Deciding between Canggu and Kuta when it comes to booking a holiday in Bali can be hard work. Both towns are famous for great beaches, and nightlife and are among the most popular destinations on the island.
So, we’ve put together an analysis of some important factors to weigh up when booking your holiday, to help you decide on Canggu or Kuta.
What’s It Like In Kuta?
Until recently, Kuta was the most popular destination in Bali and while it no longer holds the top spot, it is still extremely popular.
It tends to attract young families, tour groups, middle-aged singles and couples and more in search of a great time.
The nightlife in Kuta is copious and some of the best value for money on the island. You can find everything from live music to local DJs plying their trade in the clubs and pubs in the area.
The beach has become a little infamous recently due to plastic waste washing up on the shore, but that’s not an entirely fair picture of the area which is regularly cleaned up by crews of locals and expats and the beach is usually a pleasant place to walk and go surfing.
Kuta is also home to some of the biggest shopping malls on the island and if you’re looking for a destination with all the comforts of home and don’t mind the crowds of tourists you have to share it with – Kuta can be a great place to visit.
What’s It Like In Canggu?
Canggu, on the other hand, has gone from strength to strength in recent years. If you’d have visited the island just a decade ago, you’d be talking about Canggu being a land of rice paddies and cheap hostels.
It’s not anymore, it’s one of the most popular destinations on the island and it’s one of the reasons we chose to locate FINNS in Canggu.
Now, you’ll find it’s home to bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants, boutique stores and much more, in fact, Canggu has everything you need to enjoy a great holiday in Bali.
However, the rice fields are slowly disappearing and you might have to head out of Canggu to find them.
Kuta Vs Canggu: Head-To-Head Comparisons
So, let’s put Canggu and Kuta head to head in what we think are some of the most important areas when deciding where to stay in Bali when you’re on holiday.
Of course, we should stress that both areas offer great holiday opportunities and while there can only be one winner, you can have an amazing time in both Kuta and Canggu.
Which Is The Best For Accommodation?
Kuta has the longest established hotels and resorts in Bali and many of the big names are in the area. Accommodation in Kuta tends to be good value for money, though not as swanky as it is in neighbouring Seminyak and there’s something for every budget.
Canggu has a good mix of accommodation but it’s quite a bit pricier than it once was and there’s a real lack of low-budget accommodation such as hostels and guest houses.
There’s no doubt that you can find somewhere comfortable to rest your head in either of them and in Canggu, you might even get a view of the rice fields but we’d say that Kuta just has the edge in accommodation thanks to the greater level of choice.
Which Has The Best Nightlife?
There’s no doubt that both of these areas have great nightlife. Kuta’s nightlife is aimed squarely at visitors who want to party but aren’t too fussy about their surroundings as long as the beers are cheap.
It has the best live music scene in Bali and there are some very decent nightclubs in the area too.
However, because of the density and popularity of the nightlife in Kuta, it can draw in some shady characters and we’d urge anyone who wants to party in Kuta to take a ride-share home at the end of the night particularly if you’re not with a group of friends.
Canggu’s nightlife isn’t as upmarket as Seminyak’s and it has a definite hipster vibe in some venues, but it is more polished than it is in Kuta and a little bit more expensive.
The best place to party in Canggu is FINNS which is open from 11 a.m. to midnight every day and has a wide range of international and local DJs and some awesome vocalists to provide the entertainment.
For late-night good times, there’s Friends bar which is often open when everything else is closed as long as you want to keep the party going.
On this, we’d say that Canggu has the best nightlife, but that it’s a close contest and partying in either town is great fun.
Which Has The Best Shopping?
If you want boutique stores that sell vintage clothes and designer beachwear, then Canggu is the place to be and there are plenty of little stores that could be a shopper’s dream throughout Canggu.
However, Kuta has the big shopping malls which bring together designer brands from all over Bali and the world and which house cinemas, fast food chains, etc.
So, which has the best shopping is really going to be down to you and what you’re hoping to buy.
Overall, Kuta probably has the edge because it also has some of the traditional beach vendors that have been disappearing in Canggu but there’s not much in it.
Which Has The Best Dining Scene?
Kuta has the biggest range of restaurants and bars when compared to Canggu and much of that is simply due to the long-established nature of the town.
It has some of the big names like Hard Rock Cafe and Jamie Oliver, but many of these restaurants are aimed at the mid-market of mass tourism rather than looking to stand out for high-quality ingredients, etc.
Our own list of the best restaurants in Kuta identified 20 great places to eat in the town.
However, it’s fair to say that Canggu probably has more fine dining and upmarket spots than Kuta and certainly, its cafe culture is much better developed than Kuta’s and rivals that of Seminyak or Ubud, the island’s two other big cafe destinations.
We came up with 54 amazing places to eat in Canggu and FINNS is home to the four best-ranked restaurants on TripAdvisor for Canggu as we go to press.
Kuta Beach Vs Canggu Beach
Neither beach is covered in bright white sand but Kuta Beach has whiter sand than Canggu’s black sand beach.
Kuta Beach has made international headlines recently thanks to influencers posting TikTok and Instagram footage of rubbish, particularly plastic waste, lining the beach.
We think it’s important to point out that this rubbish washes ashore during the rainy season and while there are clean-up crews working on the beach, it’s very hard to keep up when huge volumes of plastic (from all over Indonesia and the world, not just Bali) come ashore.
The beach in Kuta is actually quite attractive and while it doesn’t measure up the best beaches of the Bukit Peninsula or the Gili Islands, it’s a pleasant place to be and there are some nice beachfront restaurants in the area.
Canggu Beach, on the other hand, is not quite as pretty as the beach in Kuta but it is kept very clean, thanks, in part, to the efforts of the FINNS clean-up crew who pull a lot of rubbish off the beach each morning.
Both beaches provide a decent environment for surfers and neither is great for swimming. Canggu Beach is best for dog walkers. They also share the best Bali sunsets.
Overall, we’d say that Canggu Beach is slightly better than Kuta just because it’s not as busy and you can get a great view of the sunset while sipping on a cocktail at FINNS but Kuta Beach isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be – it was, after all, one of the main reasons that Kuta became popular in the first place.
Which Is The Most Aesthetically Pleasing?
It’s probably fair to say that neither Canggu nor Kuta is bubbling over with the natural beauty of the island as they are both very developed.
However, Canggu does have rice fields still and the beaches are cleaner than in Kuta. There are still places where you can grab a moment that feels like Bali.
The best thing about Canggu from an aesthetic perspective is that the built-up part tends to feel modern and new because development has been relatively recent.
Whereas Kuta is starting to look a little run down in certain parts of the area as it’s been around for a lot longer than Canggu and there’s not much of old Bali left to see.
It’s not an unpleasant area to be in, but Kuta won’t win any prizes for design in the near future and Canggu wins this category.
Which Has The Most Things To Do?
There is a lot to do in both Canggu and Kuta. We found 41 things to do in Kuta when we put together our list and that makes it one of the most interesting and varied places on the island.
From the Ground Zero monument to the night market, Kuta is packed with choices to make your day more fun and you won’t be bored there.
However, for our money, there’s nowhere in Bali with more to do than Canggu. There’s the beach, the rice fields, shopping, the Junior Sports Academy, FINNS Beach Club, Bounce Trampoline Park, and so much more.
Canggu wins in this category but it’s the tightest margin when compared to other areas in Bali, Kuta really does have plenty to do.
Where Would Expats Be Happiest?
Kuta is a town in desperate need of refreshing, the pandemic hit it hard and there are plenty of empty shop fronts and units where stalls and restaurants used to be.
It still has some excellent shopping malls, and other facilities, but overall, expats appear to be choosing Canggu over Kuta.
That’s probably because Canggu is up and coming, there’s more to do and more amenities in general than there are in Kuta and while most expats will want to spend, at least, some time in Kuta, Canggu is only a 30-45 minute drive away (in normal Bali traffic) from Kuta, so they can go whenever they want to.
Where you stay in Bali isn’t a hugely important question on a holiday, but it becomes a bigger deal when you live here and Canggu is easily the preferred expat destination now when compared to Kuta.
Which Area Is Best For Digital Nomads?
Canggu is the best area for digital nomads. In fact, it’s a toss-up between Canggu and Ubud (not Kuta) as to where the best place on the island is for digital nomads.
There are coworking and coliving spaces in plentiful supply in Canggu and because Canggu has a great reputation with the digital nomad community, it also has the largest community of nomads in Bali.
That’s not to say you can’t be a digital nomad in Kuta, there are coworking spaces in the area and plenty of friendly coffee shops where you can take a laptop. It’s just not going to be the same level of experience as you get in Canggu.
We should also add a note of caution that it’s illegal to work in Bali without a work permit. There are many agents here offering social visit visas and business visas to digital nomads and claiming that it makes it legal to work, it doesn’t.
However, for the moment, at least, the Balinese authorities seem to be very relaxed about digital nomads and there’s very little risk of a raid on your favourite co-working space from immigration.
So, Canggu Or Kuta? Which Is The Best Beach Town To Visit?
So, let’s tally things up and see which is better Canggu or Kuta…
We gave Kuta the win for accommodation and shopping, but in every other category, Canggu took first place.
That means in our somewhat subjective fashion, we’ve reached the conclusion that Canggu is the best beach town to stay in when compared to Kuta.
However, again, we’d like to stress that both of these beach towns are great places to be and if you’re in Canggu, you can visit Kuta at any time as it’s only a short drive away.
FAQs
Is Canggu The New Kuta?
We’ve heard that argument but no, we don’t think Canggu is the new Kuta.
Canggu is evolving in its own way and there’s less emphasis on luxury resorts or luxury hotels than there is in places like Nusa Dua but also less emphasis on low-cost, mass tourism than there is in Kuta.
If you like beach bars and beach clubs like FINNS Beach Club, the best beach club, in the world, as well as boutique shops, amazing sunsets, rice terraces and more, we think you’ll like Canggu even if it has become more popular with tourists in recent years.
Is It Worth Going To Canggu?
Yes! In fact, if you don’t visit FINNS, the world’s best beach club, in Canggu, can you say you’ve really visited Bali at all?
Canggu has so much to offer that it would be a real shame to miss out on the most popular area on the entire island, today.
It’s Bali’s party hotspot, it has plenty of great restaurants, it is a part of the local surf culture, and there are gorgeous villas and pleasant resorts, beautiful beaches, and you’re only a stone’s throw from the rice paddies of “real Bali”.
Canggu is popular for good reasons and sure, the hipster cafes and coworking spaces, might not be everyone’s cup of tea but there’s such a huge range of things to see and do in Canggu, that nobody will get bored.
Is Canggu Or Seminyak Better?
In our recent piece on Canggu Vs Seminyak, we concluded that if you stay in Bali and have to pick between these two beach towns, we’d pick Canggu.
But given that Canggu and Seminyak are next door to each other and it’s a very short (and cheap) drive from one to the other, it doesn’t really matter too much where tourists stay, they can enjoy the best aspects of both places easily enough.
So whether you prefer Berawa Beach, Batu Bolong Beach, Echo Beach, Double Six Beach, etc. you will be able to enjoy the sand in your chosen location without too much effort.
Is Kuta Worth Staying In In Bali?
Yes! While you won’t find much of the old Balinese culture in Kuta, this touristic area has a pleasant laid-back vibe and some of the best shopping on the island.
There’s is plenty to do in Kuta and while the white sand beach does occasionally get buried in trash washing ashore during the rainy season, the beach is regularly cleaned and it doesn’t stay that way for long.
Most of all, Kuta is maturing and it’s not the place it was a few years back. It’s now a fantastic spot for middle-aged and older visitors to enjoy great local food and cheap nightlife.
Why Is Canggu So Popular?
Partially it’s the beach clubs, with FINNS, the world’s best beach club, leading the charge but people also enjoy a Bali holiday in Canggu because it has the best combination of amenities on the island.
You can find boutique shops, gyms, Bounce trampoline park, surfing, water sports, Strike ten pin bowling, etc. all within a short walk of some great black sand beaches and attractive rice terraces. It’s also home to some great cultural attractions like Tanah Lot Temple.
Canggu may no longer have that “village life” experience of 10 years ago, but the development of this part of Bali, Indonesia has been a positive thing that has led to Canggu becoming the most visited part of the island.
Is It Better To Stay In Kuta Or Seminyak?
We have examined Kuta vs Seminyak in great detail and we came to the conclusion that there’s not a huge difference between the two but that we would probably prefer Seminyak, if, for nothing else, it’s closer to FINNS than Kuta.
However, all of the beach towns on the West Coast of Bali have a certain charm to them and you won’t be sorry if you stay in Kuta or Seminyak.
How To Book A Holiday In Kuta, Canggu or Seminyak?
Whether you want to book a holiday on the East Coast or West Coast of Bali, in any of the beach towns or even on the Gili Islands or the Nusa Islands, there’s only one travel agent we recommend and that’s the Bali Res Centre.
As a locally owned and operated travel service, they can give you the benefit of their inside knowledge of what’s happening here in Bali and at a very competitive price. You’ll find that luxury resorts, flights, a day trip, etc. can all be booked through this excellent service at no extra cost to you.
Final Thoughts On Canggu Vs Kuta
Both Canggu and Kuta are great destinations for a holiday in Bali and while some folks online complain about these beach towns, the truth is that they’re two of the most popular places on the island for good reason.
If you enjoy partying, good food, and beach life, then they’re both great places to be.
Canggu is just a little better, in our estimation, mainly because it’s a bit newer than Kuta and because it’s home to FINNS, the world’s best beach club.
