Enjoy a few “lazy days” to overcome the jet lag and get used to the tropical climate. Yet, after a while, you may want to be more active or become nosy and eager to explore the island and be-yond. We have a multitude of suggestions and will help you to realise them. A “must” on the is-land of Bali is to visit cultural activities, Bali-Hindu ceremonies and festivities.

Though there is a multitude of possible activities outside of CBG,you should be aware of the choices you have right on the premises:swimming, snorkelling, table tennis, massages, yoga and more.

We are not a Wellness- and Spa-Resort in the first place, but we pay much attention to a holistic recreation for our guests. It is possible to go swimming in the ocean nearly every day of the year. In the months of January, February and August high surge and strong currents may be observed, but it happens rarely that it is hard or impossible to swim for a day. From March to July and from September to December the ocean is very calm and ideally suited for swimming. Walking just 200m along the beach to the west, you’ll encounter a public swimming pool fed by the sweet water springs which give Air Sanih its name. You may also consider the hot springs of Banjar, but they are a 40-minute drive away.

Only a short swimming distance from the CBG shore in Air Sanih, you’ll find a small reef with soft coral. Using our boats you easily reach a greater variety of small coral reefs and colourful coral fish.

Aside from bathing in the ocean or the beautiful Balinese light and sunshine, we have a table tennis pavilion in the middle of our property. Should you be in need of a match partner, we’ll find you somebody.

For getting a relaxing massage, you do not have to leave CBG: On request young therapists from “Bali Samadhi Spa” will come and massage you on your house- or seaside-terrace using traditional Balinese techniques, applying gentle pressure and stretching to your muscles. There are more massage programs and even yoga lessons available, please consult our flyer in your house. Following are some suggestions for possible activities from CBG.

1. Diving and Snorkeling and Excursions by boat Right in front of our resort in Air Sanih, there is good swimming, but the ocean floor is sandy and rather boring. Yet, to go snorkelling over multi-coloured corals, among glittering hosts of fish and bizarre spe-cimen of ocean life, you do not have to travel far from Ciliks Beach Garden: Within a few minutes to the East of our property, our boat can take you to two larger coral banks; and even closer to the West, you’ll reach a small, rather modest bank with several beautiful soft coral and a variety of fish just by swimming.CBG owns two traditional outrigger boats, a big one with a strong motor, making it independent from the wind and a small, just man-powered one (use the paddles and go fishing close to the shore !). Going out with the big one, Pak Cilik or Nyoman, who worked as a fisherman, before joining us at CBG, will ac-company you. It is wonderful to start very early with the first light and experience the sun rise from the water. Go to the close-by coral reefs or make a tour and watch the dolphins playing elegantly in large schools around the boat; with some luck, you’ll even see a whale.

   If you are an angler, you can go and catch your own fish; use the experience and intimate knowledge of the Balinese fishermen, learn from their surprising techniques to catch tuna, marlin, barracuda and other fish using a kite or - just enjoy and watch them. Guests, who stay with us 10 days or more, will use the Sampan, the small outrigger boat, for free.

   There are many attractive diving spots in northern Bali: The coast of Lovina Beach provides excellent opportunities for snorkelling. Taking the boat (the best time to go is in the morning when the sea is very tranquil), you will reach clear water about 800 m off the coastline, and there, just one to three metres be-low the water level, you will find beautiful coral banks showing a multitude of different species. Unfortu-nately, these banks have been damaged considerably by fishermen and tourists during the last decades.Further to the Northwest of Bali, close to Pemuteran and around the island of Menjangan, large coral banks and a steeply sloping reef edge offer fascinating opportunities for both snorkelling and diving. But some experience is necessary, since, depending on the tidal situation, there are strong currents at the edge of the reef. The car ride from Air Sanih will take close to two hours, then you take a boat to the island, which is part of an area under natural preservation. Recently, a stylish hotel belonging to the Waka chain has been opened there.

   Some 40 minutes to the east, close to the village Sembirenteng, the diving resort Alam Anda is located. It belongs to a large chain of diving stations; you can book diving classes and dive here or at other Bali locations with one of their instructors. Alam Anda has a restaurant and a salt-water pool; you can even register for Ayurveda massages; but they are not cheap. The resort is frequently visited by larger diving groups and the a bit loud.

   The best-known diving site of the region is located 35 km to the east of CGB, near Tulamben. The wreck of the ship “Liberty”, which sank in World War II, lies less than 50 m off the pebble beach, at a depth of about 4 to 25 m, at times, attracting rather too many divers. But the corals growing on and surrounding it, and a wealth of fish and other forms of oceanic fauna make a snorkelling tour there worth while. Close to the wreck, you’ll find the German-managed dive resort “Tauch Terminal”, which also welcomes outside guests, renting equipment and offering guided dive excursions. Further east, along the narrow coastal road of Amed, many dive resorts sprouted there during the recent years.

2. Day or half-day trips by car There is a multitude of destinations in the immediate and close-by surroundings, to enjoy and enhance your culture- and nature impressions of Bali: Temples in northern Balinese style, rarely visited by for eigners; traditional Adat villages, celebrating unaltered Hindu-Balinese ceremonies; Wayang perform ances in their ritual context; the traditional manufacturing of handicrafts like bebali and ikat fabrics, wood carvings, wayang puppets, under-glass paintings, silversmith goods, gongs and other Gamelan in struments. And of course, we can also show and accompany you to the better or well-known destinations in middle and southern Bali.

   The sand, gravel and lava beaches, and the rocky coast in northern Bali, water falls and hot springs along the northern slopes of the mountains, rice paddies and terraces, the enormous caldera of mount Batur, hill and forest landscapes around Bedugul, and the majestic lava dome of Gunung Agung are witnesses of the impressive, tropical nature of Bali.

   We can organize a rental car for you by the day or - if you want to be completely independent - for the entire time of your visit. Yet, we would recommend that you ask Pak Ketut, our driver or Pak Putu to drive you: Firstly, you can watch and admire the vistas without caring about traffic, secondly, you can take advantage of the geographical knowledge of your Balinese escort. Ask us! Whatever you like, we’ll put together a program suiting your preferences. Below, find some examples of possible excursions:

3. Temples and hot springs An excursion to the West: First, visit Kubutambahan. See the original Northern Balinese temple Pura Maduwe Karang, dedicated to Surya, the sun god and god of fruits and fields. This temple has a strictly symmetrical structure of almost pristine and most fascinating clarity and austerity. Therefore, it is quite different from the typical Northern Balinese temples, which, in contrast to those of Central or Southern Bali are usually rather voluptuous and sometimes described as “baroque” in style.

   From Kubutambahan, it is not far to Sangsit. Here, you will find Pura Beji, considered by many to be the most beautiful Northern Balinese temple. Its generous architecture, which may well be called “ba roque”, is in stark contrast to the above mentioned temple. Pura Beji is a Subak (rice field) temple, de dicated to Dewi Sri, the rice goddess.

   The next stop is Singaraja, the former capital of Bali. At first sight, Singaraja is not very attractive, yet it offers a couple of interesting sites. Close to the old harbour, there is a beautiful Chinese Confucian temple, not far away a more than 150 years old mosque – the oldest in Bali. In Gedong Kertya, the largest Bali-nese collection of Lontar texts is on exhibition with thousands of ancient Balinese scripts. Furthermore you may want to visit a silver smith or small factory producing silk ikats. A “must-see” is the Singaraja market, Pasar, most interesting is a stroll through the enormous complex early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Return to the old harbour and finish you visit with a cold drink on the old harbour bridge.

   From Singaraja you continue in western direction, passing Lovina Beach (the village is actually called Kali bukbuk). Close to Seririt you drive southwards up the mountains to the hot springs of Banjar. You can enjoy the spring water which is rich in iron – therefore the brown colour - and has a temperature of al most 40° C. It is most pleasant to have your body be massaged by a stream of hot water from one of the spouts. After your bath, you can rest in the shades of the adjacent restaurant. Meanwhile, a considerable amount of tourism has developed around the springs, partly because of the proximity to Lovina. You may already be yearning for the peace and quietness of Air Sanih, however, you should make one more visit on this trip: Go and see the only Buddhist monastery in Bali, Brahma Vihara Arama, which is not far away. Few tourists will ever go there; the place is well worth-while visiting; it is unique in its sublime tranquillity and you’ll have a wonderful view to the Balinese Sea.

4. Arts and Craft: Traditional weaving, wood carving,music instruments, shadow theatre and painting This is just a two-hours trip fitting well into an empty afternoon: Sembiran, a Bali-Aga village with un usual, pre-hinduistic traditions, is only a few kilometres to the east of Air Sanih. Very close to this village in Pacung, you can visit a crafts-women’ cooperative using only naturally dyed fibres to weave the beauti ful Bebali fabrics. You can watch them working and – if you wish – also buy their products. The fabrics made out of silk or kapok make stylish gifts. Close to the large temple complex Ponjok Batu and a small fishermen village, you find the house of Partha, a young wood carver, some hundred meters above the coastal road. Besides his work as a carpenter he carves small and large wooden boxes, dolphin-shaped hangers for hair driers, napkin rings, rice spoons, and several objects of utility. He uses carefully selected teak wood and coconut shells, and all his products are individually hand worked. Coming back, you may want to stop at the “bizar” studio of the American painter Symon. He lives in Bali already for a long time; his paintings used to be better; today, he focusses a little bit narrowly on homo-erotic topics.

   The next trip takes you from CBG to the west, to Kubutambahan and then south uphill towards Kinta mani, until you reach the village of Tamblang. There you can visit a Dalang, a master of the Balinese shadow theatre. Perhaps he will show you his large wooden chest with the Wayang puppets, but most cer tainly he will invite you to a Wayang Kulit performance in one of the surrounding villages. A very authen tic ceremony taking place in a family context and almost certainly without attendance from other tourists: Look forward to a fascinating evening.

   The next stop introduces you to a maker of Wayang Kulit figures, puppets for the shadow theatre, whom you can watch practicing his craft. His neighbour does glass paintings that are unique in Bali.

   A small connecting road will take you through ancient villages and kampungs east to Sawan. Well-kept rice fields invite you to stroll around. In a smithy renowned all over Northern Bali, Gamelan instru ments and most of all gongs are being manufactured. You can watch the craftsmen in the morning and you may even acquire a gong – but they are not exactly cheap.

   The way back takes you to Jagaraga. There, as in Sawan, the underworld temple Pura Dalam is worth visiting. Here, cremations frequently take place, hardly ever noticed of by tourists. Pak Cilik can provide information on the ceremonies.

5. Rice terraces and waterfalls Above the small village of Les, about 18 km east of Air Sanih, a footpath leads up the slopes of the Batur
taking you within one hour to a very beautiful waterfall in which the daring might take a refreshing bath, better a shower. Formerly, you had to follow the path winding through a typical Balinese agricultural landscape, with terraced rice fields and gardens in which coconuts, mangos and manioc are grown. You could hear the women singing in the gardens and see the men taking the cattle to the washing place. Some years ago, a parking area has been built above the village, which reduces the walk to about 30 min utes, hopefully, this will not draw too much public attention to the still peaceful place.

But the most impressive waterfall you reach after just 20 minutes by car and 30 minutes walking time: Se kumpul, located above Sawan. After a short walk through beautiful tropical gardens with clove-, coffee and cacao-trees, avocado- and mango-trees you enter a large and deep caldera with two, three, four im pressive waterfalls. You may have a short swim in the cold water, the way back and up to the car is a bit arduous. Another waterfall, from Singaraja about 8 km uphill, is the well known Git-Git fall which you reach from the parking lot after a few minutes walking. It is beautifully situated in an exquisite scenery in the shadow of a river valley. Unfortunately, this area was not developed very sensitively as a tourist attrac tion, it is quite busy around there, very crowded with many traders and Warungs. So Sekumpul is the much better choice.

6. Mountain lakes and clove plantations The area around the lakes of Danau Buyan, Danau Tamblingan, and Danau Bratan at an altitude of approx. 1400 m and with a rather cool climate, is an ideal region for hiking. To get a first impression, you can take a short round trip: Via Singaraja drive to the south and up-hill, just before reaching the pass fol low the mountain ridge in western direction and eventually down to the village of Munduk. But before heading downwards you should relish the wonderful views down to the northern coast, to Java in the western distance, and in southern direction, to the two lakes surrounded by dense forests. Here, you can hike for several days through seemingly endless cenke (clove)- and coffee forests. Just above Munduk in a spectacular location and in the middle of a coffee plantation, you’ll find a restau rant where the various steps of coffee production are demonstrated. The Arabia- and Robusta-coffee beans being sold here are not cheap, but of exceptional quality. In Munduk you may visit Puri Lumbung and have a meal there, the manager has been practicing an interesting eco tourism for many years. From Munduk, a small road winds down to Seririt. You can stop for a hot bath at Banjar (already mentioned above), before returning to Air Sanih.

   In the Durian season (March till May) buy high-quality fruits which are available here, but beware: The ‘queen of fruits’ is not to everybody’s taste… Later in the year, blue grapes grow and ripe here, deli cious, when eaten, but in recent years also used to make the Balinese Rosé Wine ‘Hatten’, which you can try in Ciliks Beach Garden.

7. Spectacular sunrise on the edge of the crater You will experience an unforgettable sunrise above the Gunung Rinjani on Lombok or the Lombok Sea, if you opt for an early-morning ascent of about one and a half hours to the still active volcano Gunung Batur (1720 m). You will descent, hiking along the beautiful path, leading you along the edge of the crater, over far-reaching slopes covered with lava and ashes to those parts of the crater where some rather wild volcanic spitting took place in the nineties 1994 and again in 2005: The hike takes about three to five hours through the fresh mountain air and glittering sunshine – it is not difficult, provided you are used to cross-country hiking, but most impressive.

   The trip will get really rewarding, when you start in the afternoon of the preceding day: You go to Penelokan and down to the lake that has formed in the large caldera. In the afternoon, you take a 30 min utes walk up to the northern edge of the crater where you can enjoy a most stunning view on to the sea and the Batur volcano. You will have dinner in a small restaurant in Toya Bungkah, where you can try Ikan Mujair, fried Batur fish with bamboo sprouts and ginger. If you like, take a hot bath in the near by thermal bath or in a secluded spring at the lake. Stay overnight very inexpensively at the hotel where you have taken your meal.

   In the early morning, a young local person will be your guide. You do not have to return the same way; you will be picked up with the car at the endpoint of the hiking. Depending on the size of your group, the fee for the guide will be about 200.000 Rupiahs per person. Recently, the problem posed by aggressive acting “pseudo-guides” at the Batur (many Bali guide books still mention this) has been solved, since a well-organised cooperative ensures that the tourist business is distributed in a fair way among the local guides.

8. Mountain temples, rain forests, and volcanic beaches This day trip combines the early-morning ascent to Pura Lempuyang, a sanctuary in the East of the is land that is very important to the Balinese, and spectacular views down to the coast, to Lombok and to wards Gunung Rinjani. Walk through mountainous rain forests dripping with humidity, where gigantic fern trees and orchids grow. The following, somewhat bumpy car ride will get you to the eastern part of Bali that was developed just in recent years; but meanwhile is packed with smaller and larger dive resorts. It boasts beautiful bays, swimming and diving spots, and hundreds of outrigger boats. You will depart at 6 o’clock after an early-morning coffee at Ciliks Beach Garden, driving via Tejakula, Tu lamben, and over the ridge between the Agung and the eastern mountain range. The steep road will go high up to a parking area, from where the path starts to Gunung Seraya with the temple at about 1200 m above sea level. The first part of the route is a 30-minutes hike uphill on the ridge, followed by a sweaty climb of more than one thousand steps, for about 60 minutes. Twice a year, on “Hari Manis Galungan”, almost all the inhabitants of the eastern part of the island, who are able to walk, climb up this route to make sacrifices and to celebrate in the temple. At the top, a spectacular view of the majestic Agung to the West, to the coastline below, and to the island of Lombok in the East awaits you.

   Be sure to bring a slendang which you should wear in the temple; a large towel comes also handy to keep you dry and warm, if (which is often the case) wafts of mist sweep across the mountain top. This, how ever, renders the vegetation there impressively hypertrophic. You’ll descent in about 40 minutes and a short car ride will take you via Culik to Amed on the coast. Here, you can rest and refresh yourself sitting directly by the sea on the shady patio of a beach resort, separated only by a few metres of black-sand beach from the ocean, which invites you for a swim.

   After the extensive break, the following scenic drive will take you on a narrow asphalt, sometimes gravel road around the eastern tip of Bali; enjoy the views and take photos, while driving from bay to bay, from one hill to the next, and experience a completely “different” Bali with steep, bare slopes of rock, karst for mations, arid forests, and remote fishing villages, where elaborate jukungs, the traditional Balinese outrig ger boats, are being built. Stop for a moment, watch the craftsmen, and let Pak Cilik or Gede explain to you what they are doing.

   Shortly before coming to Amlapura - but be aware that it takes quite some time to get there - you can see the reconstructed ancient water palace of the Raja of Karangasam in Ujung; the original was buried by an eruption of the Agung fifty years ago. Then, you return via Tirtagangga (here, you can take a bath in the cold spring water, to wash off the salt) through an elaborately terraced landscape to the northern coast and Air Sanih.

Get together with Pak Cilik, Gede Putu or Jersan: Together with you, they will plan a program of excursions and sight seeing tailored just for you according to your wishes and preferences.