Pirates Bay, Nusa Dua

Living in Ubud we love to head for the beach days at the weekend. Nusa Dua, is a relaxed family friendly area with clean beaches and calm water for the girls to splash about in. With the new toll road in place we can be down there soaking up the holiday “vibe” of this relaxing area in just over an hour.

It is also home to Pirates Bay beachfront restaurant. With sandy floors, a jungle canopy of trees and lots of different areas to explore it’s got a real “castaway” feel. You can opt to pay IDR 50,000 per person to just use the facilities or the better value option is to grab a coffee or a juice and entry is free. It’s still a bit of a hidden gem; so to avoid a big treasure hunt of your own head for Melia Bali or The Bay and you’ll find Pirates Bay on the beachfront.

There is plenty of shade and fun areas to sit - fancy lunch aboard the pirates ship or a picnic up a treehouse - no problem. Keen to avoid our speed-crawling, inquisitive Millie from “walking the plank” we opted to set up camp in one of the pirate family tents, on comfy bean bags around a low table.

As well as the centrepiece pirate ship there is a rope obstacle course, wooden swings, hammock, bamboo tree houses and lookouts to explore. The tree houses are impressively high and the access by steep ladders meant we had to join in with our “little mates” on all the activities (Millie got stuck in from her trusty Baby Bjorn carrier). Kids aged 7 and above could play more independently but there are still a few areas where you’d be best to keep an eye on them. With a limited supply of playgrounds in Bali this is a great area for your little “Jack Sparrows” to run wild and enjoy their very own treasure island adventure.

The service was great and the menu offers the usual favourites of seafood, European and Indonesian dishes. There is also a little pirates menu of mini fish and chips and satays for the kids. In the evening there are campfires, beach torches and lanterns which are lit up adding to the “castaway” vibe, so we will definitely be back for a twilight adventure with our little pirates soon.

Pirates Bay, Nusa Dua