The Guide to Balinese Ceremonies That Confuses Every Tourist in Canggu
If you have lived in Berawa for more than 3 days, you have experienced this: You wake up, you want to go to Bambu Fitness, and your gang Jalan Tegal Sari is closed. Women in white kebaya are walking with huge offerings on their heads, men are playing gamelan, and a priest is blocking the road. Your Gojek driver cancels. You are confused, maybe annoyed.
Then you Google "Why is road closed in Canggu today?" and you get nothing.
This guide from Aviator Bali Apartment Hotel at Jl. Tegal Sari Gang Kana No.59, Berawa, Canggu is written with our Balinese staff who were born in Tibubeneng, Berawa. This is what tourists don't understand about ceremonies in Berawa, and why living in Berawa during a ceremony is actually the most beautiful experience you can have in Bali, if you know how to respect it.
BERAWA IS NOT JUST A TOURIST AREA. IT IS A REAL BALINESE VILLAGE.
Most tourists think Canggu is just cafes and beach clubs. Wrong. Berawa is Desa Tibubeneng. There are 3 main temples within 500 meters from Aviator Bali: Pura Desa, Pura Dalem, and Pura Kahyangan. Every house in Gang Kana has a family temple. Every day, our staff puts canang sari (small offering with flowers, incense, cracker, and cigarette) in front of Aviator Bali. Not for tourists, but for balance.
In Bali, there are two worlds: Sekala (the visible world) and Niskala (the invisible world). Ceremonies are how Balinese keep balance between them. If you stay in Berawa in an apartment hotel like Aviator Bali, you live INSIDE that balance, not outside like in a private villa in Pererenan where you are isolated from culture.
THE 5 CEREMONIES YOU WILL SEE IF YOU STAY 1 MONTH IN BERAWA
1. Canang Sari - Every Day, Every Morning (6 AM - 8 AM)
This is the small offering you see everywhere, including in front of Aviator Bali every morning. Made from palm leaf, with white, red, yellow, green flowers, incense, and a small piece of cracker or candy.
Meaning: Gratitude to the spirits for balance. Put on ground, in front of shop, on scooter, on temple.
What to do as tourist: NEVER step on canang sari. Walk around it. If you accidentally step on it, say sorry quietly and don't make a big deal. Don't pick it up. Don't take photo with your foot next to it for Instagram. At Aviator Bali, our staff puts canang sari at 6:30 AM. If you wake up at 6:30 AM and see her making it, just say "Om Swastiastu" (Balinese greeting) and smile. She will smile back and you will be respected.
2. Galungan & Kuningan - The Most Beautiful (Happens Every 210 Days, 10 Days Long)
This is Bali's Christmas and New Year combined. Happens every 210 days according to Balinese calendar. In 2026, Galungan is in February and September.
What you see: Every house in Gang Kana, every shop, every restaurant in Berawa puts up PENJOR - a tall curved bamboo pole with coconut leaves, fruits, rice, and decoration. The whole Gang Kana where Aviator Bali is becomes a tunnel of penjor. It is the most Instagrammable moment, but it is deeply spiritual. Penjor means prosperity and gratitude to ancestors.
During Galungan, families go to temple in full white and yellow kebaya, bringing huge offerings. Roads are busy but not closed.
Kuningan is 10 days after Galungan, the closing. Families pray for protection.
If you stay at Aviator Bali during Galungan, our staff will invite you to see their family temple and explain their penjor. We also put big penjor in front of our building. This is experience you cannot buy. Villas don't do this because they have no local staff who care.
3. Melasti - The Big Beach Ceremony (3 Days Before Nyepi)
This is the one that closes Berawa Beach.
One day, usually at 6 AM, you will see thousands of Balinese people in white walking from temples in Berawa to Berawa Beach carrying temple statues and offerings. They will do purification at beach. Berawa Beach will be closed for tourists from 6 AM to 12 PM. No surfing, no sunbathing.
Meaning: Purification of temple objects in ocean.
What to do: Don't be annoyed that beach is closed. Wake up at 5:30 AM, walk to Berawa Beach (2 mins from Aviator Bali), and watch from distance. Don't go into water, don't take selfie in middle of ceremony. Sit on side, watch, be quiet. It is one of most powerful ceremonies you will see in Bali. Thousands of people in white on black sand beach. After 12 PM, beach opens again.
At Aviator Bali, we inform guests 3 days before via WhatsApp if Melasti will happen and which beach will be closed.
4. Nyepi - The Day of Silence (Once a Year, Usually March)
This is Bali's most famous ceremony. For 24 hours, whole island shuts down. No flights, no lights, no noise, no going out of house, no work, no entertainment. Even airport closes.
For tourists, it sounds scary. For people who have experienced Nyepi in Berawa, it is the most peaceful day of their life.
What happens: Day before Nyepi is Ogoh-Ogoh parade. Huge monster statues made by local youth are paraded in streets of Berawa to scare evil spirits. In Tibubeneng, Ogoh-Ogoh parade starts at 7 PM and goes through Jalan Raya Canggu. It is loud, fun, chaotic, amazing.
Then Nyepi day: You must stay inside your apartment. No lights at night (or very dim), no loud music, no going out. Pecalang (traditional security) patrols streets and will ask you to go inside.
Why staying in apartment hotel like Aviator Bali is best for Nyepi:
- Hotel room: Small, no kitchen, you will starve because no Gojek, no restaurant open. You have to stock food before.
- Private villa: Big, but you are alone in dark big house with no lights, scary, and if power goes off (sometimes happens), no one to help.
- Apartment hotel Aviator Bali: You have full kitchen, you can stock food from Pepito 2 days before (we remind you), you have full apartment with living room and bedroom, you have daily housekeeping before Nyepi to clean, you have water dispenser, you have manager on WhatsApp who is also staying in Berawa and can help. And you have terrace where you can sit at night and see STARS like you have never seen before because whole island has no lights. No light pollution. Milky Way visible from Berawa.
Our long-stay guests say Nyepi at Aviator Bali was highlight of their 3 months in Bali.
5. Odalan - Temple Anniversary (Every 210 Days Per Temple)
Every temple in Berawa has its own birthday every 210 days. During Odalan, temple is decorated, there is gamelan music for 3 days, and locals pray.
If you stay in Gang Kana, you will hear gamelan music at night from Pura Desa (300 meters from Aviator Bali). It is beautiful, not noise. Go and watch from outside temple. Don't enter if you are not invited and not wearing sarong and sash. Just watch from gate.
RULES FOR TOURISTS DURING CEREMONIES IN BERAWA
- Wear sarong and sash if you enter temple area. You can borrow from Aviator Bali, we have free sarongs for guests.
- Women on period are not allowed to enter temple (Balinese belief). Please respect.
- Don't use flash or drone during ceremony.
- Don't stand higher than priest.
- If road is closed for ceremony, don't honk, don't argue. Wait 10 minutes or take small gang shortcut. Our manager at Aviator Bali will send you live update on WhatsApp which road is open.
- If you are invited to a ceremony by our staff, bring small donation (Rp 50k-100k in envelope) or fruit. Don't come empty-handed.
WHY EXPERIENCING CEREMONY IN BERAWA IS BETTER THAN IN UBUD
Ubud ceremonies are tourist shows now. You pay Rp 200k to see fake ceremony.
In Berawa, ceremonies are real, for locals, not for tourists. Because Berawa is still a real village with local families living in Gang Kana. When you stay at Aviator Bali, you are living in middle of that village, not in tourist ghetto.
You see real canang sari being made by our staff at 6:30 AM. You see real penjor in front of your apartment during Galungan. You hear real gamelan from temple at night. You are not watching culture, you are living inside it.
That is why our long-stay guests who stay 1-3 months say ceremonies were their favorite part, not beach clubs.
Bali without ceremonies is just another beach island.
Berawa without ceremonies is just another Canggu area with traffic.
But Berawa WITH ceremonies, with canang sari every morning, penjor during Galungan, white procession to beach during Melasti, and silence during Nyepi, is Bali.
If you want to understand Bali, don't just stay in a villa with high walls that blocks culture. Stay in an apartment hotel in the middle of Gang Kana, Berawa, where culture happens in front of your door, and where local staff can explain it to you.
Aviator Bali - Apartment Hotel, Berawa, Canggu
Jl. Tegal Sari Gang Kana No.59, Berawa, Canggu, Bali 80363
We live in Desa Tibubeneng. Our staff is from here. We will explain ceremonies to you, lend you sarong, and invite you to see real Bali.
Book direct on aviatorbali.co
