Wanna know how the other half live in Bali? We talk to celebrity parents in Canggu & beyond about their fave family hotels, activities and hidden gems
With its long list of fancy restaurants, VIP experiences and six-star island abodes, Bali has become a hotspot for international celebs. Whether they’re visiting the island for a romantic getaway (Kim & Kanye, we’re looking at you!) or bringing the whole family for an action-packed escape (yes we saw you white-water rafting, Obamas!) celebs seem to slip into island life easier than our evening sundowners fall into our hands…
In fact, some celebs love laid-back island living so much, they’ve made Bali their full-time home, moving their lives and even their families to the island. So, to give you some insight into how these famous folk live in Bali, local writer and fellow mum Rebecca Foreman, interviewed a handful of local Bali celebrities to bring you their top tips for keeping their own kids fed and entertained on the island.
Here’s how the other half live…
CELEBRITY PARENTS IN BALI
Michael Klim
Olympic World & Commonwealth Gold Medallist and Founder of Milk & Co. Michael has three very active kids: Frankie 8, Rocco 11 and Stella 14.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
My kids are all into different things so we’re pretty busy all the time. Stella’s into horse riding and surfing, so she’ll go to Bali Equestrian and Bali Surf School (or Tropic Surf for more technical instruction). Rocco and Stella both love tennis so I’ll take them to Finns Rec Club’s JSA tennis club and swimming club, which is run by ex-Olympian Louisa. As for Frankie, she’s into gymnastics, so I take her to BazGym.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
My kids are very spoilt! Finns VIP Beach Club is great, as is Milk & Madu – it’s so family friendly. My kids love Indonesian food so we’ll also go to Ulekan, and we’ve come to love Mason for their great meat dishes. We also like Nude, Kembali and Savage Kitchen where the kids can choose from either Italian or sushi.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
We often head to COMO Beach Club at Echo Beach on the weekends – the food’s great, parents can kick back by the pool and the beach is right in front. My kids have a special affinity with the water and just hanging at the beach. I’m proud to say they get that from me. So we also love Finns Rec Club where the kids can hang out at Splash Waterpark while I hit the gym. Or if we want to get out of Canggu, we’ll head to Alila Villas Uluwatu.
Mel Schilling
TV Psychologist on reality TV show ‘Married at First Sight’, organisational consultant and leadership coach. Mel has been living in Bali for three years with husband Gareth and daughter Madison, 5.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
Maddie spends four days a week at The Garden. It’s based on the Reggio Emilia Experience as well as elements of Montessori Education, and there’s a focussed theme every term, like underwater, planets or planes. She now knows everything about planets (much more than I do!). In terms of actual activities, she goes dancing at Mickey’s Mad House and does Taekwondo at JH Kim Taekwondo. It’s a very disciplined class. She also sometimes goes to the Bali Equestrian Centre for the Tiny Tot classes, and we can’t go past all the fun at Splash Waterpark, Bounce Trampoline Centre and Strike Bowling at Finns Rec Club.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
We love Milk & Madu, especially the playground for the kids to hang out in while you sit and have a wine. The kids can get their face painted and there’s even daily arts and crafts. It’s one of our favourites. Made’s Warung in Berawa is another fave because it has a great playground and trampoline. Also Panama is very good for kids – it’s opposite Finns VIP Beach Club and they have a kid-friendly pool. We’ve had a mermaid-themed birthday party there for Maddie where they arranged ‘real’ mermaids to teach the kids how to swim with fins.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
If you want to get off the beaten track (or just away from the hipster cafes of Canggu) a great day out for the whole family is Bali Eco Cycling Tour where you can take a relaxing ride through the rice paddies and get a taste of authentic Bali village life. If animals are your family’s thing, you’ve got to check out Bali Safari Park and I highly recommend the breakfast with the lions – roar! For a lovely, family-friendly weekend getaway, I suggest Komune Beach Club where you can enjoy the quiet life and plop the kids in front of the outdoor cinema whilst you enjoy a cocktail or seven.
Indah Kalalo
A model, actor and entrepreneur, Indah lives in Bali with her Australian husband, Justin Werner. They have three gorgeous and active children, Ayanna Rose 9, Byron 7, and Tigerlily 6.
Top restaurant tips for a family feast:
Alma Tapas Bar, One Eyed Jack, Ink at Tamora Gallery, Hahaha Thai, Indigo, and Sensorium for lunch and brunch (although better suited to older kids).
Favourite Bali beach:
There’s a perfect little beach cove we love in Ceningan and we go every other weekend because we love it so much. In fact, we are building a home there and a beach club so others can enjoy it too! It’s going to be called Suku Beach, with white sand, rock pools, the most gorgeous sunset, and the waves are perfect for surfers.
Go-to spot for a weekend family staycation:
If we’ve had enough of the beach, we love escaping the heat for a weekend up at Handara Golf Resort in Bedugul. It’s great for golfing in the cooler climate and the kids love playing on the big outdoor treehouse there before going strawberry picking. There’s even free putt-putt golf! We also love Anapuri Villas for a staycation with a group of friends because you can hire a one-bedroom villa or a villa with six bedrooms. It’s very well set up for the kids. We also like Hotel Komune where they have a trampoline and skate park, pool, and beach – the list goes on. I also love the Mandala Houses, Villa Seascape in Lembongan and Uluwatu Surf Villas. When my kids were younger we used to go to Movenpick in Jimbaran because of the great kids club and the really little mini Waterbom-type area they had. Mimpi Tulamben is one of our faves in the north of Bali and Six Senses in Uluwatu – my kids absolutely love it there.
Favourite water activity with the kids:
Snorkelling and diving… we have so many great spots in Bali. Tulamben, Menjangan, Amed, Lembongan, Ceningen, Penida. I am new to diving but I love it. We also love places like Waterbom for a great day out on the slides. And surfing! The kids love surfing.
Best kids activities in Bali:
Amplitude skate park of course, because it’s very close to where we live so we’ve hired professional skateboarders to teach Byron. We also love Parklife and Tamora Gallery.
Favourite place a plane ride away:
Mmm, so many places. We love Rote Island and hanging at the late Linda Garland’s Mama Linda’s Rote. The place is so incredibly beautiful, with great snorkelling too, of course!
Kim and Mark Griffin
Kim Griffin is the mum of two champion skateboarders and wife to, Mark, a professional wakeboarder. Kim and Mark have two kids: Ryder, 8 and Arya 5.
A typical weekend in Bali with the family:
Active! Living with a professional athlete, weekends always have to be active, for Mark especially. So we do Bali Wake Park usually once over the weekend – also Ryder will do a surfing camp and skateboarding of course. Sometimes Mark will take the kids waterfall jumping, like at Aling Aling or Kantor, which is a bit more kiddy-friendly, to try out different heights. Also Bounce, everyone likes that place! It’s tiring. We don’t do relaxing on the beach, put it that way!
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
Skating of course. We go to Loco by Nature, Amplitude, Motion or Donkey Skateboarding. Also Eat, Sleep Skate in Sanur, and Komune in Keramas because of the huge bowl there. We cover all the bases because they need to know all the different ramps!
A typical day for you in Bali:
It’s very scheduled! Every day it’s school then 1-2 hours maximum for rest, lunch, homework then straight away it’s after-school activities. My kids are active – they do jiu jitsu three times a week, kickboxing twice a week (both at Bali MMA) skateboarding and training is around four times a week and wakeboarding at Bali Wake Park is once a week. Dinner and lights out by 9pm, sometimes even as late as 10pm. I can’t begin to tell you how much energy my kids have, they don’t need sugar, they are bright and awake at 6am everyday. Ready and waiting for us to get going!
Best kid friendly dining experiences in Bali:
Our top three places are Just Kitchen (a Georgian Restaurant) where kids under 7 years eat for free and there’s always games for them to play there. We also like Made’s Warung in Berawa for the playground, and a staple for breakfast is Milk & Madu of course, because of the cubby house kids activities!
Will Meyrick
Culinary genius and Street Food Chef who gave us Sarong, Mama San and Billy Ho. Will has three kids Cinta 17, Mischa 11, and Caleb 9.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
Definitely the Bounce Trampoline Centre disco on Fridays for three hours of hardcore bouncing – it gets out a lot of Caleb’s energy! When our eldest Cinta is back from boarding school, she’ll take guitar lessons or play in the Bali School Band. Mischa loves Balinese dance and ballet, and also singing classes at Finns Rec Club. Caleb is big into soccer at Finns’s JSA, and he also DJs at Praia. They all love music which they get from my wife, Wati.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
Our kids eat street food wherever and whenever we go travelling. They eat everything and anything, especially Indonesian. But when we’re here in Bali, they all love eating at Sushi Tei for Japanese, and Warung Dua in Umalas for Nasi Campur. We also eat at Bistro C almost three times a week because the kids do so much at Finns Rec Club. For something special like Sunday brunch, the W in Seminyak is very good.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
Our kids love to go to Bedugul for picnics and mountain biking with Infinity Biking. If we go away for a weekend, then we’ll go to Taman Sari Resort in Pemuteran. There are so many activities there, like biking, hiking, cooking or just chilling out.
Jennifer & Irfan Bachdim
Jennifer is a model, Adidas ambassador, award-winning Instagram influencer, vlogger, blogger, fitness warrior and Diva mentor. Irfan is a professional footballer for Bali United. They live in Canggu and have two very active kids, Kiyomi 8, and Kenji 6.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
Finns Rec Club is where we spend a lot of time with our two. They do gymnastics, ballet, jazz, soccer at JSA, as well as basketball at their Canggu Community School. Our kids are active so if they aren’t doing a sport, they’ll be at Splash Waterpark, Bounce Trampoline Centre or Strike Bowling still being active.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
Our kids love going to La Brisa and Finns Beach Club for the pools, but as for eating, I (Jennifer) am mostly vegan and so are the kids, so we go to I Am Vegan Babe (they have a great kids menu), GIVE for clean Indonesian food (it’s also 100% not for profit) and its sister restaurant, KYND in Seminyak. The kids also love Sambal Shrimp, Tygr Sushi, the affordable Indian food at Piring Daun, and the pasta in La Casetta in Umalas.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
We don’t venture out of Canggu too much because of the traffic, but we might go to Geger Beach in Nusa Dua where Kiyomi loves to swim. The beach is great, with white sand, clear and calm water. When in Canggu, we love to go to The Lawn – it’s very good for photos and the infinity pool is right on the beach.
Tamara Bleszynski
Veteran Indonesian actress and extreme foodie. Tamara has lived in Canggu for 9 years and, after taking a break from the silver screen, she’s opened Teh Manis warung in Echo Beach. She has two sons, Kenzou 9, and Rassya 21 who lives in London.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
Bounce Trampoline Centre and Strike Bowling at Finns Rec Club are favourites for Kenzou – he’s a boy with a lot of energy so that seems to burn it off. He also loves to play football at Finns’s JSA – it keeps him busy and active. Sometimes he’ll surf at Batu Bolong with Bali Local Surf School, or go horse riding at Bali Equestrian Centre.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
Because Kenzou plays football, we’ll eat a lot at Bistro C at Finns, but since opening Teh Manis, we eat there most days too. Also Billy Ho for dinner, and if we have a gathering and I don’t feel like cooking, I’ll get Monsieur Spoon.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
If we leave Canggu we’ll often head up to the Ubud Monkey Forest and the Antonio Blanco Museum before a lunch or dinner stop at Bebek Bengil. We love it in Ubud, it’s so relaxing. Otherwise, we’d head to a hotel on Nusa Dua Beach where Kenzou can swim in the ocean or enjoy the pool. Or we’ll go north to Lovina where he can live in nature and explore the rice paddies. Most weeks, we love going to the movies, getting good seats, eating popcorn and watching films. It’s my background after all!
Irene Hoff
Self-taught Dutch artist with work displayed in high-end villas and personal collections around the world. Irene has lived in Bali for 9 years. She has two girls, Noa 17, and Quyn 14.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
My girls play tennis at Finns’s JSA which offers very comprehensive training. They also surf with Cody at Thumbs Up, or take on art classes at Berawa Art House at Tamora Gallery.
Best kid-friendly dining experiences in Bali:
Favourites for us are Tukan in Berawa because it’s right on the beach – my girls love it there, along with all the little beach places next to Finns Beach Club for both breakfast and sunset. We also love Roti Daal for veggie food (Noa is vegetarian) Lupe for healthy bowls, Tygr Sushi for Japanese, Cous Cous for a local go-to and also Kembali cafe. We also love going to Ubud to Lazy Cats for its French feel and gorgeous views from upstairs.
Favourite kids activities in Bali:
Purpa Gallery up in Ubud is definitely worth a look – it’s owned by a 65 year-old Indonesian millionaire artist who left home at 8 years of age. So many great stories there. We also love Tegallalang for its temples, rice terraces and e-bike tours, as well as the Ubud Monkey Forest (make sure you go early to miss the crowds!) and the Campuhan Ridge Walk. The girls have also been heavily into Bali Escape Room in Seminyak, and as for weekends away, we love Nusa Lembongan and watching the explosions of water at Devil’s Tear.
Robert Ian Bonnick
Author of his book, SOUL SURVIVOR – How An Abandoned Child Went From Nothing To Everything. Robert has two young girls.
Top tips for keeping kids active in Canggu:
My girls regularly hit the playground at Tamora Gallery, and for water action we’ll go to Splash Waterpark at Finns Rec Club. Art and craft classes are also a big hit at Berawa Art House and horse riding at Bali Equestrian Centre. If we want to go for a big day out, then we’ll go to Bali Zoo.
Describe your ideal day with the kids in Bali:
The ideal day for us is our Sunday family day at Tamora Gallery. This usually entails a healthy breakfast while the girls attend any number of activities at ‘Kids Sunday’. We might then head off to Splash Waterpark for a cool down, or if we want to head out of Canggu, we’d go to the Butterfly Park in Ubud before finishing the day at somewhere like Ji Restaurant in Canggu – the perfect place to watch the sun go down from the top floor terrace.
Best dining experiences with kids in Bali:
Tamora Gallery – it’s the first lifestyle shopping village in Canggu with so many great food choices. Parents can indulge in retail therapy and even hit the spa, while kids can be kept occupied at the grassed playground or air-conditioned Cheeky Monkey Kids Club. There’s even outdoor movies if the weather is clear on week nights. We also like La Brisa‘s food (though it’s a little more pricey) with its two pools overlooking the ocean, and plenty of space for the kids to run around. Also, Made’s Warung in Berawa is good for Indonesian dishes and pizza, plus there’s a playground for littlies.
