It might not be too fanciful to say that Sanur is the tranquil yin to Kuta’s zestful yang. Along with Ubud in the central highlands, these two resort enclaves in the southern portion of the island are those that have consistently excited the most interest from foreign visitors.
While Kuta and its trendy neighbour Seminyak bustles with Milanese fashionistas, DJs, designers and thirty something entrepreneurs most of whom abide by the shared mantra of ‘see and be seen,’ Sanur appears on the face of it to be populated by a tourist demographic of families and retirees. This would be a wrong perception however. Still waters run deep and beneath the sleepy veneer there exists a rich vein of culture, both local and imported. It just doesn’t blow its trumpet quite as loud as its west coast cousin.
In fact, Sanur was the favored destination of the bohemian influx that first came to Bali in the thirties. It was here that a hugely influential artistic community called Pita Maha (Great Vitality) sprang up, initiated by key figures like the artists Walter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet and the legendary Balinese painter, woodcarver and architect I Gusti Nyoman Lempad. Brahman priests, the highest caste within the Hindu system, have long directed the social and religious life of Sanur, which is known for its dazzling processions.
Sanur also has, if not a seething underbelly, some decidedly louche undercurrents – and other than the prevalence of the black and white chequered poleng cloth which symbolises good and evil forces in balance, there is little visible indication of Sanur’s status as the witchcraft capital of Bali.
A second wave of cultural immigrants descended on Sanur in the sixties, among them notables like artists Donald Friend and Mitty Lee Brown, inadvertently spurring the development of a tourism infrastructure that was – and still is – centred on the somnolent stretch of beach that looks eastward across the waters of the Lombok straits. While Kuta was still little more than a fishing village, by the late sixties Sanur had an international reputation for sophisticated tropical living, with a colourful ex-patriot community building beachfront homes that effectively pioneered the open plan, indoor/outdoor approach to living that has come to be known as ‘Bali Style’.
Sanur has since been eclipsed in the style stakes by a raft of ingenious villa constructions in areas like Ubud, the Bukit peninsula and Canggu and yet seminal developments like Tanjung Sari bungalows (originally built in 1962) and the exclusive estate of Batu Jimbar retain an air of classicism that harks back to the salad days of the seventies.
Back then, Sanur was a celebrity destination visited by the likes of Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger & Jerry Hall, Yoko Ono and an assortment of titled aristocrats. Thanks to their storied history and privileged location amid tropical gardens just steps away from the beach, most of Batu Jimbar’s haute monde residences are occupied by long term homeowners, though two remain available on the rental market, Villa Isabelle and Wantilan Putih.
“Batu Jimbar was an exclusive residential development when Jimbaran was still just biscuit country,” says Mark Campbell, an affable Australian who has lived in the area for twelve years. Like most emigrants to Sanur, he is deeply enamoured of its quiet village atmosphere, though he points out that there are signs of new growth – “the World Bank just spent $350 million on the beach, building 7km of pathway and putting in a groin system to combat erosion – they also put in a new sewage system.
”Besides this, Campbell has noticed a more dynamic approach to business as local entrepreneurs switch up hospitality infrastructure with stylish contemporary eateries, trendy resort facilities and, of course, villas. One such entrepreneur is Ida Bagus Putra, who is behind the recently renovated beach front villa resort The Santrian and adjacent restaurant/lounge The Village.
For his part, Campbell, whose main business is waste water treatment, has just completed the first stage of a major boutique villa complex, Zen Villas which in many ways exemplifies the tenor of real estate development in the area, delivering value for money, security and a convenient location. “We’ve found our buyers to be in their 50s and 60s; they tend to be focused on lifestyle more than return on investment – it’s not a major hang up for them,” he explains.
With highly competitive prices and an open plan garden set-up that gives the development a communal feel, the nine first stage villas quickly sold out for between $130- $200,000. Campbell and his partner Peter Gilchrist are currently rolling out the second and third stages of the project, which are to feature larger villas and apartments.
Also in the heart of Sanur, The Residence is a quintet of large, four bedroom garden villas with private pools and are priced at just under $400,000, all of which have now been sold and should be entering the rental market by July 2006. New to the market is Villa Luna, a complex of five villas each with four bedrooms located a mere 70 metres from the beach in central Sanur. With pricesranging from $279–$335,000, there are four villas remaining.
“There’s not that much land up for development in Sanur,” says Mark Hardwick of Tropical Homes, the real estate developers behind Villa Luna and The Residence. “Most of it is given over to traditional village infrastructure, so rental levels tend to be relatively stable.” Still, with freehold either prohibitively expensive or simply impossible to secure, developers are encouraging buyers to secure extensions on leases (which are typically set at around 50 years) in advance, since they are likely to increase significantly in the future.
Whilst Sanur may not be experiencing the same level of development as say Seminyak or Jimbaran and the Bukit, it is nevertheless experiencing a discernible renaissance as the property, infrastructure and hospitality sectors feed off one another. A rash of development is also springing up along the coast to the north of Sanur – 3km away is Estate on the River, offering a range of two, three and four bedroom villas with prices from $250 - $585,000. Around 12 kilometres from Sanur via the new highway that connects with Candidasa in the north, Pabean Estate is offering nine beachfront plots (two of which remain at time of writing) ranging from $305 - $795,000 depending on whether buyers are seeking just land or a complete package including villa.
Sanur is sometimes derisively referred to as ‘Snore’ by those caught up in the bustle of Seminyak and Kuta. But according to Tina Ardie, a long time resident, Sanur is quietly stirring. “We have some really high quality restaurants now, places like Massimo which is one of the best Italians on the island, or The Village, which has just had a lounge complete with DJ booth added,” she reveals. Kopi Bali House, a three floor café cum showroom for coffee related products is a popular stop especially during the day and there are a number of old favorites’ frequented by the expatriate community, like The Cat & Fiddle, which has Irish fiddling every Tuesday night, or the Bonsai Café on the beachfront, a favourite sunset spot. The nine hole Bali Beach Golf Course is another key centre of social activity in Sanur, with a recently renovated clubhouse and re-imagined menu.
In the final analysis, Sanur’s serenity could prove to be its greatest blessing; the idyllic village atmosphere that first drew those artists and celebrities remains intact and it seems unlikely that it will ever fall prey to the kind of cookie-cutter developments that often accompany real estate gold rushes, leaving buyers with an inviting view of row upon row of cement walls. Sanur will probably never be a teeming urban centre in Bali and that’s precisely why people who live there love it so much.
Text: J Langenhein
Photos: Jonathan Perugia
