Areas
Where families live in Bali, and why
School location decides where families live far more than beach access does.
Updated 24 September 2026 · 5 min read
The order that works
Choose the school, then draw a realistic drop-off-time radius around it — not a distance radius — then search inside that radius. Families who reverse the order usually move within a year. Two visits in the wrong order is how most families end up moving twice: touring villas before confirming a school place, then discovering the commute from the villa they loved is forty minutes each way at drop-off time. The reverse mistake is just as common: picking the villa first because it photographs well, then finding the only school with a free place is on the other side of the corridor.
Where the schools actually are
Six schools cover most international families on the island, and they cluster in two corridors rather than spreading evenly across Bali.
| School | Curriculum | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Canggu Community School (CCS) | International / IB pathway | Tibubeneng (Berawa), Kuta Utara |
| ProEd Global School | Cambridge | Umalas |
| Green School | International, sustainability-focused | Sibang Kaja, Abiansemal — ~30 min south of Ubud |
| Bali Island School | IB, since 1986 | Sanur |
| Sanur Independent School | Cambridge / Australian | Sanur |
| Dyatmika School | Bilingual, national-plus | Denpasar, near Sanur |
Two corridors, not one
Families choosing Berawa or Umalas are, in practice, choosing between Canggu Community School and ProEd Global School — a short drive apart in the same corridor. Families choosing Sanur have three options within a few minutes of each other: Bali Island School, Sanur Independent School, and Dyatmika in neighbouring Denpasar. Green School stands apart from both: a family choosing it is really choosing to live near Abiansemal or south Ubud, not near Ubud’s centre or either coastal corridor — a genuinely different commute and lifestyle from the other five schools.
Curriculum matters as much as location
The six schools above run different systems — Canggu Community School and Bali Island School follow an IB pathway, ProEd Global School and Sanur Independent School run Cambridge, Green School has its own sustainability-focused international curriculum, and Dyatmika is a bilingual national-plus school. If the move to Bali is temporary, matching the curriculum to whatever your children will transfer back into at home is worth weighing alongside the commute — a mid-primary switch between an IB and a national curriculum is a bigger disruption than an extra ten minutes in the car.
Why proximity beats everything else
The school run happens twice a day, every school day, for years — very different arithmetic from a beach that gets visited on weekends. A fifteen-minute drive in normal traffic can become forty at drop-off and pickup times, and that gap compounds daily in a way a longer but predictable commute does not.
What to check, and how to secure a place
Demand for places at the established schools is reported to run ahead of supply in the most popular year groups, particularly at Canggu Community School, though we could not verify current waitlist length for any specific school in this research. Contact the school directly for its current admissions timeline before assuming a place will be available for the term you need — and before signing a year-long lease that assumes it.
- An enclosed, fully fenced garden and pool — non-negotiable with young children, and not every villa has one despite the marketing photos.
- A quiet road with low through-traffic, since a walled compound on a rat-run road defeats the point.
- The actual drive time to school at drop-off and pickup, timed yourself, not the map estimate.
- Whether a school bus service covers the street, which can remove the daily-drive problem entirely.
Common questions
Which part of Bali is best for families?
The Berawa–Umalas corridor and Sanur, mainly because that is where the established international schools are — Canggu Community School and ProEd Global School in the first, Bali Island School, Sanur Independent School and Dyatmika in the second.
Where is Canggu Community School located?
In Tibubeneng, within the Berawa area of Kuta Utara district — not central Canggu itself, though close enough that most people describe it as Canggu.
Is Green School in Ubud?
No. It is in Sibang Kaja, Abiansemal, roughly thirty minutes south of central Ubud — a different commute from either central Ubud or the coast.
What international schools are in Sanur?
Bali Island School (IB, since 1986) and Sanur Independent School (Cambridge/Australian curriculum) are both in Sanur itself; Dyatmika School, a bilingual option, is a short drive away in Denpasar.
Should I choose a house or a school first in Bali?
Choose the school first, draw a realistic drop-off-time radius around it, then search inside that radius. Reversing the order is why families who skip this step often move again within a year.
Are there international schools in Uluwatu or on the Bukit?
None of the six schools above are on the Bukit Peninsula. Families who choose Uluwatu or the wider Bukit for lifestyle reasons generally accept a longer commute — typically toward Jimbaran or the Berawa–Umalas corridor — for a school place.