Best Rainy Day Activities in Sanur When the Weather Turns
Words by
Budi Santoso
When the Skies Open Up in Sanur, the Best Memories Are Made Indoors
On a grey monsoon afternoon in Sanur, while tourists elsewhere are scrambling for plastic ponchos, I ducked into a rattan showroom on Jalan Sindhu and ended up spending three hours learning how a single side table takes a week to weave by hand. That was about ten years ago, and it was the day I realized that the best rainy day activities in Sanur are not just about hiding from the weather, they are about discovering the parts of this neighborhood that the sunshine crowd never bothers to explore. Sanur sits along the southeastern coast of Bali, a quieter cluster of streets that still carries the old fishing village rhythm beneath its bungalows and boutique spas. When the rain comes, usually between November and March, the paddy fields south of town turn silver and the canals swell with brown water, but inside the warungs, galleries, pawnshops, and temple museums, life goes on, warm and unhurried.
In the wet season the tourist strip along Sanur beach gets quiet almost instantly, yet a few blocks inland, places to sit down for a proper meal, a museum, a pottery class, or a slow cup of kopi stay busy all day. This guide walks through eight spots I personally return to whenever the forecast looks miserable, each one on a named road, each one doing something specific well. Bring a light layer and a willingness to sit still, and Sanur will give you one of your most relaxed days in Bali.
1. Museum Le Mayeur — the Painter Who Chose Sanur Over Paris
On Jalan Hang Tuah, tucked behind a garden of frangipani and breadfruit trees, sits the former home and studio of Belgian painter Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres. The museum is a two-story timber-and-stucco house from the 1930s, now managed by the Gianyar Regency cultural office. Inside you will find about fifty of Le Mayeur's paintings, including portraits of his Balinese wife Ni Pollok, who modeled for him for over two decades.
The gallery rooms are not air-conditioned, but the thick walls and wooden shutters keep the interior cool even when it is pouring outside. The oil paintings are hung in natural light, which means overcast days actually make them easier to see, since there is no glare from the windows.
What to See: Le Mayeur's large-format portrait of Ni Pollok called "Temple Festival", painted in 1940, is the centerpiece. Almost everyone walks past it too quickly; stand in front of it for a full minute and you will notice the layered brushwork in her white headdress that never reproduces well in photographs.
Best Time: Tuesday to Thursday mornings, right at opening (8:00 a.m.), when the caretaker is usually free to explain which paintings are originals and which are protected copies, a distinction the signs do not always make clear.
The Vibe: Quiet and personal, more like visiting a family archive than a gallery. The main drawback: the signage is mostly in Bahasa Indonesia and there are no English labels beyond a small printed brochure, so having Google Translate on your phone helps a lot.
Tourist Miss-Never-Know Fact: Le Mayuer's own grave is in the garden, in the complex, near the entrance. It is unmarked on most maps, a flat stone just to the left of the swimming pool where Ni Pollok once modeled for him.
Local Tip: Ask the caretaker to open the second-floor studio in the back before it gets hot; the balcony looks onto a koi pond that Collects rain, which on a stormy afternoon makes the garden smell like the rice paddies two blocks south.
2. Sindhu Night Market After Dark, Sindhu Morning Market Before Dawn — Jalan Pungutan
The Sindhu market area, just off Jalan Pungutan near the temple Pura Taman Werdhi Budaya, transforms at night more than during the day, which means the best time for indoor activities Sanur can offer, the food stalls, actually runs from about 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. By day the semi-outdoor produce vendors sell jackfruit, snake-fruit, and stink beans under leaky corrugated roofing; but once the sun drops, plastic tarps go up, electric coils heat woks, and the smoke from dozens of satay skewers turns the whole lane into an edible fog.
I go here even on rainy evenings because the tarp gives enough cover while still keeping the open-air feel. On dry nights locals run barbecues out front, while inside the stalls a proper wooden counter surrounds a small stove and a cook who knows exactly how hot her charcoal is just by the sound.
What to Order: A plate of nasi campur from the second stall on the left as you enter from Jalan Pungutan, it comes with lawar (minced coconut and pork mixed with galangal and raw blood), a small mound of sambal matah, and a scoop of rice that is still warm from the pot. The lawar here uses less blood than versions you will find in Gianyar, so it is a good starter plate if you are new to the dish.
Best Time: Arrive around 6:30 p.m., when the first batch of satay is still on the coals. By 7:30 the lines double and some stalls run out of specific meats.
The Vibe: Loud, smoky, communal. You will share a table with strangers. The downside is the drainage, when the rain is heavy, water pools near the entrance step and your sandals will get wet no matter what, so wear flip-flops you do not mind rinsing later.
Local Tip: If you are coming on a full moon or a temple ceremony day (ask your homestay host for the Balinese calendar), the market stays open until nearly midnight and there is a Balinese sweet called jaje Bali that disappears by 9:00 p.m. on normal days.
3. The Bale Outlet and Showroom — Jalan Tirta Ening No. 1
While most tourists walk the Sanur art market on Jalan Danau Poso to hunt for wooden carvings they will ship home, the serious furniture buyers come here. The Bale Outline showroom, set in a converted rice barn on Jalan Tirta Ening No. 1, displays teak daybeds, oversized rattan lamps, and stone-topped console tables on polished concrete floors, the kind of pieces that end up in Seminyak hotel lobbies.
Every piece is hand-carved, the staff will show you how the joints are done without a single nail on the larger daybeds. If you are traveling light, they also stock smaller items, hairpin teak side tables, carved bowls, coconut cutlery sets, all priced before you walk in so there is no hard sell.
What to Buy: A set of three nesting teak bowls in graduated sizes, hand-sanded on site. The smallest one fits in a carry-on bag and makes the best souvenir that is not covered in velvet painting.
Best Time: Weekday mornings, 9:30 to 11:00, the staff are more attentive and will actually let you photograph the joinery if you ask.
The Vibe: Gallery-like, air-conditioned, calm. On the downside, the location sign is easy to miss; the gate is set back about fifteen meters from the road and a motorcycle taxi often parks directly in front of it. Walk slowly and look left.
Local Tip: If you buy anything, ask if they can recommend a shipping agent who regularly visits this showroom. Several operate out of Jalan Ngurah Rai, and they consolidate weekly to Surababad and Jakarta, which saves about 30 percent over DHL for anything over 10 kilograms.
4. Genius Gallery Sanur — Jalan Danau Tamblingan No. 168
This is the most straightforward art gallery on the tourist strip, but that simplicity is its strength. On Jalan Danau Tamblingan No. 168, about fifty meters east of the Sandat intersection, Genius Gallery shows contemporary Balinese paintings and a few bronze sculptures in a bright, tiled room with glass walls on two sides.
On rainy days the soft light through the wet glass actually improves the viewing experience. The owner, whose family has operated a workshop in Ubud for three generations, rotates the hanging pieces every three months, so even if you visited last year you will likely find new works.
What to See: Look for the "temple series", small-format acrylics on rice paper (about 40 centimeters square) that depict Pura Blanjong with impressionistic brushwork. They sell for about Rp 1,200,000 to 2,000,000 and are one of the few Balinese temple subjects I have seen rendered in anything other than hyper-realism.
Best Time: After 2:00 p.m. The owner often comes back from lunch and will sit with you over a glass of instant coffee to talk about individual artists.
The Vibe: Hungry-graduate-low-commission, in the best sense, the staff care about which wall a painting will live on at your home, not just the sale. One limitation: framed works are hard to pack without removal, so budget an extra day if you need shipping and frame-disassembly help.
Local Tip: Two doors west, there is a family-run tailor who will sew a simple padded art-tube from soft fabric and bubble wrap for about Rp 50,000, much cheaper than any gallery up-valley.
5. Blanjong Temple (Pura Blanjong) — Jalan Danau Poso, South End
Technically an outdoor site, the Blanjong temple on the south end of Jalan Danau Poso has a long covered pavilion and an unusual stone pillar under a roofed shelter, and it is one of the few things to do when raining Sanur that history buffs should not skip. The pillar, known as the Blanjong Inscription, dates to 914 AD and is the oldest known stone artifact in Bali with a Sanskrit-Old Javanese text.
On a rainy afternoon you can read the pillar while listening to monsoon drops on the "bale kulkul" slit-drum tower. The inscription covers royal decrees that may reference the founding of the earliest Balinese kingdoms, a dry subject that becomes atmospheric when the courtyard is empty and the air smells like wet laterite.
What to See: Walk to the rear building (wantilan) where the caretakers store festival paraphernalia behind chicken-wire. Ask permission to peek inside; the masks and woven umbrellas stored there have not been used in a decade but the colors are still vivid.
Best Time: Mid-afternoon, between ceremonies. Morning is often noisy with school groups, except on Fridays when the whole island has a half-day off and it can actually be less crowded.
The Vibe: Hushed, overgrown, a little melancholy. And here is the complaint, the toilet is essentially a cobwebby squat in the back with no running water, use the warung toilet across the street before visiting.
Local Tip: On the 210-day Pawukon calendar anniversary of the temple's founding (ask any local priest for the Balinese date, it lands on a Tuesday "Kliwon"), evening performances run past midnight in the outer courtyard. Even thunderstorms do not cancel them.
6. The Spa at眼下 Puri Taman Sari — Jalan Sindhu No. 1
When it comes to indoor activities Sanur, few things beat a two-hour spa circuit during a downpour. The spa at Puri Taman Sari on Jalan Sindhu No. 1 has treatment rooms that open onto an interior courtyard, and the sound of rain on terracotta roof tiles becomes part of the therapy.
Book the "royal lulur" package. It starts with a Javanese body scrub made from ground rice, turmeric, and sandalwood, followed by a yogurt splash and a flower bath in a stone tub. The total time is two hours and the cost is about Rp 450,000 to 650,000 depending on body size.
What to Order: Add the 30-minute reflexology extension, during which the therapist focuses on pressure points in your feet connected to (in traditional Balinese theory) the liver and gallbladder, two organs that, when out of balance, are blamed for irritability and poor digestion.
Best Time: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. When the afternoon session overlaps with the heaviest rain, you will want to be horizontal and immobile anyway.
The Vibe: Muffled, fragrant, slow. But a realistic caveat, the wifi in the treatment area drops off completely and the reception sometimes forgets to come back on time, so set a personal alarm and bring your own water bottle instead of relying on the attendant.
Local Tip: Ask to use the family temple pool next to the spa after treatment if it is not a ceremony day. It is fed by well water that stays cooler than river water on sultry days.
7. Giant Leap Studios — Jalan Mertasari, Gang Lembah Sari No. 5
Tucked in a narrow gang (alley) off Jalan Mertasari, Giant Leap Studios is a pottery workshop run by a Balinese-born ceramicist who trained in Bandung and returned home. Classes run in 2.5-hour blocks; students sit at kick-wheels in a tiled courtyard studio, sheltered by corrugated roofing with open sides that catch the breeze even during storms.
You can make a simple bowl or cup from local terracotta clay, trim it with steel tools, and watch as your pieces dry on wooden boards under a ceiling fan. Firing takes about five days, so if you are only in town for a week, ask if they can glaze and ship your work later.
What to Do: Book the "hands-on clay" session at 10:00 a.m., when the clay is freshly wedged and the morning light through the rooftop gap gives the studio a soft glow. The instructor speaks passable English and demonstrates centering technique three times, more than enough for a beginner.
Best Time: Dry or wet does not matter much, since you are under cover, but I prefer the wet-season sessions because the humidity keeps the clay workable for longer and slows down drying, giving you extra time to refine curves.
The Vibe: Intimate, slightly cluttered with half-finished student work. A true drawback is the location sign, the alley entrance is unmarked blue gate, so open Google Maps and follow the blue dot until you see a small "Giant" banner nailed to a breadfruit tree.
Local Tip: If you want a deeper course, the studio partners with a kiln workshop on Jalan Bypass to host week-long firings, and they can sometimes arrange a discounted homestay arrangement nearby just for extended students.
8. Candi Beach Warungs — Jalan Candidasa, Eastern End
Far at the eastern end of Sanur, past Sindhu, past the last big resort, Jalan Candidasa narrows into a row of semi-permanent beach warungs built from bamboo and corrugated metal. These open-sided shelters sit just a few meters above the high-tide line and look out at Nusa Penida across the Badung Strait.
On a rainy afternoon the break turn golden where they catch the westerly swell, and the warungs fill with locals drinking Es Teh Manis and waiting for squid to bite on hand lines rigged to the bamboo posts. This is not a hidden gem, it is simply a quiet stretch of coast that does not appear on guest-house maps.
What to Order: Ikan bakar with sambal kecap, grilled squid with soy-chili dipping sauce, before 5:00 p.m. the catch is still turning on the coals over coconut shell charcoal and the sambal is hand-ground daily in stone mortars.
Best Time: Sunday afternoon or any weekday between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. During morning high tide the water laps at the stilts and the warungs are nearly empty.
The Vibe: Rustic, communal, sticky-table honest. The main warning is that the ground-floor planks are uneven and the bench seats steep, people with back problems may prefer to stand and snack.
Local Tip: Bring your own hat if it is drizzling, the bamboo roofing leaks after about twenty minutes of heavy rain and drips right into your rice plate. A baseball cap solves the problem.
When to Go / What to Know
Peak rain in Sanur falls between December and February, with January usually the wettest month. Mornings are sometimes clear even during the wet season, with storms building after midday and breaking around 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. If you can plan around that window, mornings are still good for a morning outdoor walk on the Sanur stone beach walkway and afternoons are best spent in indoor sights Sanur, like galleries, spas, and museums.
Motorbike taxis (ojol apps) surge in price during heavy rain, so either accept the higher fare or negotiate in Grab with a destination-pin walk to a sheltered corner. Sanur is flat and small, a single east-west main road from Sindhu to Mertasari, so moving between venues rarely requires more than a ten-minute ride.
Cash still matters. Most galleries and workshop studios accept QRIS (the Indonesian instant payment code) but the smaller warungs and temple donations are cash only and ATMs are concentrated along Jalan Danau Tamblingan, where line queues form around lunch hour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the most popular attractions in Sanur require advance ticket booking, especially during peak season?
Most sites in Sanur are low-key and do not require advance booking. The museum Le Mayeur charges a small entry fee paid at the door, roughly Rp 20,000 to 25,000 per adult as of 2024. Temples like Pura Blanjong accept donations rather than fixed tickets, and the nearby Blanjong pillar shelter is covered. Spas and pottery workshops such as Giant Leap Studios appreciate a WhatsApp reservation one day ahead during December and January walk-ins may find fully booked sessions.
Is it possible to walk between the main sightseeing spots in Sanur, or is local transport necessary?
The central tourist strip along Jalan Danau Tamblingan to Jalan Sindhu is walkable in about 25 minutes end to end. The museum Le Mayeur and Sindhu market area are roughly 1.2 kilometers apart, a comfortable 15-minute stroll under covered shop-fronts. To reach eastern spots like the Candidasa-end warungs or the Giant Leap Studios you will need a short ojol ride of about 5 to 8 minutes since the total distance stretches to roughly 3 kilometers.
What is the safest and most reliable way to get around Sanur as a solo traveler?
Grab and Gojek apps operate reliably in Sanur and provide fare estimates before you book, which protects against overcharging in the rain when street-side ojol riders may name higher prices. During heavy downpours, waiting times can stretch from 3 minutes to 10 or even 15 minutes, so ordering early is practical. Helmet use is law for two riders on a scooter; Grab conveniently provides a helmet for pillion passengers, always check that it is strapped.
What are the best free or low-cost tourist places in Sanur that are genuinely worth the visit?
Pura Blanjong is essentially free (a voluntary donation is customary) and the Blanjong pillar under shelter provides a genuinely rare look at 10th-century stone work. The public Sanur stone beach walkway, about 7 kilometers of paved coastal path, is free and offers shelter under casuarina trees during light rain. Temporary exhibitions at Genius Gallery carry no entrance fee, you only pay if you buy a painting.
How many days are needed to see the major tourist attractions in Sanur without feeling rushed?
Two full days are sufficient to cover the key indoor and outdoor sights at a relaxed pace. Day one can focus on the central strip, museum Le Mayeur, Sindhu market area, gallery visits, and a spa session, which fills roughly 8 hours with breaks. Day two can handle the eastern end, Blanjong temple, the pottery workshop and warungs near Candidasa, plus evening time at the night market again, totaling around 7 hours. Adding a third half-day allows room for unexpected rain delays or extended gallery browsing.
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