Sun N Sand Beach Club is based in Tanjung Benoa (the resort town next to Nusa Dua) and that means it’s perfectly located for some of the best water sports in Bali.
But is it a great beach club and would it be worth enduring the Bali traffic to get there if you’re based elsewhere on the island? Well, we sent out our team to find out. This is what they discovered.
Introduction – Getting To Sun N Sand Beach Club
Tanjung Benoa is on the Bukit Peninsula and it’s not always the easiest place to drive to from the rest of the island.
If you’re coming from the airport or from Nusa Dua, it won’t be too much of a trek but it could take a couple of hours from anywhere else because of the Bali traffic.
The good news is that there’s plenty of parking near this beach club and you can be dropped off at the entrance by Grab or Gojek.
Where Is Sun N Sand Beach Club? Jl. Pratama No.99x, Benoa, Kec. Kuta Sel., Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80361, Indonesia
Website: Sun N Sand Beach Club
Opening Hours: 10.30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily except Nyepi
What’s Inside Sun N Sand Beach Club?
There is a pool, some day beds, other seating areas, as well as bar and restaurant facilities at Sun N Sand.
Our Review Breakdown For Sun N Sand Beach Club
We always review beach clubs in the same way. This ensures that the club is treated fairly and that you, our readers, can be certain of a consistent approach with no favouritism applied.
Our team visits the club (though not all at the same time or even on the same day) and they use the 20 criteria listed below to derive a mark in each category from 1 (worst) to 5 (best).
Then, they meet and discuss the club and vote on the final mark against each criterion.
Following that, one of us writes up the review and it goes live on our website. It will then remain in place for, at least, one year before we revisit the club and see if any of our scores need amending.
Pre-Club Advertising
We’d never heard of this family-friendly beach club until we started researching our project, so we can safely say that we’ve never seen any advertising for Sun N Sand.
This is a bit of a shame because it means that it’s not always as busy as it could be and we feel that sharing the experience of a beach club is what makes for an awesome day out.
However, its position right on the beach near many of the water sport schools means that it’s rarely empty.
Location
Tanjung Benoa has a lovely beach and it’s on a beautiful stretch of the cocean with nice clear water.
However, it’s not the easiest place to get to, and unless you’re coming from Nusa Dua or the airport, it’s going to be a long drive from other parts of the island.
That means you’re going to want to consider what else you’re going to do in the area because the round trip isn’t worth the effort just to sit on the day beds at this club.
Booking Process & Seating Options
There is a website for Sun N Sand and you can book a seat in advance, but only if you have access to WhatsApp.
There’s no booking form on the site and that means a painful back and forth trying to sort out what you want with an agent, rather than just clicking a few buttons to reserve a seat.
We feel that in 2024, beach clubs should do better on this front, poor booking processes deter people from visiting in the first place.
Imagine spending 2 hours in a car to get to Sun N Sand to find you can’t get a seat?
Entry Fee
There is no entrance fee at Sun N Sand and that’s something we wholly approve of.
Nobody should have to pay money to walk into a beach club to find out if the vibe suits them.
We also, don’t approve of “back door entrance fees” by ensuring that every seat has some sort of minimum spend attached to it and as you will see in our next section that’s also a plus point for this club.
Minimum Spend
Sun N Sand has no minimum spend requirement for any of its seats and that means you’re not compelled to agree to spend a certain amount of money anywhere in the venue.
However, this isn’t all upside, it means that there’s little incentive to improve the reservations process and it means that the beach club has no incentive to hold your seat if they have someone else who wants to use it.
A minimum spend encourages the club to take a deposit and to hold your seats for a decent window of time.
It’s very annoying to be delayed in Bali traffic and to arrive to find that your seats are now somebody else’s seats.
Welcome And Security
We found that there was a very warm welcome at Sun N Sand and it felt like a good omen for the rest of the experience here.
However, there was no bag check of any kind and we’d prefer that every beach club in Bali pays attention to basic security precautions.
A safe environment is a more welcoming environment in our book.
Inclusions
Given that there’s no entrance fee or minimum spend, the beach club will still generously provide the use of a towel for free if you swim here.
However, there are no options for additional tiers of service or inclusion and that means you’re going to need to bring your own sunscreen or pay a huge premium for it in the local stores.
We’d like to see more beach clubs in Bali think about how they could improve the customer experience and allow people to pay for more perks rather than just for VIP events.
Service
We found the service here to be very good and the wait staff were very polite, kind and attentive.
It wasn’t quite as polished a performance as you will see at the bigger beach clubs here or in the 5-star hotels but it was exactly the kind of hospitality that put Bali on the tourist map.
This is a very important part of the beach club experience and the staff at SUn N Sand are a credit to their club.
Entertainment
This is really more of a restaurant with a pool than a full-blown beach club and there’s almost nothing in the way of entertainment for most of the day.
At night, you may find that they have a DJ or some traditional dancing particularly if they are hosting any VIP events.
However, you can always make your own fun on the sand of the beach or go and take part in the water sports that this area is famous for.
Pool Quality
The pool is a decent size and we like that they’ve set up spots where you can take some shade while in the water too.
We found that the water was clean and the area was well-maintained on our visit to this club.
Menu/Drinks Pricing
The food and drinks at this club are very competitively priced when you consider that this club is in the upmarket Nusa Dua/Tanjung Benoa area where most resorts are 5-star luxury brands from overseas.
Their food menu is mainly focused on Indian dishes which can often be quite expensive in Southeast Asia, so to find it so reasonably priced was really good news.
Drinks are a bit more of a premium but they’re still not as expensive as in the resorts nearby.
Food And Drink Quality
We found that Sun N Sand sells some of the best Indian food on the island and their menu competes with any of the other beach clubs.
We were also impressed by the quality of the cocktails and they were more than strong enough and they looked awesome in our Instagram snaps for the day.
Sunset View
Tanjung Benoa is on the wrong side of the island for an amazing sunset veiw and it’s really better for sunrise watching. (Though we should note that Sun N Sand is not open at sunrise).
There is some light change in the sky when the sun goes down, but you don’t get the full dramatic view that you get in Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta, Legian, Jimbaran and Uluwatu.
Music And Ambiance
The music in this beach club is usually piped in but they do occasionally have DJs and even some live traditional dance performances after the sun sets.
That’s not bad for a small club on the beach and the overall vibe is friendly and relaxed.
Payment Options
You can pay by cash or card anywhere inside Sun N Sand and that’s great but we’d like to see signs that they accept QRIS or e-wallet payments too.
Exit Process
This is a small beachside club and you can just get up and walk out onto the beach or back the way that you came in.
You will be given a cheerful farewell from the staff when you leave.
Transportation
If you’ve parked nearby, then retrieving your vehicle will be easy enough. however, if you’re relying on Grab or Gojek services, this isn’t the busiest part of the island and you may need to wait a long time for a ride, particularly at busier times of the day.
You may want to book a few minutes before you are ready to leave this club and then venture out when your ride is close by.
Social Media Presence
Sun N Sand has a surprisingly good Instagram presence for a small beach club with regular updates and pictures of the club looking busy.
It’s regularly updated with both videos and pictures as well as promotions and other important bits of information
It could be a little more polished but it’s definitely one of the best efforts that we’ve seen other than at the biggest beach clubs.
Other/General Comments
This is really more of a restaurant with a pool than it is a full beach club and that’s just fine.
People tend to come to Tanjung Benoa for the white sand, the ocean and the water sports anyway.
But Sun N Sand is a nice place to have a long lunch and take a dip in the pool.
Our Overall Opinion Of Sun N Sand Beach Club
We really enjoyed eating at Sun N Sand and if this place were a bit closer to home, we might pop in from time to time.
However, it’s not worth driving across Bali just for this club and we’d recommend that you plan a full day out in Tanjung Benoa to take advantage of the beach and water sports here if you do opt to come to Sun N Sand.
FAQs
Can You Swim At Sun N Sand Beach Club?
Yes, there’s a pool at Sun N Sand Beach Club. It’s not the biggest pool though and if you arrive late in the day it may be a bit too crowded to do much swimming.
However, you’re within a stone’s throw of the beach and the water is safe for swimming and most water sports too.
What Can You Do At Sun N Sand Beach Club?
You can swim, eat and drink as well as relax at Sun N Sand Beach Club. This isn’t the biggest beach club but there are additional facilities on the beach (independent from the club) for water sports enthusiasts.
Is Sun N Sand Beach Club A Family-Friendly Venue?
Yes, Sun N Sand Beach Club is a family-friendly beach club. Children are welcome throughout the facility.
However, we should note that there are no special facilities for kids and you will be expected to keep an eye on your kids and ensure that they’re not annoying other guests.
Who Owns Sun N Sand Beach Club?
We weren’t able to determine who owns this family-friendly beach club but we believe that it’s owned by a local family.
Final Thoughts On Sun N Sand Beach Club
We wouldn’t drive across the island just for the Sun N Sand Beach Club.
However, if you’re in Nusa Dua or going to Tanjung Benoa for some water sports, it’s a great place to stop for some food and drink and to chill out on the day beds.
The food here is very good and for this area, it’s very reasonably priced.
