We have one rule regarding the places we review: they either meet our definition of a beach club or they call themselves a beach club.
Either way, they get judged by the same strict criteria, which helps to see if the beach club is of a certain standard or not.
So, our team was sent out to visit Cocoon Beach Club in Seminyak, Bali, even though it’s not on a beach, because it deems itself to be a “beach club” and this is what they thought of their experiences at Cocoon.
Introduction – Getting To Cocoon Beach Club
Getting to Bali is often the challenge when trying to get to one of the island’s beach clubs. It’s a short flight from most of Australia and Southeast Asia, but it is much further from North America and Europe.
Fortunately, while the flights to Bali are long, you can often save the cost of the journey (or the cost of a nice upgrade to business class) on the accommodation, food, drinks and beach clubs when you compare it to places like Hvar, Mykonos, California or Florida.
Once you’re in Bali, then getting to Cocoon is pretty easy because it’s in Seminyak. Seminyak is very close to the airport in Denpasar (Ngurah Rai International Airport), which is currently the only airport on the island.
It’s also not far from the other major beach towns such as Canggu, Kuta, Legian and Jimbaran and even Ubud, the central Balinese town, is not that a long journey from Seminyak. However, traffic in Bali can be pretty bad at times, and you might need more time on the road than you expect.
Once you arrive, you can avail yourself (at a charge) of the onsite valet parking, or park for a smaller fee nearby and then walk into the club. Those who arrive by ride-share (Grab or Gojek are the most popular options) can be dropped off at the front door.
Where Is Cocoon Beach Club? Pantai Double Six, Jl. Arjuna No.66, Seminyak, Kuta, Badung Regency, Bali 80361
Online: Cocoon
Opening Hours: Open daily, every day except for Nyepi (which is the Balinese Day of Silence, a mandatory holiday on the island which falls in either March or April each year), from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
What’s Available At Cocoon Beach Club?
Cocoon Beach Club has a pool, a sports bar, a terraced garden deck and a restaurant. In keeping with most beach clubs, there is a range of seating options.
However, unlike at most beach clubs, there is no access to the beach, and, in fact, you can’t even see the beach at this beach club as it’s on the other side of a road and behind some other buildings.
Our Detailed Review Of Cocoon Beach Club
We use a consistent process to assess every beach club, ensuring equitable evaluation for owners, management, and staff, and presenting reviews in a standardised structure that simplifies comparing different venues.
The assessment process is outlined as follows:
- A review team is appointed to evaluate the venue.
- All members are required to visit the beach club, but they can do so individually and on different days.
- At the venue, each reviewer completes a scorecard, rating the club from 1 (lowest quality) to 5 (highest quality) in predefined categories, while also noting their experiences.
- After all team members have completed their visits and scorecards, they meet to review their findings and determine final category scores.
- A selected team member then writes the review, incorporating the team’s conclusions and scores, before it is posted on our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
In fairness to Cocoon, they don’t commit the cardinal sins of either a.) not having a booking facility or b.) sending you to another website to book destroying consumer confidence in your offering as you go.
However, this booking process is still far from perfect. While you can book and, given that you can even book seats with no attached minimum spend, that’s nice, you can’t pick where you want to sit.
That means trying to work out roughly, from some vague descriptions, where you might end up in this beach club as you book.
Really, it’s not that hard to get a venue map into your booking system and let people pick the seats that they want.
However, in Bali in 2025, what is available is still much better than the average beach club booking system.
Ambience and Atmosphere
It’s a little downmarket for a beach club in Bali, and we think that’s simply down to the relative age of this place, but the sort of shabby chic leads to a friendly but muted atmosphere overall.
We did find that there was some social interaction between the different groups of people in here, but it wasn’t as good for meeting new people as it could have been.
There’s also not much in the way of a vibe to define things; it’s like walking into a standard pub or restaurant. Cocoon could do with working on its identity to be more memorable.
Location And Accessibility
Seminyak itself is a great location in Bali, but we’re going to have to deduct some points here for the fact that this beach club isn’t on the beach.
We feel that you ought to, at least, be able to see the sand from most of the inside of a place billing itself as a beach club, and ideally, you ought to be able to walk out onto the sand.
That lack of beach access, in turn, makes this a bad spot for sunset watching in Seminyak, and that’s a bit of a shame because people come to Bali for those legendary sunsets.
It’s not a terrible location by any means, but there are certainly better-located beach clubs in Bali and elsewhere.
Aesthetic And Design
We suspect that Cocoon had plenty of visual impact when it first opened, but as we said earlier, it’s a little older now, and the “shabby chic” look hasn’t aged as well as it might have.
It’s not an ugly design by any means, and you will get some nice Instagram shots here, but we doubt that you’ll be raving about the visual appeal to your friends, either.
It’s OK and that’s fine. Not every venue has to redefine the way that you put daybeds around the pool, and in fact, it would mean far fewer beach clubs in the world if they did have to.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
It’s very rare to find bad service in Bali. The local people have a certain warmth and friendliness to them that comes entirely naturally.
And anyone who works in hospitality for more than a few weeks will develop a reasonable layer of professionalism.
However, smaller businesses like this one can’t quite polish the raw materials as well as the biggest beach clubs and 5-star hotels can.
So, the service here is very good, but it’s not the best we’ve ever had here on the island.
Service Speed and Efficiency
The service variation is immediately apparent when you look at the speed and efficiency of the wait staff.
You will nearly always have to catch someone’s attention at this beach club to get service, whereas the best places tend to have an uncanny ability to know when you’re in need of assistance, and the servers just materialise.
However, once you have caught someone’s eye, you will be served promptly, and the food and drinks won’t hang around too long in the kitchen or at the bar.
We are also relieved to note that both the bill and the change arrive quickly at the end of the day, too.
Food Quality and Variety
The food is less expensive than at many of the other beach clubs in Seminyak, but in our opinion, that comes at the cost of quality.
While there’s plenty of variety on the menu, nothing we had at this beach club grabbed our attention or made us wish that we could get second helpings.
It wasn’t bad, but it was more food for fuel than food for entertainment, and that’s a bit of a shame, as we feel that beach clubs are meant to be a bit of decadence rather than a pitstop for a snack.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
There are plenty of alcoholic beverages and non-alcoholic options on the menu here. However, one of our team ordered the milkshakes and felt it was the most flavourless concoction they’ve had in a long time.
Most of the rest of us felt that the cocktails were attractively presented, though they probably won’t wow anyone on Instagram and that they were strong enough to justify their reasonable price tags.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
We are happy to report that we had no concerns with the cleanliness and hygiene of this beach club. While some things are a little old-looking, everything is clean.
The pool water is clear and appealing, the toilet areas are spotless, and the showers and changing rooms are comfortable too.
Overall, we felt that we’d be happy to allow our kids to play in this place and didn’t spend any time worrying if the kitchens were up to scratch after examining the rest of this venue.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The seating was OK. It wasn’t amazingly comfortable, but neither was it particularly uncomfortable. We suspect most people who visit Cocoon are going to move around inside the venue a couple of times during their stay, and that will help you avoid daybed fatigue.
However, the furniture all feels a bit dated and beyond its best days. We think that’s probably just the style of the design, but we felt that the aesthetic dragged down how we felt about using the seating.
Music and Entertainment
They don’t pipe in the music at this beach club; they have a DJ on the decks and, by and large, the DJ makes a decent fist of things as they try to keep everyone happy.
However, there’s one thing that detracts from the overall entertainment, and that’s the massive big screens in the sports bar.
Yes, we know people go to sports bars to watch events, but TV screens turn people into zombies and they kill conversation and interactivity.
We don’t feel that this is a good thing in a beach club, a place where we go to be social rather than to veg in front of the box.
Seasonality
If you’ve spent any time in Bali, you will know that seasonality isn’t really an issue out on the island. The “wet season” doesn’t see daily rain, there are never periods of non-stop rain for weeks, unlike in tropical destinations such as Goa or Phuket.
And it’s hot and sunny every single day of the year in Bali, pretty much, so you will have an awesome time at the beach clubs whenever you visit.
However, in March or April each year, there is a single day in the calendar – Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence – when all businesses are required to close down for the day (yes, even the airport, though hotels are still allowed to cater to any guests that are resident but they may not check new people in or check out existing guests). The beach club will close for Nyepi.
Pricing and Value for Money
The prices at this beach club are very reasonable, and we suspect that’s what makes Cocoon attractive to the majority of the audience who visit.
Seminyak’s an expensive spot for Bali, and beach clubs tend to be quite pricey when compared to other places to eat and drink on the island, so Cocoon is great for those on a budget.
However, while it is excellent value for money, we do feel that it might be worth paying more for better food and nicer decor.
Beach Access and Quality
Seminyak Beach is lovely. So, it’s a real shame that you can’t see it or access it from Cocoon Beach Club.
And without the beach access, you also don’t get a great sunset view in this part of Bali. Meh.
Sustainability Practices
Sadly, Cocoon Beach Club has made no public commitment to sustainability, and the club does not publish any kind of sustainability reports.
We’d like to see all beach clubs in Bali making more of an effort in this area, and it’s time Cocoon stepped up to the plate.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
You will need to agree to a (fairly low for Bali) minimum spend, but that will bring you free towels and a comfy daybed by the pool.
That’s very much the standard in beach clubs on the island, and it’s neither good nor bad value for money.
Safety and Security
They take security very seriously at this beach club, and they conduct a bag search at the door, which is something we wholeheartedly approve of.
One of the reasons that Bali has been free of major incidents for the best part of two decades now is that clubs ensure the safety of their guests.
And there are plenty of security people on hand should anything get out of hand during the course of the day, but we didn’t see any bad behaviour at this beach club at all.
Event Hosting Capabilities
This beach club is happy to host private events, and you can book parts of the beach club or the whole club for your event.
They have a specialist events team on hand to help you plan things and to ensure any customisation you need is carried out effectively.
We felt that they could easily host events of up to 200 people for a variety of purposes, but any larger event, and you might want to shop around.
Consistency of Experience
We’ve been to this beach club a few times now, and we know plenty of others who’ve been, and we’d all agree that the experience here is remarkably consistent.
However, there’s very little effort being put in to improving this place and raising the experience quality either.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
This beach club has the basic amenities that you need to have an enjoyable experience, and if you need anything else, it’s probably only a short drive or walk away in Seminyak.
Summary
OK, it’s more of a pool club than a beach club, but if you’re on a budget and looking for a chill-out day by the pool in Seminyak, Cocoon should fit the bill.
It’s unlikely to be the highlight of most people’s holidays, but it’s enjoyable enough and that’s all most people really need on a hot Bali afternoon.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At Cocoon Beach Club?
Yes! There’s a decent-sized pool available at Cocoon Beach Club, and it rarely seems to get busy enough to cause any congestion in the water.
However, if the club were to fill up to capacity, it’s possible that the pool might be too busy for swimming.
Most of the time, however, you should be fine to swim here, and the water is clean and the pool area is reasonably well maintained.
This is a slightly older facility in Bali, and it’s not 100% perfect to look at, but we don’t think there are any hygiene issues, just old-fashioned wear and tear.
What Is There To Do At Cocoon Beach Club?
Cocoon Beach Club doesn’t have access to a beach, which makes the place a bit of a misnomer in our opinion, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things for you to do there.
You can swim in the pool, enjoy a stroll in their garden area, and enjoy food and drinks from the restaurant/bar areas, or chill out on some comfortable furniture with friends or a book and let the day go by.
This isn’t a great place for sunset watching, though, as the lack of beach access denies you that fabulous view of the sun over the ocean horizon.
The good news is that you can always leave Cocoon just before sunset and pop over to the beach to enjoy the sunset, instead.
Is Cocoon Beach Club A Child-Friendly Venue?
Cocoon is a generally kid-friendly beach club but you should be aware that the pool becomes an adults-only pool after 3 p.m. and children will not be allowed to swim after this time.
It’s also important to realise that children must be accompanied by and supervised by a family member when they’re in this beach club.
This is both to ensure the safety of your children and to ensure that your kids don’t annoy other members of the public in the facility.
There is a lifeguard by the pool here, but we’d still be ready to jump in if our child were in trouble. Just in case.
Who Is The Owner Of Cocoon Beach Club?
Cocoon is owned by a Balinese businessman called Kadek Wiranatah. He has a portfolio of leisure and entertainment properties around the island.
On a day-to-day basis, this pool club is managed by Anthony Bevilaqua on behalf of Kadek.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of Cocoon Beach Club
We wouldn’t call Cocoon a beach club; we don’t think it’s a beach club unless it has, at a bare minimum, a direct view of the beach, and ideally, it should have beach access.
But that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a nice place to spend some time. In fact, if you want a family day out or a chill day with some friends, this could be ideal for you.
No, we wouldn’t make this our first or only beach club in Bali, but overall, if you’re looking for a range of beach club experiences, it’s worth considering Cocoon as one of your options.
