Australian owned & operatedSmall groups, max 12
Couple in their 60s at a long table with local guides, laughing, warm evening light. Candid, mid-conversation, plates on the table. Landscape, 1600 by 1000.
All-inclusive 7, 10 and 14-day retreats from Australia. Return flights, 4–5 star stays, every meal, private transport, and local guides who actually know the island. Hosted personally by an Australian who’s lived here 15 years.
Rather talk it through?Call [[NEEDS INPUT: phone number]]
Everyone posts the same five places. The Bali worth flying for is down roads you won’t find on a map.
Booking flights, chasing drivers, translating menus, haggling over fares. That’s not a holiday. That’s admin in the heat.
Fifty people on a coach. A 5am start. A shopping stop you didn’t ask for. Not here.
So we built the trip we’d want our own parents to go on.
Same host, same guides, same one price in Australian dollars. The only difference is how much of the island you see and how slowly you see it.
7 days, 6 nights
Ubud, Sanur and the southern cliffs over six nights and two bases. The right first trip when a week is all the leave you have.
10 days, 9 nights
Most popularUbud, the north lakes, the east coast and Sidemen over nine nights and three bases. Our most popular trip, and the one we would pick.
14 days, 13 nights
The whole island over thirteen nights and four bases, with a boat day to Nusa Penida or Lembongan and three full rest days.
— [[NEEDS INPUT: founder first name]]
Here is the honest list. Left is what your price covers. Right is the handful of things it doesn’t, so nothing surprises you at the airport.
The founder in Bali in the middle of a real moment: talking with a guide, ordering at a warung, or walking a village lane. Not a suit, not a studio. Portrait, 900 by 1100.
I’ve lived in and out of Indonesia for 15 years. Long enough to know which warung has the good sambal and which one to walk past. Long enough to have made every mistake you’re worried about making, and to know how to steer you around them now.
Here’s why I started this. Every year I’d watch people arrive who had saved for this trip for a long time. They’d get stuck on the Kuta strip, herded onto a coach at 6am, and go home saying Bali was crowded and a bit tiring.
It isn’t, if you know where to go and when. But knowing that takes years, and you’ve only got a couple of weeks.
So I built the trip I’d want my own parents to go on. Return flights sorted. One price, in Australian dollars, with nothing to open your wallet for. Guides I’ve known for years, paid properly, who’ll tell you what the offering at the temple gate means.
A pace with real rest built in, and a car always close by. And me, on the trip, the whole way. Not a call centre. Not a rep who meets you at the airport and disappears.
If something goes wrong at 2am, you ring me and I answer. That’s the whole business, really.
Have a look at the packages. If you’re not sure which one, ring me and we’ll talk it through. No pitch. I’ll tell you honestly whether this trip is for you.
— [[NEEDS INPUT: founder first name]]
Named, pictured, and paid properly. Four people who grew up on the island and speak English as easily as Balinese. They’re with you most days, and they’re the reason the trip feels like visiting friends rather than following a flag.
Guide from Sidemen at a temple gate, pointing out an offering to a guest, warm morning light. Candid, not posed. Portrait, 800 by 1000.
From Sidemen
Grew up in Sidemen and can tell you what every offering at the temple gate means. Ask. It's a favourite subject.
Speaks English, Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese.
Guide from Munduk beside the car on the road up to the lakes, holding out cloves, guests in the background, soft cloud light. Portrait, 800 by 1000.
From Munduk
Knows every bend on the road up to Munduk and which farm sells the cloves you can smell from the car. Walks the Sekumpul track ahead of the group and tells you honestly what it's like that morning.
Speaks English, Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese.
Guide from Ubud at the morning market, mid-laugh with a stallholder, a guest looking on, baskets of produce in frame. Portrait, 800 by 1000.
From Ubud
Born in Ubud and trained in a hotel kitchen. Runs our market walk and cooking morning, and will tell you which of the twelve sambals on the table you can actually handle.
Speaks English, Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese.
Guide from Amed beside a jukung outrigger on the black-sand beach, pointing out to sea for a guest, early light. Portrait, 800 by 1000.
From Amed
From a fishing family in Amed and can read the sea before breakfast. Runs the east coast days and will find you a shady chair while the swimmers swim.
Speaks English, Bahasa Indonesia and Balinese.
Bali Sunny Kids partner logo, supplied by the partner, on a transparent or cream background. 600 by 240.
Qualified, vetted local carers from Bali Sunny Kids look after the kids while you have the day. Not a hotel kids’ club with a television in the corner. Real activities, at kid pace, with people whose whole job this is.
Two dinners on every family itinerary are adults only. The kids eat early with their carers, a carer stays with them at the hotel, and you get a long dinner where nobody has to cut anyone’s food.
Nothing is locked in. Join the cooking class, skip the beach, keep the kids with you for a whole day. Tell the carer at handover and the plan bends around you.
Kids' cooking class: two children in aprons at an outdoor bench with a carer, satay sticks in hand, parents visible and relaxed in the background. Warm late-morning light. Photo of children only with written parental consent. Landscape, 1200 by 900.
Six people who had the same worries you might have now. We asked them what actually happened.
On walking too far and holding the group up
“I walk with a stick and I was sure I'd be the one holding everyone up. Not once. There was always a car close by, always a seat in the shade, and nobody ever looked at their watch.”
Real guest, supplied with written consent, or a candid from the trip: seated in the shade with a stick beside them, relaxed. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
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Draft until verified
On Bali Belly and dodgy food
“My husband had Bali Belly for a week the last time we went and swore he'd never go back. This time, nothing. Not a twinge. Three meals a day and we never once wondered where the food had come from.”
Real guest couple at a warung table mid-meal, supplied with written consent. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
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Draft until verified
On having to organise everything
“I didn't look at a map, a menu or a receipt for ten days. I'd forgotten what that felt like.”
Real guest on a verandah with a book, feet up, supplied with written consent. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
[[NEEDS INPUT: hometown, state]]
Draft until verified
On being stranded if something goes wrong
“I rang our host at half past nine at night about a flight change and he answered. He didn't hand us to anyone. He just sorted it. That's the whole review, really.”
Real guest couple with the host at arrivals, supplied with written consent. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
[[NEEDS INPUT: hometown, state]]
Draft until verified
On anonymous staff and a scripted tour
“Our guide grew up two villages over from where we stayed. Every stop had a story that wasn't in any book, and by day three we were being waved at in the street.”
Real guest with a guide at a temple, mid-explanation, supplied with written consent. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
[[NEEDS INPUT: hometown, state]]
Draft until verified
On travelling alone and the single supplement
“I came on my own after my husband died and I was more nervous about that than anything. Twelve people, a table every night, and never once the odd one out. And the single supplement was written down before I paid a cent.”
Real solo guest at the group dinner table, engaged in conversation, supplied with written consent. Square, 800 by 800.
[[NEEDS INPUT: real guest name and initial]]
[[NEEDS INPUT: hometown, state]]
Draft until verified
Small groups fill. When a date says sold out, it’s sold out. When it says four spots left, there are four.
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Straight answers. If yours isn’t here, the full list is one click away, or you can ring and ask.
It's written down before you pay a cent. Every package page shows the twin-share price with the single supplement right next to it, and the current figure is [[NEEDS INPUT: single supplement amount for each package]]. We don't hide it, because plenty of our guests travel on their own and they deserve a straight number. What you get for it is your own room at every stay, with the same view and the same breakfast as everyone else. What you won't get is the feeling of being the odd one out. It's one long table at dinner, one small group in the cars, and a host who makes a point of sitting with whoever is on their own that night. If the supplement is the thing holding you back, ring us and talk it through.
A $500 per person deposit secures your spot. It's fully refundable for 14 days, no questions asked. Change your mind, ring us, and it's back in your account. After 14 days the deposit is held against your booking and the balance is due [[NEEDS INPUT: balance due date, e.g. 60 days before departure]]. If you'd rather spread the balance, there is a payment plan: [[NEEDS INPUT: payment plan terms]]. If something changes closer to the date, talk to us first. We're a small business and we'll always try to move you to another departure before anything else. The full change and cancellation terms are written in plain English on the Terms and Booking Conditions page, and we'd rather you read them now than be surprised later.
It's the first thing most people ask, so here is exactly what we do. We eat at busy warungs with high turnover, the ones our guides eat at, where food is cooked to order in front of you. No buffets sitting in the sun. Sealed bottled water in the car and in your room, always, and for brushing your teeth. Ice only where we know the source, which means the hotel's own or none. No salads or cut fruit from anywhere we don't know. Hand-washing before every meal, and there's sanitiser in every car. Your host has eaten at these places for years and he'll be eating the same food beside you. Nobody can promise you'll never have an upset stomach anywhere in the world, and we won't. What we can say is that this is the thing we're most careful about, at every single meal.
Less than you'd think, and never more than you want. Every package page has a pace scale and a plain note on the longest walk of the trip, so you can see exactly what you're signing up for. On the 7-Day Reset the longest walk is about 900 metres on a flat path. Most days you're on your feet for less than 20 minutes at a stretch, then back in an air-conditioned car. Where there is a longer walk, like the track into Sekumpul on the 10-day trip, it's optional and there's a car and a coffee waiting for anyone who'd rather not. No early starts unless you want them, and real rest days built in. If you use a stick or a walker, tell us when you book and we'll plan the stops around it.
You tell your host, who is on the trip with you, not in an office in another time zone. He'll get you to a doctor or a clinic, come with you, and deal with the language, the paperwork and the insurer while you deal with feeling better. He knows the nearest clinic at every base. If you need to fly home early, he'll rebook the flight and get you to the airport. There is also a 24/7 support line in Australia for whoever is waiting at home. This is why travel insurance is compulsory on our trips: if the worst happens, the cost of care and a flight home is covered and nobody is making decisions based on money. We'll help you choose a policy before you go.
12 people at most, and often fewer. That's not a marketing number. It's the size that fits in a couple of comfortable cars with room for bags and for stretching out. It means a long table at dinner where everyone can hear each other, a guide who knows your name by the first afternoon, and nobody standing in a car park waiting for stragglers. It also means we can actually change plans. If the group would rather have a slow morning than a temple, we have a slow morning. Fifty people on a coach can't do that. If you're coming as a private group of six or more, ask about our multigenerational and celebration trips, where the 12 places are all yours.
Not ready to call? Take the pack. It's a 20-page PDF you can read at the kitchen table and pass round the family. Ring us when you're ready, or don't.
Have a real conversation with [[NEEDS INPUT: founder first name]] — no sales pitch, no obligation. Tell him who’s coming and what you’re after, and he’ll tell you honestly which package fits, or whether now’s the wrong time of year.