Bali / Indonesia / Travel Menjangan Island, Bali
Apr 16, 2015 6 Comments Just off the Northwest coast of Bali, Indonesia lies Menjangan island. Surrounded by clear water, colorful coral, and incredible numbers of fish, it’s a spot we’ve been wanting to visit for some time. So we invited our friends, Brian and Scottie and their 5 year old son, and spent a few days there together.
Well, actually the island is uninhabited, except for some monks. But there are several lovely hotels on Bali just a short boat ride away. We chose Taman Sari Resort, which is in a lovely cove with lush green mountains, and great snorkeling right off shore.
Our drive there was a bit of an adventure, because we decided to take a little “shortcut”. The roads looked fine on the map, but they ended up being more like rocky motorbike paths. They might be fine for a 4-wheel drive vehicle, but our little Toyota Avanza struggled quite a bit, and we had to go very slow to ensure we wouldn’t high center ourselves, fall off a cliff, or burn out our breaks. Marie was pretty scared at several points, and gave off some good screams and cries. What an adventure!
After several hours, we finally made it to Lovina, where we had lunch with some friends we’d met online, and I really welcomed the rest after such a harrowing drive. We had a nice meal and visit at their vacation rental and then went on our way again, arriving at Taman Sari before dark that night. (It should be close to a 4 hour drive from Ubud if you take normal roads. You could also drive up from the southwest, which is the way we came back, and is also full of beautiful scenery.)
That night we had a relaxing dinner by the beach as the kids played in the sand. We loved being with our friends, and had so many great discussions over the course of the trip. Such an awesome family!
The days following consisted of lots of beach and pool time, amazing snorkeling, and an excursion to Menjangan island itself. We also paid a quick visit to the nearby Reef Seen Turtle Sanctuary, which focuses on educating local and foreign people about the preservation of the reef and its marine life, especially turtles. Here are some pictures and videos from the trip.
Brandon Pearce
Brandon is a location independent entrepreneur, musician, worldschooling father, and the principal author of this blog. He's all about reaching his potential and enjoying life to the fullest in each moment.
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What a great place to visit! The fish are so vivid- I love the parrotfish. Those have always been my favorites to see :) Nice that you could spend some time with some good friends and enjoy the beautiful snorkeling and scenery. GLAD YOU DIDN’T DIE on your damn “shortcut.” Don’t scare me like that.
The girls are growing up beautifully! I love the pictures!
Love you :)
What a beautiful adventure! LOL to the “shortcut”… reminds me a bit of the time we were together in Costa Rica and Brandon wanted to drive through the deepening crocodile infested river to avoid driving around to find a bridge. We almost did get stuck in one of the rivers we crossed. Say no to shortcuts LOL
Emily’s hair is getting so long – the girls are all growing up so fast. it’s fun to see them enjoy the water. I remember when they screamed just thinking of being in it :)
Beautiful video! Love, love, love it. :) Lovely time, lovely, place, and amazing company. So glad our friends could join us!! Glad we all survived the tricky moments. :)
What a a beautiful and fun place to vacation. I’m getting to see a lot of this beautiful world through your travels and posts. “THANKS”
It’s nice to spend time with great friends and make lovely memories.
The girls are really growing up and all three so beautiful. They’re sure having some wonderful experiences.
Hi wonderful family! It is amazing to see your girls grow though your pictures and videos! Have you thought of making more videos? I see you guys like to take pictures. Maybe it’s easier and less time consuming for you…?
I would love to also see more of your daily life in Bali. Maybe you could do a “a day in our life” video, or of pictures. I think you incarnate multiple concepts that I personally would love to see more in action, such as calm (maybe always), meditation, staff around to help you in the house, eating local food, “homeschool/no school”, the girls have their own interests and activities…
Just an idea :)
And of course, if you make one, would love to see more, as our days are different from time to time.
Are you still traveling to Europe right now? I think it was supposed to be around this time of the year…
Millie
Glad you like the videos. Yes, I do plan to continue making them. I love taking pictures and sometimes forget to take footage, but combining them both seems to work alright. Showing videos of the more mundane aspects of our daily life in Bali I’m afraid might not be so interesting, but I like the idea of a quick sample of the kind of things we do in a typical day, which does vary, and is not always peaceful. :) We won’t be back there for about 7 months though, as we’re currently traveling. We’re now in Spain, and we’ll be in France in June and would love to see you if you’re around! Thanks for keeping in touch.