Ten days in Bali gives room for a third stop, and for most travelers the best use of it is a few nights on the Nusa islands. A workable shape is three nights in Ubud, three on Nusa Lembongan or Nusa Penida, and four at a beach base in the south. The island leg belongs in the middle, with the boat well clear of the flight home.
What ten days adds
Ten nights are three more than a week, and those three nights are what make a third base possible. A week covers Ubud and one coast base. Ten days add one more region without rushing the first two. The Nusa islands, off the southeast coast, are the closest addition, since boats leave from Sanur.
Why the islands
The three Nusa islands offer what the mainland's south does not: small-island days with very little traffic, cliffs, snorkeling and surf. Nusa Lembongan is about 8 square kilometers and nearly free of cars. Nusa Penida is far larger and wilder. Tiny Nusa Ceningan is joined to Lembongan by a bridge.
A ten-day route
The ten-day route below adds an island leg to the classic pairing of Ubud and the coast. It is a suggestion to adapt, with no prices and no drive times. It assumes ten nights and puts the boat crossings on days four and seven, away from both flights.
- Days 1 to 3: Ubud.
- Day 4: drive to Sanur, boat to Nusa Lembongan.
- Days 5 and 6: Lembongan, Ceningan and a day on Nusa Penida.
- Day 7: boat back to Sanur, transfer to a southern beach base.
- Days 8 to 10: the coast.
- Day 11: depart.
Days 1 to 3: Ubud
Ubud comes first, while jet lag wakes you early. It is about 22 miles from the airport. Walk the center on the first full day and take a driver to the rice terraces and temples on the second. Ubud is also about 13 miles from Sanur's harbor, which makes it a convenient place to leave from.
Days 4 to 6: the islands
Boats to the Nusa islands leave mainly from Sanur. Travel guides give the crossing as roughly 30 to 45 minutes and note that most boats to Lembongan involve a wet landing, wading from the beach. Stay on Lembongan and visit Penida from there; guides put that hop at about ten minutes by local boat.
Days 7 to 10: the coast
Return to Bali with three or four nights left, and spend them at a beach base that suits you: Seminyak, Canggu, the Bukit or Sanur itself. Sanur has the advantage of needing no transfer after the boat. These last days carry no boats and no long drives.
Why the boat goes in the middle
The island leg sits in the middle of this route for one reason. Boat crossings depend on sea conditions, and we have no official source on how often they are delayed or cancelled. A boat on day seven leaves several days of slack before the flight. A boat on day ten leaves none.
What travel guides say about boats
Travel guides advise against boarding any fast boat you have doubts about, whether because of the vessel, overloading or the weather. Take a morning boat, in daylight. Keep phones and passports in a dry bag, and carry luggage you can lift, since a wet landing means wading with it.
