In stark contrast to many beach clubs in Bali, El Kabron Bali has been trying to get our attention, at least, once a day no matter where we are on the Internet.
Given that they’re putting this much effort into trying to get us to visit, we decided to send the team to watch sunset, try the Spanish cuisine and see if this spot by the Indian Ocean is as good as the marketing team promises it will be. This is what we found at El Kabron Bali.
Introduction – Getting To El Kabron Bali
Pecatu Bali is just to the South of Uluwatu proper on the Bukit Peninsula and that means the drive to El Kabron Bali is reasonable from the airport, Denpasar, Jimbaran, and to some extent Nusa Dua and Ungasan too.
Things get a bit longer from Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta and Ubud and given the tight reservation time slots at this club, we recommend you set off for El Kabron Bali much earlier than you might need to when going by distance alone.
There is parking available at this spot if you’re using your own transport to visit El Kabron and a Grab or Gojek can drop you at the front door.
Where Is El Kabron Bali? Jl. Pantai Cemongkak, Pecatu, Kec. Kuta Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361
Website: El Kabron
Opening Hours: 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily except Nyepi
What’s Inside El Kabron Bali?
El Kabron Bali has a single large swimming pool, as well as bar and a restaurant area along with various seating options. There is also a dance floor for late-night parties.
Our Review Breakdown For El Kabron Bali
We review every beach club in Bali in the same manner to try and be fair to you, the reader, and to the clubs themselves.
Our team visits the club, they each independently grade the club from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) against a set of 20 different categories (listed below).
Then, they return to work and discuss and vote on the final score in each category to ensure a truly representative mark from the team.
Finally, one member of the team writes up a review based on the vote and the discussions and this review remains live for a period of, at least, one year until we revisit the club.
Pre-Club Advertising
Credit where credit’s due where many beach clubs in Bali appear to be pathologically afraid of advertising, El Kabron Bali tends to advertise everywhere it might get your attention.
We can respect that, it’s a good way to help fill up a beach club and ensure that the restaurant area and infinity pool are always busy and exciting.
They aren’t quite the top advertiser on the island, but there’s no doubt that El Kabron Bali isn’t afraid to dangle promises to the prospective clubgoer.
Location
El Kabron Bali is near Dreamland Beach in Pecatu Bali (Uluwatu) which means it’s a reasonable drive from Jimbaran, Denpasar and Nusa Dua.
It’s a bit further from Kuta, Canggu, Seminyak and Ubud though and in the Bali traffic, you might need to spend up to 2 hours getting here.
There are some amenities in the local area when you arrive, but as with much of Uluwatu, if you want variety, you will need transport or a Grab taxi to see it.
Booking Process & Seating Options
The booking process is carried out online and it’s a complicated beast because they have so many different options for you to choose from.
A daybed or a VIP oceanfront daybed? A party sofa, or a deck sofa or a VIP royal sofa? And those are the options in just one part of their club.
However, while you can’t choose your exact seat – you can get a flavour of where you’re sitting and the prices you’re going to be paying are laid out clearly in the booking engine.
The reservations themselves are taken through Chope which is an external app and that means they can’t take a deposit and in turn that means if you don’t arrive within 15 minutes of your reservation time – you lose your seat.
We don’t understand why a beach club that spends as much money trying to get your attention as this one does, can’t manage to sort out a more effective booking engine.
Entry Fee
If you want pool access, you will be charged an incredible 350,000++ IDR as an “amenities” fee this is taken as part of your minimum spend requirement.
If you don’t want pool access, there’s no entrance fee, but there’s still a mandatory minimum spend attached to every single seat in this venue.
To us, that’s an entrance fee by the back door and we strongly dislike this kind of gouging from beach clubs.
There’s no reason that you can’t go into any beach club and find a seat and have a beer without having to commit to anything more – if the island’s best beach club can do it, so can anybody.
Minimum Spend
The minimum spend at El Kabron Bali isn’t levied per seat as it is in most beach clubs, it’s levied per person.
While a seat in the restaurant area is a reasonable 400,000 IDR ++ and in the sunset theatre (also with no pool access) a seat is 1,000,000++ (a pretty steep minimum spend for a restaurant table and chairs) per person.
Things get much more expensive around the pool with a 1,500,000++ minimum minimum spend per person and up to 3,000,000++ IDR per person for the nicest seats!
This feels like pure greed to us. It’s far in excess of the other beach clubs.
For comparison, you can get a bed for six on the weekend at FINNS for just 3,500,000++ IDR for everyone in your party and they all get access to the pool, towels, etc.
Welcome And Security
The welcome is OK, but if you’re a walk-in don’t ask to see a seat before you book one, they won’t let you. This seems extraordinary to us, but it was exactly what happened to the person in front of us in the queue.
There is a basic bag check though and we approve of that – we like knowing that the place we spend time in is going to be safe and secure.
Inclusions
If you have agreed to a minimum spend by the pool, you will find that you get a towel and some “welcome treats” included in your minimum spend.
If you’re anywhere else in the building, your minimum spend includes nothing but somewhere to sit.
There’s also no VIP or Premier service, though at these prices, you may feel like you already paid for that and just didn’t get it.
Service
Inside the venue, the service definitely improves compared to at the entrance and while it’s not the best service we’ve ever had in a beach club, it was more than good enough.
The staff are attentive and helpful and are happy to engage with any customer when they visit El Kabron for the first time.
Entertainment
There are live DJs for their sunset parties every day at El Kabron Bali.
There’s no other tableside entertainment though and music during the day is piped.
Pool Quality
There is a single large infinity pool with an unusual shape (their infinity pool is a bit like a set of Mickey Mouse ears when viewed from above).
This is fine for swimming and while the water was a little murkier than we’d like, it didn’t feel like a health hazard.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
It probably won’t come as a surprise that El Kabron Bali has some of the highest menu prices that we’ve seen at a beach club in Bali.
With even a classic cocktail starting at 190,000 IDR ++ and a simple cheese platter costing 450,000++ IDR, you will probably find you blow through your large minimum spend pretty quickly.
Food And Drink Quality
We did think that the food at El Kabron Bali was good and if we wanted Spanish cuisine then this is as good a place to have it on the island as any.
Though at 160,000++ IDR just for some potato croquettes, you have to ask yourself if it might not be cheaper to fly to Spain if you want a whole meal?
The cocktails were OK, not particularly generous but not hideously weak either.
Sunset View
The sunsets in Bali over the Indian Ocean are often considered to be one of the primary attractions of the island.
El Kabron Bali offers an excellent sunset view from certain parts of the club, but if you’re in the restaurant, you might struggle to get the best sunsets here.
Music And Ambiance
This is a venue that very much focuses on parties and the Hedonism Lounge influences the music throughout the beach club.
El Kabron Bali can certainly see a lot of people up and dancing in the evenings, but we’d like a bit more effort put into the per-sunset music policy too, which is bland.
Payment Options
They only accept Visa, Mastercard and cash in El Kabron Bali which means that visitors from places using UnionPay and other brands of cards are out of luck.
There are also no QRIS or e-wallet facilities.
Exit Process
You can leave El Kabron Bali as easily as you came in, just follow the path back to the front door.
You will be given a warm farewell from the staff at El Kabron Bali.
Transportation
You can easily get your car or scooter from the local car park when you leave. However, if you came by Grab or Gojek, you will find you get hassle from the taxi mafia in this spot while you wait for your ride.
You may also find it hard to get a Grab or Gojek once the sunset is over, this part of the island is not as busy as Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, etc. and that means fewer drivers to go around – despite the need for transport (almost nothing is walkable from El Kabron Bali) being greater.
Social Media Presence
It’s not updated every day but it is updated regularly and El Kabron Bali includes enough photos and videos on its various social channels that you can get a good idea of what the place looks like and feels like inside.
They also haven’t fallen into the trap of photographing a mostly empty club, something that far too many beach clubs in Bali do.
But we did notice that they often repeat the same shots over and over again, we wonder how hard can it be to send someone into the venue with a camera and get some fresh material?
Other/General Comments
There are very few beach clubs where it feels like they’re watching the contents of your wallet throughout your stay – but El Kabron Bali is one of them.
The prices, from the entrance fee to the minimum spend to the menu are just over the top. If you’ve got money to burn, you may not care, but for many tourists, Bali is a value destination and El Kabron Bali is poor value for money when compared to other much better beach clubs here.
Our Overall Opinion Of El Kabron Bali
It’s safe to say that unless we hear that El Kabron Bali has rethought its pricing strategy, we won’t be back here any time soon.
Overall, if we were staying in the area, we’d probably try out El Kabron Bali to see what it was like but we certainly wouldn’t travel for it. There are much better options for a beach club day out here and many that won’t cost the world, either.
FAQs
Can You Swim At El Kabron Bali?
Yes, there’s a large pool at El Kabron Bali and there’s enough room for groups of friends to decide to swim and play at the same time without encroaching on each other’s space.
What Can You Do At El Kabron Bali?
There are a few things to do at El Kabron: Spanish Cuisine (such as paella and tapas), swimming, drinks, relaxing and later in the day you can dance on the dance floor.
Is El Kabron Bali A Family-Friendly Venue?
Not really, no. Children are allowed into the restaurant area but are not permitted anywhere else in the venue, especially in the “hedonism lounge”. They are also only allowed in for dinner, with reports of people being turned away at lunchtime for having children with them.
Who Owns El Kabron Bali?
Anna Maria G from Spain is the founder and owner of El Kabron Bali.
Final Thoughts On El Kabron Bali
We had high hopes for El Kabron Bali but sadly, they were dashed a little by the endless money grabbing of this venue.
We don’t mind paying a premium for a nice pool at a beach club but there are a lot of beach clubs on this island and there is a market price for amenities.
And El Kabron Bali isn’t good enough to charge a huge premium over and above some of the world’s best beach clubs. It’s really that simple.
We had a good time at this place but would we return to chill here again? Not until the prices go down to a more reasonable number.
