Klive Beach Club has only recently opened its doors in Ungasan and it’s certainly positioning itself as an upmarket affair.
So, we sent out our team to see if this direct rival to Sundays Beach Club is the real deal or an also-ran and this is what we learned.
Introduction – Getting To Klive Beach Club
Klive Beach Club in Bali is in Ungasan which is in South Bali on the Bukit Peninsula. In practical terms, it means it’s a long drive (thanks mainly to the traffic) from most of Bali.
On the bright side, it’s quite easy to get to the beach club when you arrive as there’s an elevator down the cliff to the entrance.
Where Is Klive Beach Club Bali? Jalan Villa Kandara Banjar Wijaya Kusuma, Ungasan, Uluwatu, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80362, Indonesia
Website: Klive Beach Club
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
What’s Inside Klive Beach Club?
7 decks! Klive Beach Club is spread over a range of decks that are on the cliffside over the beach. They bill this as a big selling point. There’s also a pool, a range of seating areas and bar and restaurant facilities.
Our Review Breakdown For Klive Beach Club
All our beach club reviews are done in exactly the same fashion for fairness’ sake. We send a team out to the club and they spend time there.
They then rank the beach club on a scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) against a list of 20 criteria. When they get back to the office, they vote on a final score in each category to ensure that the review contains the best reflection of everyone’s experience of the beach club.
Once the review of a beach club goes live, it will remain up for a year, at least, before we revisit the beach club to see what’s changed and amend the original review accordingly.
Pre-Club Advertising
Klive Beach Club is brand new and we didn’t expect to see a huge amount of advertising as they work out all the little hiccups that come with a new business.
However, there are posters up in the local area and there’s a bit of buzz in the local press around this business.
We’d like to think they’ll be investing more in advertising in the future as it’s important, you get the most amazing time at a beach club when it’s full and that means making certain people know that you’re there.
Location
We confess we don’t love Ungasan as a location for many reasons, but the biggest is that this spot by the ocean is a long way from the rest of the island.
If you’re coming from places like Canggu, Kuta and Seminyak, it can be a very long drive, indeed, in the Bali traffic and even from nearby Uluwatu and Nusa Dua it takes longer to reach Klive Beach Club and this area than we’d like.
However, we have to say that we celebrate the fact that you can easily get down to this beach club using the elevator rather than being forced to walk up and down a steep hill or flight of stairs.
Little details of this kind help to ensure a feeling of relaxation before you get into the beach club.
Booking Process & Seating Options
Klive Beach Club is new, so maybe they’ve not quite polished their booking system but it’s also possible that they haven’t got one.
If you click on Reserve on their website, you get taken to a WhatsApp account, which is a very inefficient way to go about booking a bed.
It makes it hard to find the seats you want (there’s no map obviously) and means spending more time finding out about pricing that you’d like.
Entry Fee
There is no entrance fee at Klive Beach Club and we’d normally celebrate this as we think no beach club in Bali should charge an entrance fee.
However… Klive Beach Club has no seating of any kind that doesn’t require a minimum spend. This is, in effect, a kind of back-door entry fee.
Sure, unlike at Sundays next door, all the money you spend at Klive Beach Club will be served up in food and drinks, but really a seat by the bar shouldn’t require you to agree to spend 300,000 IDR, either.
Minimum Spend
Every seat within Klive Beach Club has a minimum spend attached to it. The good news is that these minimum spends aren’t that high and are well within beach club norms in Bali.
300,000 IDR for a seat at the bar, 900,000 IDR for a beanbag and 1,200,000 for a sunbed isn’t too bad and it’s certainly much better value than in other beach club venues in this area.
Welcome And Security
Klive Beach Club had one of the friendliest welcomes that we’ve encountered in Bali and we felt genuinely at home straight away.
However, we didn’t pass through any kind of security check (though we did enter Klive Beach Club from the beach rather than from the usual entrance) and that’s a shame because we prefer beach clubs to carry out these checks for everyone’s safety.
It’s something we don’t think is rated high enough in many people’s priorities but it’s essential for preventing problems inside a beach club.
Inclusions
OK, there may be a minimum spend everywhere inside Klive Beach Club but the good news is that everyone gets a towel included with that minimum spend and they also get access to the watersports equipment that Klive Beach Club provides on the beach.
This is better than the average beach club inclusions in Bali but we’d also like to see a premier or VIP tier with a few more inclusions at Klive Beach Club.
Service
Klive Beach Club offers the best service that we’ve encountered in this part of Bali and it made for a stark contrast with some of the other clubs in Ungasan.
The staff were sweet and friendly and when one of our female colleagues turned up to test this beach club as a solo visitor, they made sure to make small talk and make her feel at home.
It’s not quite “best in class” but Klive Beach Club is certainly a bright light when it comes to service in this part of Bali.
Entertainment
It’s, perhaps, too early to judge Klive Beach Club on this but when we were there, there was only piped music.
There were DJs scheduled to appear at future events, but we feel that if you’re charging a minimum spend, then some live entertainment really ought to be available every day.
It’s what sets an OK beach club apart from an amazing beach club.
Pool Quality
The pool area is very nice and you get a great view over the beach from the pool here.
However, it’s not the biggest pool that we’ve ever seen and we can imagine that if Klive Beach Club gets busy, this isn’t going to be the easiest pool to swim in.
It was very clean and pristine, but then, Klive Beach Club hasn’t been open long enough for it to get dirty. We’d be happy to swim here again.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
We felt that the menu pricing at Klive Beach Club was very much in keeping with other upmarket beach clubs and, perhaps, even a little cheaper than at some of the other beach clubs in Ungasan.
It was neither overpriced nor underpriced for most items though the 150,000 IDR for cocktails is a little steep when compared to the biggest beach club names on the island.
Food And Drink Quality
The food at this beach club wasn’t the best that we’ve ever had in a beach club, but it was very good and we found the portions to be tasty and generous.
The drinks were more than strong enough and well-mixed too, which is exactly how it should be at a premium club like Klive.
Sunset View
Ungasan doesn’t have the best sunset views in Bali because it faces South onto the ocean. However, Klive Beach Club has a better view than most because it’s a series of raised platforms on the cliff edge.
This changes your viewing angle and means that you get a better feel for the spectacular Bali lightshow. Sure, it’s not in the same league as the sunset view you get at FINNS in Canggu, but it’s not bad either.
Music And Ambiance
The music was piped in and the setlist seemed to have been chosen with care to create a vibe that promotes relaxation and harmony.
It worked too, we felt completely at home in Klive Beach Club and we were happy to spend a day on the daybeds here.
Payment Options
You can pay with cash or card at Klive Beach Club but we didn’t see any signs advertising QRIS, e-wallet or crypto payments.
Exit Process
Getting out of this beach club is easy as you simply follow the levels up to the elevator on the cliff face. The elevator then does the hard part of getting you back up to the road.
This is a big deal as many of the other clubs in Ungasan just shove you out the door and then leave you facing a long walk up or having to pay a moto driver (in cash) to get you to the road.
If you’re going to promote relaxation, then leaving the club has to be a relaxing experience.
Transportation
If you want to park near to Klive Beach Club you can park for a fee at one of the nearby resorts or the car park.
However, if you want to go home by Grab or Gojek this isn’t very much fun. You will need to be patient as these services are often understaffed in this part of Bali.
Worse, while you wait, you will be harassed by the local taxi mafia into accepting a much more expensive affair.
Annoyingly, you can’t really book while you’re inside the club as getting the elevator, etc. takes time that a driver may not be happy to wait for.
Social Media Presence
Klive Beach Club has a social media presence (Instagram, etc.) but as you might expect for a very new venue, there’s not much there.
However, they’re also not updating their social media regularly which we would have thought was an essential part of marketing for a beach club trying to carve out a path in a competitive scene.
Other/General Comments
Klive Beach Club is off to a good start and we’ll be interested to see how this club has grown when we come back in a year’s time.
We liked the experience we had here and felt that there was much less money-grabbing at Klive than in other local beach clubs in this area.
Our Overall Opinion Of Klive Beach Club
We don’t really understand the Ungasan Beach Club scene, it’s usually overpriced and poor value.
However, we found that, apart from the minimum spend issue, Klive Beach Club has a lot of potential and we much preferred it to its neighbours.
It wouldn’t be our first choice of beach club in Bali, particularly because it’s a long drive from Canggu but overall, if we were in this area, we’d choose Klive Beach Club over most of its neighbours.
Klive Beach Club acquitted itself admirably for a newbie but check out the highest ranking beach clubs in Bali and see the difference for yourself.
You might also want to check out FINNS, which is the best beach club in the world and it’s right here in Bali, and Sundays Beach Club a local competitor to Klive.
FAQs
Can You Swim At Klive Beach Club?
Yes, you can swim in the pool at Klive Beach Club and you can also swim in the ocean by the beach.
What Can You Do At Klive Beach Club?
You can eat, drink, swim in the pool, do water sports on the beach, and sit on a range of different furniture options (assuming you’re OK with the minimum spend requirement that each attracts).
Is Klive Beach Club A Family-Friendly Venue?
There weren’t any kids present during our visit to Klive Beach Club but as far as we know, it’s not an adults-only venue.
Who Owns Klive Beach Club?
We weren’t able to ascertain the owner of Klive Beach Club but the General Manager is Simone Coletta.
Final Thoughts On Klive Beach Club
Klive Beach Club is off to a good start and while it’s not perfect, it’s certainly a better beach club than some of the more established places in this part of Bali.
The only downside is that it’s a long drive from most of the rest of the island and you might prefer to skip the traffic and opt for an equivalent or better experience close to home.
