Terminal Intelligence: DPS
We spy smoothie bowls and showers at Bali's main airport.
Welcome to Terminal Intelligence. Because friends don’t let friends get stuck at the airport without any decent healthy options.
This week we’re taking off from: DPS (Bali, Indonesia):
Overall: A shiny new, clean airport that has loads of options…if you’re not afraid of taking Bali Belly home with you.
I need breakfast: Smoothies and juices abound at Le Place—it’s just a matter of where your stomach’s at and whether you’re willing to risk it. (At the tail end of a three-month stint in Ubud? You’ll probably be fine.) If you don’t want to get Bali Belly to-go, House of Beans has a healthy parfait (think layers of chia seed and overnight oats), while Last Wave does a decent avocado toast.
I need a snack: Skip the duty-free shop and head to the WH Smith near the back of the food court for snake root chips, ginger chews, and East Bali Cashews (we’re partial to the ones rolled in cacao—for obvious reasons).
I need a real meal: Last Wave’s salads are waaay better than the limp iceberg “salads” you usually see in airports—but if you’ve been avoiding raw produce, you might want to opt for their falafel burger or vegetable pizza instead. Around the corner, Made’s Warung has a veggie-friendly menu of Balinese classics like cap cai.
I’m hungry but my flight boards in five minutes: There are grab-and-go salads at Le Place and TRS Diner—but your best bet may be T/G Food Corner, which has a surprisingly fresh-looking roasted vegetable with feta sandwich (sorry, vegans—cheese-free options are hard to find here).
I need to relax: Kaya Spa does the usual airport spa thing (reflexology, massage, manicure, dry facial), plus some nice surprise—like the Moksha, which utilizes Balinese massage techniques. Bonus: There’s a shower.
I forgot something at home: WH Smith has souvenir options (like mini bottles of coconut oil and frangipani soaps that will make your carry-on smell divine) plus a slew of Indonesian pharmacy staples. Forgot your supplements? The duty-free shop stocks everything from ginseng to COQ10 to—calling all beauty guinea pigs — Bali’s paramao root oil.
I need to fill up my water bottle: Once you get past the food court, there are a number of water fountains— all clean, sterilized, and affiliated with Refill My Bottle, an amazing local organization that’s helping people quit single-use plastic by ID’ing places around the island that will refill your bottle).