Canggu is the place where surfers, hipsters, yogis and some other pretty cool people with their online business live or come to visit. Canggu is for sure a place on its own. What can you expect if you arrive in Canggu? Well, you better read this. Having stayed there for a yoga teacher training myself, I wanted to get some work done once the course was over. In between my yoga sessions, beach meditations and some tanning and swimming at the beach, I did a lot of café hopping. Here you find my favorites.
Hungry Bird
I spent several times at Hungry Bird. At times it can be quite busy, especially around lunch time or early afternoon. What's outstanding is the staff of Hungry Bird. They are so passionate about their coffee and they do have a lot of knowledge. It was always a big surprise what kind of coffee art I got. The one day when the guy behind the corner gave me my cup of coffee and a fish was breathing with bubbles, I was so happy. I had seen the fish a few days earlier on their Instagram and was just waiting for the day I would get one. And, there it was. There are a few seats outside, but I would recommend you to go inside to get your work down. The temperature is regulated quite well.
+ amazing coffee & baristas
+ delicious cakes
+ fun, friendly staff
+ good WIFI
+ free water
+ delicious cake
+ AC
+ comfy seats
- only saw one spot with plugs
Milk & Madu Café
The café is an open place and has several tables where you can be on your own and sink into your own little world and start to think of your new projects. I have only been there for lunch but I saw several people working on their laptops. I enjoyed the atmosphere there. Although a bit more pricy than some other cafés, it's worth it as it makes a perfect working environment.
+ quiet
+ no big groups, rather small groups who meet up for business
+ lots of fans on the ceiling
+ good WIFI
+ free water
- open space, could be hot, depending on the day
- plugs (?) haven't seen any
Betelnut café
Betelnut café is hands on, one of my favourite cafés in Canggu for breakfast. Almost no café offers such a variety for such a good price. I love, love, love their breakfast combos. If you want to come here for work though, you need to come early. After 10 AM it's getting crowded and it's difficult to focus on your work. Also, upstairs, depending on the season, it gets super hot. Downstairs is an AC but it wasn't always on when I was there and the room is a bit dark. So might not be the perfect place to work.
+ breakfast combos
+ lots of food for a fair price
+ big coffee cups
+ cakes
+ free water
+ friendly, lovely staff
+ lots of plugs
- upstairs is an open space with only 3 fans (after 10 AM it gets too hot to get work done)
- small AC room is downstairs and is popular
- it's a popular place and it gets quite crowded sometimes
Sprout
Sprout is a place that I absolutely fell in love with. It's the perfect place to get your work done. Especially in the mornings it's not busy at all. I usually met the same people from the day before again. Seems like this place is quite popular and has a few steady customers. While the café is not one of the cheapest, you won't have any big gatherings of people who hang around and talk loud. It's a great atmosphere to work. Their staff is always friendly and on top of that, they do have a coffee bonus card (yes!). After a few coffees, you'll get one for free. It definitely paid off for me and my coffee consumption there.
+ delicious food (all of their salads are super delicious!)
+ lovely staff
+ never too busy so you can even change your place (choose between bench or chair)
+ some plugs
+ free water
- a bit pricier than other cafés
Roti Canai Street Kitchen
Why on earth didn't we go there earlier? On our last day in Canggu we decided to have our breakfast here. And oh boy, we couldn't believe how amazing this place is. A small, cute café located just next to Betelnut café. The atmosphere is relaxed and it's not crowded at all. There are different kind of sitting areas, there's WIFI, good food and a lovely waitress who served us. From where we sat we could even watch the cook making our rotis. Perfect place for breakfast and to get some work done. If you haven't been there yet, you should give it a try.
+ roti, come on who doesn't love roti?
+ good WIFI
+ plugs and nice sitting area
+ cute, funny waitress
- couldn't find anything but I was only there once
Jl. Pantai Batu Bolong (next to Betelnut café)
Mon-Sun 7:30 AM - 10:30 PM
More info: Roti Canai Kitchen
Crate Café
Crate Café is probably one of the cafés you already know from scrolling through your Instagram feed. Crate people know, Life's crate! They all have one thing in common: Coolness. When you go there you better think about your outfit first. At some days there's (almost) an Hipster overload. I saw the most beautiful people wearing the coolest clothes, looking through the most amazing sunglasses on earth. Sometimes I thought a designer school sent out all of their students to meet up for a cup of coffee. That's how stylish everyone is dressed. Whether it's a smoothie in one of the many crazy colors they offer, or simply coffee with a breakfast bowl, everything is super delicious and healthy. The place is simple and small, concrete mixed with wooden tables and benches.
Come early as this place is always crowded. Also it's an open café with only a few fans and after 10 AM it get's really hot in there.
+ delicious food & great coffee
+ staff is always joking, fun and in a good mood
+ free water
+ meet some amazing, creative, beautiful, and inspiring people
- tables and chairs are really not designed for working (mostly wood or concrete)
- plugs (?)
- open space and it gets super hot after 10 AM, not enough shadow outside and quite hot inside too
Mon-Sun 7 AM - 3 PM
Jl. Pantai Batu Bolong No. 60
More info: Crate Café and don't forget to
check out their amazing Instagram feed
Nalu Bowls
At Nalu bowls in Canggu it can sometimes be quite busy. If you come early though, you get a table and you can work on your laptop for a while. If you get up too late, just grab a bowl to go and enjoy it at your place. Nalu is the Hawaiian word for wave. That's why all bowls have names of famous waves around the world like Uluwatu, Teahupoo, J-Bay, or Pipeline. Each of them is delicious and you can choose from many different kinds of toppings.
+ delicious breakfast bowls
+ you can call them and give your order through
+ bonus card: your 10th bowl is for free!
- small shack, not a real café
- small tables, benches
- no plugs
- some people smoke there
- popular place so waiting time can be long at times
Jl. Batu Mejan nr. 88 (before Echo Beach on the right)
Mon-Sun 07:30 AM - 06:00 PM
More info: Nalu Bowls
Finding 'the right place' to get your work done isn't always easy in Canggu. Some places are gorgeous, serve amazing food but just have too many people who like to hang out. Which is fine, but not not convenient if you need a calm environment. In some cafés I loved to meet friends and hang out by myself, just without any laptop.
If you work a lot in cafés, I urge you to actually order food and drinks. Too often digital nomads spend many hours in a café and only sip on one coffee. Be conscious. You block a table for many hours, you probably use their wifi and their power and are you drinking their free water too? Then please keep in mind they need to pay their bills and if you only drink one coffee in like 4 hours, they can't survive if many other people would do the same.
The list I provided here were my favorite cafés. I hope it helped you. Which café did you like the most to get some work done in Canggu? Are there any new cafés you enjoyed? Then please share them with us. If you haven't been to Canggu or Bali yet, are you planning to go? Let me know in the comments below.