How to spend a rainy day at Villa Sembilan

A rainy day in Bali is not a wasted day. Most rain comes as short violent bursts in the late afternoon, leaving the mornings clear and the air twice as fragrant. But if the rain settles in for a long sit, and in January it sometimes does, here’s how to make the most of it without leaving the cliff.

Morning

07:00, The rain is actually best in the morning here. Coffee on the covered deck, watch the storm roll in off the ocean. The pool gets ten extra degrees of warmth, slip in. Few experiences beat swimming in warm water with rain falling on your head.

09:00, Tell Pak Komang you want a long breakfast. Pancakes, eggs benedict, fresh juice, the works. He’ll bring it out under the covered terrace one course at a time. Order coffee on a loop.

Late morning

11:00, The villa library. We keep a curated shelf of guidebooks, Indonesian fiction in English translation, and a few magazines we like (Monocle, Surfer’s Journal, Cereal). The hammock under the bamboo cover by the koi pond is dry.

12:00, Indonesian cooking class with Pak Komang. He’ll teach you nasi goreng, sambal matah, or sate lilit (his speciality). Around 600,000 IDR for the class plus all the food you cook. Book the day before.

Afternoon

14:00, Spa. Two therapists from our partner spa come to the villa within 90 minutes. Full massage in the open-air pavilion, with rain falling on the thatch above. This is the single experience guests rate highest in our reviews. 750,000 IDR per person for 90 minutes.

16:00, Movie. We have a projector that drops over the living room wall and a deep library of films on the local server. Make popcorn. Pretend it’s Christmas.

Evening

18:00, Cocktail hour. The bar is stocked. Pak Wayan makes a great espresso martini. Sit at the bar, talk, watch the rain finally lighten up.

19:30, Private dinner. If the rain is keeping you in, pre-order a tasting menu from Pak Komang. Five courses, around 850,000 IDR per person, all in. Eat in the dining pavilion with the rain still falling on the roof.

21:30, Bath. Both Ocean and Garden suites have deep stand-alone tubs. Bubbles. Wine. Window open. The rain sounds different inside the villa than it does outside.

A note on the weather

Real downpours rarely last more than 4 hours in Uluwatu, even in January. If you wake up to grey skies, don’t change your plan, by 11am there’s a 70% chance you’ll be back in the sun. Bali’s rain is mostly a brief interruption, not an all-day affair.

If you’re getting the full-day version, you got the rare one. Enjoy it. Most guests say the rainy day was their favourite.