10 Things to know about getting a Bali flower pool

Last updated: 12th February 2024

Swimming in a romantic Bali flower pool was on our bucket list for years, and we finally got to do it when we stayed in our own Bali private pool villa. It was incredible experience and one of our biggest extravagances whilst travelling, but we made memories we will cherish forever! In this post we’ll show you how to make your dream of swimming with floating Balinese flower petals come true.

10 Things to know about getting a Bali flower pool

1. Choose a hotel in advance that offer Balinese flower pool decorations

There are many hotels in Bali that offer private pool villas with indulgent flower pool decorations. It’s best to decide and choose a hotel that offers this service before you go. We chose the Sankara Resort in Ubud, but there are many other Bali hotels that offer flower pools like the Kamandalu Resort or the Udaya Resort both in Ubud.

We chose the Sankara Resort in Ubud for our flower pool in Bali

Floating on water – Baliense flower petals

2. Decide on your design and decoration

Liaise with your hotel early about the design you want, it could be heart, a significant date, your names or even a logo like ours. When we were planning our trip to Bali we contacted the hotel in advance and sent them our design and asked if it was possible to do, and they said yes!

Once you’ve arrived at your private villa and seen your pool you might want your flower petal design to face in a particular direction, so let the hotel know in advance.

Decide on your design and decoration

Yes it’s lavish, but isn’t it just so pretty? The best experience!

3. Plan your before and after photographs

A Bali flower pool is so photogenic so you need to plan your photographs for the best results. The day before your flower pool is going to be decorated make sure you take loads of photos of the empty pool and any videos you want to use for your Insta-reveal! Don’t worry if you forget this as you can always do it afterwards.

They will have to turn the filtration off on your pool to keep the water static, this can mean that the water goes a bit green afterwards.

Your flower pool designer will need to come and empty your pool of flowers after 4 hours. Ours was done the next morning and the water was rather green, but it cleared in 24 hours. So perhaps don’t have your flower pool at the start of your holiday.

Plan in advance where you are going to take photos and videos from of the finished flower pool. As you won’t want to spend too long working it out once it’s been done. You’ll just want to jump right in!

A Bali flower pool is so photogenic – so plan your photographs for the best results

Phil taking in our logo design created with flower petals

4. Do you want it to be a surprise or see the preparation?

Decide if you want to come back to your villa and see it done as a surprise or do you want to watch the team make it? Phil wanted to see how it was done but Garth wanted a surprise. Make sure your hotel knows, as we were waiting in our villa for the team to arrive and the hotel were waiting for us to leave which delayed them getting started.

It will take between two to four hours to complete your flower pool, so plan what you are going to do during that time.

Our amazing flower pool at the Sankara Resort, Ubud

Do you want to see your flower pool being made?

5. Take close up photographs of the flowers

Take close up photographs of the floating flower petals. They’ll make great colourful textures especially to use as wallpaper backings on your phone or PC.

Take close up photographs of the flower petals

4 different colours of delicate petals float on the pool water.

6. Decide how to ‘break’ your petal decoration

Work out how you are going to ‘break’ your design. Do you want to both just jump in? Or drop backwards into it? if so practice before as it’s pretty tough on your back – ask Phil!

If you break your pool design gently as we did, you can get secondary photo opportunities in the corners and along edges. Once you’ve broken your petal design get in that pool and indulge swimming with the fresh flower petals.

Decide how to ‘break’ your petal decoration

We couldn’t wait to get in our flower pool and indulge in swimming with tropical flowers

7. What is it like to swim in a Bali flower pool?

Of course, it doesn’t all have to be about Bali Instagram pics, we were blown away when we caught our first glimpse of our flower pool. It was really amazing and beautiful seeing our logo made up of thousands of colourful flower petals floating on the pool surface, and how well the team did to copy it. Time to just do it and jump in and indulge in the beauty of our floating flower-filled pool!

Garth loved the sweet fragrance from the tropical flowers and petals floating on the surface, just amazing. Phil thought it was romantic and luxurious and felt a bit like swimming under a blanket. After three to four hours the petals do get a bit waterlogged and it does feel a bit like swimming in a soup!

What’s it like to swim in a Bali flower pool?

Swimming in our luxurious floating flower pool in Ubud, Bali

8. Take some petals home

Don’t forget to stuff some petals into swim shorts pockets or roll them in your cozzie so you can relive the experience when you get home as they come out of the tumble drier. Just don’t forget and let them come out at the local pool – you might not be too popular!

Take some petals home

9. How much does a Bali flower pool cost?

Prices vary between resorts and hotels, but to give you an idea our Bali flower pool cost us IDR 2,500,000 + setup + tips, a total of £154 ( US dollars). It might seem expensive, but remember Bali is cheap and this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! We felt the experience of swimming with flowers and the memories we made, was totally worth the money.

How much does a Bali flower pool cost?

Our big bucket list tick! – a flower pool in Bali

10. Consider a Bali flower bath instead

If your budget doesn’t stretch to a Bali flower pool, then why not consider a Bali flower bath instead? There are plenty of hotels and AirBnBs that offer flower baths in Bali. Just imagine relaxing and soaking up the scent from all those different tropical flowers. A rejuvenating and soothing experience especially when they add essential oils to the water and flowers. Wondering how much is a flower bath in Bali? well it’s a lot cheaper than a flower pool about £40 ( US dollars).

A Bali flower bath – imagine relaxing with the scent from the flower petals

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