Candidasa beachfront
Villa Cocoa Maya
A beachfront 4-bedroom villa in Candidasa, eastern Bali, with stunning ocean views, an 18-metre pool, and just 5 steps to the sea.
Candidasa, East Bali
Where to Stay in Candidasa
A small town on Bali’s quiet east coast — reef offshore, Mount Agung behind it, and none of the south’s noise.
01 · The Coast
The opposite of south Bali
Candidasa is a small town on Bali’s east coast, about ninety minutes from the airport and a long way from the island most visitors see. There is no strip of beach clubs and no traffic to speak of — a curve of coast facing the Lombok Strait, a reef a short swim out, and Mount Agung standing behind the town. Most people who come have already done the south once and want the opposite of it.
It does not suit everyone, and that is worth saying before you book rather than after. What this coast does better than almost anywhere on the island is water and quiet: snorkelling and diving, easy swimming, and evenings where nothing competes with the sea. What it does not do is nightlife, shopping, or a restaurant scene you can walk end to end. If the interior appeals more — rice terraces, temples, galleries — our two villas near Ubud sit ninety minutes inland.
Come here for
- Snorkelling straight off the sand, with the reefs at Blue Lagoon and the offshore islands a ten- to fifteen-minute boat ride out.
- Sea calm enough for children — the bay is sheltered and the water is warm the whole year.
- East Bali’s temples and terraces — Tirtagangga, Goa Lawah, the Tenganan valley — without the coach parties.
- Padangbai fifteen minutes down the coast, where the fast boats leave for the Gili Islands and Lombok.
- Quiet. The town is small, nothing is built high, and the loudest thing at night is the sea.
- A base for Mount Agung, Sidemen and the Telaga Waja river, all inside an hour and a half.
Look elsewhere if
- You want beach clubs, bars and late nights — that is Seminyak and Canggu, two to three hours south.
- You are learning to surf. The breaks along this coast suit experienced surfers; lessons happen in the south.
- You want thirty restaurants within a walk. Candidasa has a good handful, not a strip.
- You want to be near the airport. It is a ninety-minute drive, not twenty minutes.
- Galleries, yoga studios and the art scene are the point of the trip — the interior serves that better.
02 · The Beach
What is happening to the shoreline
Candidasa’s seafront is being rebuilt. A government reclamation project is laying a new white-sand beach roughly five and a half kilometres long, with a boulevard behind it, along the front of the town — the largest thing to happen to this coast in decades. When it is finished Candidasa will have a continuous beach where for years it had sea walls.
While the work runs we have lowered our rates rather than pretend nothing is going on. The sea in front of the villa is still easy to reach and there is still beach in front of it, and the reef, the diving and the boat trips are all offshore and untouched by any of it. If construction anywhere in the vicinity would spoil the trip for you, this is the season to go elsewhere on the island and come to Candidasa afterwards. We would rather tell you now than have you find out on arrival.
Current notice
A NOTE ON OUR BEACH — AND WHY WE'VE LOWERED OUR 2026 RATES BY 15% The Balinese government has begun a beach reclamation project in Candidasa, creating a new 5.5km stretch of white sand and a beachfront boulevard. Work is ongoing - so in the spirit of full transparency we've reduced our 2026 rates by 15%. In practice, little has changed (the worst is over). The sea remains easily accessible and the beach in front of the villa is still there. Otherwise it's still the same beautiful villa, the same excellent food, the same ocean views and warm Balinese hospitality. Don't just take our word for it: read our guest reviews below from July and August 2026, when the project was underway.
03 · Where to Stay
One villa on this coast
We run three villas in Bali and one of them is here. Villa Cocoa Maya sits directly on the Candidasa seafront — four bedrooms, five bathrooms, sleeping up to twelve, with an eighteen-metre pool between the house and the water and five steps down to the sea. Every bedroom faces the ocean. It comes with its own staff and daily breakfast, a games room for the middle of the day, and two kayaks and a surf ski for the calm mornings.
The town is a five-minute walk along the front — restaurants, a supermarket and the shops — and the ashram behind the famous lotus pond, where the yoga classes are, about ten. For what to actually do once you are here, our team wrote Things to Do Near Villa Cocoa Maya: An Insider's Guide to Candidasa & East Bali .
On the Seafront
Our Villa in Candidasa
04 · Getting Here
Arriving, and when to come
Ngurah Rai International Airport to Candidasa is about ninety minutes by car. We offer every guest a transfer, and stays of three nights or more include one free pickup or drop-off in a car sized for your group — your driver will be waiting when you land.
Padangbai, fifteen minutes back down the coast, is where the fast boats leave for the Gili Islands and Lombok, which makes this an easy first or last stop if you are island-hopping. Ubud is roughly an hour and a half inland. Almost nobody hires their own car: most guests take a private driver from the villa by the half day or the day.
On timing — rates run low from January to early April and again from November to mid-December, mid from April to June and September to October, and high through July and August and over Christmas and New Year. The east coast sits in the lee of Mount Agung and tends to be drier than the south, so the shoulder months are often better here than a forecast for Bali as a whole would suggest.
Book direct — pay only our villa rate, with no 15%–20% Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com service fees.
05 · Questions
Candidasa, answered
Is Candidasa worth visiting?
It depends what you want from Bali. Candidasa is a small town on the east coast with a reef offshore, calm swimming, and some of the best diving in Indonesia within a short boat ride. It is quiet, and it stays quiet after dark. If you are looking for beach clubs, surf lessons or a long restaurant strip, the south of the island will suit you better. Most of our guests have already seen south Bali and come here for the opposite of it.
What is happening to the beach at Candidasa?
A government reclamation project is building a new white-sand beach roughly five and a half kilometres long, with a boulevard behind it, along the front of the town. It is the biggest change to this coast in decades. While the work is under way we have reduced our rates rather than pretend nothing is happening: the sea in front of the villa is still easy to reach, there is still beach in front of it, and the reef, the diving and the boat trips are all offshore and unaffected.
Is the sea at Candidasa safe for swimming, and good for children?
The bay is sheltered and the water is warm all year, which makes it one of the easier stretches of Bali coast to swim off. Conditions still change with the tide and the season, so take the local advice on the day — the villa team will tell you where and when is best, and there is a pool a few steps away when the sea is not at its calmest.
How far is Candidasa from the airport, Ubud and the Gili Islands?
Ngurah Rai International Airport is about a ninety-minute drive. Ubud is roughly an hour and a half inland. Padangbai, where the fast boats leave for the Gili Islands and Lombok, is fifteen minutes down the coast — which makes Candidasa a natural first or last stop if you are island-hopping.
Candidasa or Sanur — which is better for a quiet beach stay?
Sanur is calmer than the rest of south Bali, has a long walkable seafront and sits half an hour from the airport, but it is a developed resort town. Candidasa is smaller and quieter, an hour further out, and has far better reef within reach. Choose Sanur for convenience and a promenade, Candidasa for water and stillness.
Do we need to hire a car in Candidasa?
Almost nobody does. The town is a short walk from the seafront villas, and for everything further out most guests hire a private driver by the half day or day — the villa arranges it, and it costs less than you would expect. Scooters are a genuine option here in a way they are not in the south, as the back roads through the Manggis hills are quiet.
When is the best time to visit east Bali?
Rates run low from January to early April and again from November to mid-December, mid from April to June and September to October, and high through July and August and over Christmas and New Year. The east coast sits in the lee of Mount Agung and tends to be drier than the south, so the shoulder months here are often better than a forecast for Bali as a whole would suggest.
Thinking about the east coast?
Send us your dates and group size and a real person replies, usually within the day. Ask us anything about the coast while you are at it — including whether it is the right one for the trip you have in mind.