kuta club crawl

By Allison Bone

Kuta’s night life is as famous as the waves that pound its shores and Bali Mouse is on a mission to see how many bars and clubs we can visit in one night and remain standing. The only rule is one drink per bar.

We usher in the sunset, and start our mission in style, with a cocktail at Oceans 27 next to Discovery mall. This lounge bar is Kuta’s answer to Ku de Ta and sprawls across a stretch of white sand in front of Kuta reef. It oozes sophistication and style with its white nautically inspired décor, pillars made of mirrors, and tables and chairs in a pool that is knee deep in water – perfect for hot summer evenings. We sink into a day bed as the sun sinks into the ocean in a flame of crimson. The long island ice tea has quite a kick and the ambient tunes mixed by the resident DJ puts us in the mood to party.  The last few months have seen some of the world’s top DJ’s, performing at a series of beach parties here, with state of the art laser light shows and exotic dancers.

We decide to off-set our rather pricey sunset cocktail by visiting the Green Box next. The name says it all, it’s a small box-shaped room painted in lurid green, located on Gang Bedugel, the small lane that runs between Poppies 1 and Poppies 11.  Drinks here start at Rp 5000 and this is a no frills ‘sink as many cheap drinks as you can before you hit the clubs venue’. We order mojitos for Rp 15,000 and break our one drink rule by ordering a couple of shots  -at Rp 10,000 each, it would be criminal not to.

Our next destination is Benesari, bars are sprouting like mushrooms along this stretch of Kuta and it makes a good place to get the night rolling.  We head to the Balcony, Kuta’s hip surfer hangout, a favourite of Kelly Slater and other well know surf pros. Their frozen margaritas are legendary and a bargain at Rp 20,000. It’s a super chilled out venue, with soft lighting, Jack Johnson tunes and pictures of surfers adorning the walls. The margaritas are fabulous.

Our next bar is as manic, as the Balcony was mellow, its certainly proving to be a night of contrasts.  Lyrix, on Benesari lane has dark red and black walls dominated by a painting of Jimmy Hendrix and bench seating. It’s the first place I have seen in Kuta that serves drinks Thai style – in buckets, so we have a vodka redbull. Its going to be a long night……The band is formidable and playing real rock n roll,  belting out Rolling Stones, the Animals and Jimmy Hendrix. It’s loud and rocking.

We don’t have far to go for our next bar, just across the road to Brothers. Another excellent live band is playing a mix of reggae, rock and pop. It’s a relaxed hang out and as popular with locals as it is with tourists. A few people are up and dancing and we down our first arak of the night in a jug of jungle juice.

Sensation is next on our list, another green bar just a few doors down from Brothers and yet again gives us another change of pace, its owner, a Sumatran surfer is a cool laid back dude and his bar reflects this. A sign out the front says “bring your music, bring your DVD, but no bring your mum”. It quiet and cozy and we stretch across the sofa and drink Virgin dogs, a very sweet, very blue concoction.

Love Buzz, further down Benesari lane entices us next, they are playing some pumping house music and a group of Russians are already plastered and dancing on the tables. It’s a tiny venue but big on atmosphere with a fabulous wall mural of a volcano   set against a dazzling sunset.

By 11.30 we are ready to hit the bigger venues on Legian street. First up, it’s the long running and very popular Espresso Bar, Kuta’s home of Rock and Roll and the house band is one of the best rock bands in town. The music is incendiary, the lead singer is howling covers of Rage Against The Machine and the Chilli Peppers and by 12.00 the bar is so packed that the crowd has spilled out onto the sidewalk. It’s thick with atmosphere and there is a great mix of locals, tourists and expats rocking out in true head banging style. Our jug of tasty arak based jungle juice goes down rather easily.

Yet again, its time for a change of scene, this time it’s Sky Garden. The club is famous for its 14-day infused Martinis but we opt for peach bellinis, served in elegant cocktail classes, a classy drink for a classy and sophisticated venue. My favourite thing about this club is its labyrinth of floors and rooms with three different sound systems. The main sound system pumps out a mix of good solid house music over three floors, including the open air garden lounge, which also features acrobatic and fire dancers. Another dance floor has hip hop and a stage with sexy dancers strutting their stuff, while the top VIP area is a very cool space with expansive views over Kuta. The windows are all open creating a light breeze and the music here is a softer more funky house. Outside a platform is lined with artificial grass where you can dance under the stars.

Next up its time to get airy at Apache, home to Kuta’s most righteous rastas. This dark cavernous club with its live reggae performances headed by the legendary Johnny Agung is the club of choice for Kuta’s Dread community and is a lot of fun. Huge portraits of Bob Marley adorn the walls. Good solid reggae and an intimate atmosphere makes it feel more like a party than a club and its friendly and pretension free, just a great place to groove to the rhythm.

Its 2.30am and we are now inebriated enough to hit Bounty, a serious den of iniquity with a very young and very drunk crowd. We order cocktails that are served up in fishbowl shaped glasses and watch the karaoke which is hilarious as the people on stage can barely stand up, let alone sing. Then it’s up the stairs and onto the huge dance floor, there are poles, podiums and platforms and a big stage for people to dance on, people are also gyrating in the cages which is pretty funny. The music is a mix of R&B, hip hop and house, and the dance floor is heaving with a sweaty shirtless, very ‘up for it’ crowd. It’s not classy, but it’s a good place to let your hair down and boogey.

By four am things are winding down, but we are still standing so, there is only one place left to go. It’s time to hit the mother of all clubs, Double 6, on the beachfront. This legendary club attracts the best DJ’s from all over the world and boasts an incredible sound system, world class audio visuals, a stylish pool and outdoor seating area. And it’s the only place still open at this time of the morning. Techno is booming out of the giant speakers and people are leaping about the dance floor, arms in the air. It is also the only club I have ever been to where you can have a bungee jump and we sit outside and watch one person after another leap over the pool from the purpose built tower.

We are still standing as dawn breaks over Kuta. Our mission has been accomplished and the only place to go now is home.