing and kind of scary. The water temples are breath taking.

Potato head beach club is beautiful and they make yummy drinks. Also Cocoon (northern Kuta) is pretty trendy. They have a Dj. And if you decide to walk around after Cocoon there are plenty of beach side restaurants with live bands playing at night.

Bali belly is a real thing so don't drink or brush your teeth with tap water. And only use ATMs attached to banks.

15 days is a good length of time. We could only do 7 and it was way too short. We booked through a travel agent because I always book through a travel agent. But also because planning a honeymoon, on top of planning a wedding, working full time and studying part time, felt like one thing I was not mentally prepared to take on.

We stayed in Nusa Dua which is a very resorty area.

Uber: Uber is not recommended by hotels there, and if you try to use one while in a hotel, the Uber driver will decline. Hotels only recommend you use Blue Crane taxi's.

ATM's and Moneychangers: at per PP, only use ATM's that are connected to a bank. Only use Moneychangers that are recommended by your hotel. The money has a lot of zero's on it, so try to work out what is what before you head out. It took us a few days to get the hang of it.

Tours: if you are doing a pre-booked tour, bear in mind that a "Full day tour" is about 10-12 hours, and a "half day tour" is about 8 hours. Where I am from, full day is 8 hours and half day is 4 hours, so I was not mentally prepared for that. Our package came with 3 tours.

Shopping: If you are going to a market, be prepared to haggle hard. This was not my favourite part of Bali. I like to go to a shop, see a price, and pay it. Yes, we do have negotiation at markets in RSA, but not to this extent.

Food: Weirdest thing for me was having fried rice as part of the breakfast buffet (lol). The food is good, but beware of food in the markets. Some of it could be sitting for a while, so stick with food that you see is being cooked fresh. Fried banana was hands-down our favourite snack! If you go to a restaurant, the price you see might not be the real price as they sometimes don't include 21% tax. Keep an eye out.

People: The people are so friendly and helpful and are just amazing. They will literally invite you into their homes for supper. But they are also poor. Tourism is their only real industry. Definitely tip when you can and support the locals.

Water: if you are at a hotel, you'll probably get bottled water everyday. The ice is safe in your hotels and most restaurants that cater to tourists. Other than that, be careful with ice.

Weather: we went in April, it was quite humid. Stay hydrated! Make sure you stay in accommodation with aircon and a swimming pool.

Ooh I love all these helpful comments, thanks everyone! The lengthy detail is great!