Four Seasons is known throughout the world for their incredible service, luxe rooms, and high end amenities, but did you know that they also curate special tours, that will provide you with amazing memories that will last a lifetime? Well, our first experience with a Four Seasons tour was the “Ocean to Table” tour at the Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay. I booked this tour because it combined a fun water activity (fishing) along with a cooking class, and it just seemed like something that would be super cool and fun for all three of us.

We woke up super early and a golf cart picked us up at our villa to take us down to the beach, where our traditional boat was waiting to take us out into the waters to fish. After climbing aboard, we were on our way, and breakfast was served. We had a traditional Balinese breakfast with chicken, rice and sweets. Brian had some delicious Balinese coffee.

We went all the way out near the Uluwatu Temple cliffs where we dropped our lines into the water. Brian and I mainly just fed the fish, but Noah caught literally all the fish that morning! He caught, I believe, 6 fish, which were small grouper and red snapper, among a few others. He had never been fishing before, and I fully chalk this up to beginner’s luck! Haha! Well, at least we had some fish to eat for lunch!

After a few hours on the water, we headed back where Chef Surya Hadinata, met us to take us to the Jimbaran fish market. I’ve never been to a fish market before, and this was super cool. There were piles and piles of all kinds of fish – from shellfish all the way up to enormous tuna. I was seriously in heaven. Chef Surya taught us how to choose the freshest fish – mainly by making sure the eyes of the fish are clear, and the skin and scales are still shiny.

Afterwards, we headed up to Jala, which is a seafood restaurant on the Four Seasons property. We never ate dinner here, but we spent a ton of time here on this day! First, Chef took us around the outdoor area of the restaurant showing us the different herbs and vegetables they grow there.

Next, we went inside and got to work! First, we learned how to make the “queen of all ingredients” – the Balinese Sambal, which is a kind of sauce that you can put on basically anything. This was made with shallots, lemongrass and sweet basil.

We made a salad of squid and green beans with a ginger sauce, as well as grilled mahi mahi fillets. There was fish soup with “a thousand spices” as well as a dessert that we prepared which was a green rice porridge with grated coconut and palm sugar. We also grilled up the fish that Noah caught and topped them with the sambal that we made.

The food was all incredibly delicious. We worked hard, but it was worth it to sit down in the end and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Chef made us an Arok cocktail, which is a liquor made in Bali, which was fruity and delicious.

It’s difficult to convey how special this tour was. The Four Seasons makes an effort to employ caring folks who are fun to talk to, and love their jobs. More than once, people told us how much they love working here, and it really showed. Chef Surya, who we spent most of the day with was an absolute delight, easy to chat to, and extremely knowledgeable about local food and flavors, as well as cooking techniques. We absolutely loved going literally from the Ocean to the Table, learning about local fishing customs, how to pick a fresh fish at the market, and how to cook up those fish in a traditional way. This tour also paved the way for our ability to understand local food, and be able to order off of menus in several restaurants, learning what the words and ingredients were.

After we ate our lunch, I was swept away to the Healing Village Spa for an amazing Baru Detox treatment, which you can read about here, making this one of the absolute best overall days of our entire trip for me! The boys spent the afternoon by the pool relaxing and reflecting on the very cool morning we had experienced. At the end of the trip, Noah was gifted a framed photo of all of the fish that he caught that morning – an extra special touch that just shows how above and beyond the service at this resort actually is. He will have that photo forever, and will always remember the day he caught all the fish, and then learned how to cook it up in the most delicious way. This is a priceless memory, and I’m so happy we were all able to experience this tour. Do not think twice about booking the Ocean to Table tour at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay. It was one of the best tours I’ve ever participated in.