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Things to Do in Canggu: Where Every Plan Turns Into Three More

29 May 2026 by Bella

Things to Do in Canggu: Where Every Plan Turns Into Three More Image

Things to do in Canggu

Here we are on another article about Canggu, because things to explore in this little bubble are endless. I have written a few articles about Canggu restaurants alone, and then a guide for first-timers, and now, onto a deeper dive, things to do in Canggu. Or maybe more like, what do you actually do when you live here?

The funny thing about Canggu life is how quickly you realise that people here are somehow always busy doing absolutely non-urgent things haha. One person is heading to pilates, another is rushing to Hyrox, another is getting ready for an ice bath, while someone else is already on their second iced latte discussing “creative burnout” at 10am. If you feel attacked, don’t worry, I’m one of these suspects too lol.

Ok, so here’s the best that I can do to summarise the fun things to do in Canggu.

Eat absolutely everything

One of the best things to do in Canggu is simply eating your way through it. The food scene is insanely diverse. In one day you can have Indonesian warung meals, Australian brunch, Japanese ramen, Italian pasta, French pastries, Mexican tacos, aaaaand more, aaaaand somehow all within 10 minutes of each other. Dangerous for both your wallet and your self-control, I guess.

You can read my articles about Canggu restaurants here:

Things to do in Canggu - Eat

What else is there to do but eat? From left to right: Muda by Suka, Soogi Roll, Cure

Welcome to Bali’s Capital of Wellness

I wasn’t joking when I mentioned about people going to Hyrox because I feel like the wellness era never ends here. I’m interested to know how many regular gyms there are in Canggu alone, not to mention yoga and pilates studio, jiu jitsu and MMA gyms, padel courts, and other sports centre for other types of sports. Canggu is the it place for wellness activities whatever you like it or not, and so that’s why “wellness” sits at number two on this list.

My go-to gyms and some recommendations:

Recovery but make it social

Recovery culture in Canggu deserves its own category because people here recover harder than they party. Ice baths, steam rooms and saunas, sports massages, IV drips, breathwork – you name it.

Recovery spaces have also become such a social thing here. Sometimes people don’t even go because they’re sore, they go because their friends are there, and afterwards everyone gets smoothies together. A very Canggu thing to do.

My go to recovery spots:

Things to do in Canggu - Eat

Recovery, lift, recovery. From left to right: Bynd, Wellness, Air Seseh

Catching (or Watching) Waves

I don’t surf, and ironically I’m kind of just okay with beaches. But surfing is basically the unofficial daily ceremony of Canggu. People either head out super early in the morning or go for a sunset surf session in the afternoon. If you’ve never surfed before, don’t worry, there are plenty of surfing lessons around Canggu too. So you can absolutely live out your surfer life for a day if you want.

Question, though…what do these surfers do for a living that they have all the time in the world to be at the beach every single day? Because I want that job.

Beaches I go watch people surf:

Cafe hopping like it’s a full time job

Ok this one, I do a lot. There are cafes absolutely everywhere, some are for working, some are for people-watching, some are for post-workout matcha, and some are clearly designed for someone to sit dramatically with a laptop answering emails.

I would say, spending a slow morning cafe hopping is one of my favourite things to do in Canggu. Good coffee, good food, good weather, and nowhere particularly important to be. 

My regular coffee spots :

Final Thoughts

I feel like this is why so many people end up staying in Canggu longer than planned even though it’s crazy busy. The lifestyle here has a way of pulling you in. Your day starts casually with coffee, and before you know it, you’ve somehow been out all day doing a bunch of other things, hehe. Hope you find this helpful and thank you for reading!

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