Which Canggu break should you actually surf?
Three breaks within walking distance of each other, and picking the wrong one is the fastest way to have a miserable morning.
Canggu looks like one beach on a map. In the water it is three quite different waves, and the gap between them is wider than most people expect.
Batu Bolong is where you start, and where almost everyone in Bali catches their first wave. It is a soft, slow roller breaking over a reef far enough out that the inside is mostly whitewater — which is exactly what you want when you are learning. It works best on a mid-to-high tide, when the water is deep enough over the reef to smooth the face out. On a low tide the inside reef starts cutting the beach off in places, and it gets awkward.
Old Man's sits just along from it and behaves similarly — mid-to-high tide again, a long workable wall, and a crowd of longboarders who have been surfing it for years. It is a reasonable step once Batu Bolong feels easy, though the line-up demands a bit more awareness of who is where.
Echo Beach is not a beginner wave and it is worth being blunt about that. It is a punchier, faster wedge that wants a mid-to-high tide and a light offshore wind, and it rewards people who can already paddle into a wave and make a section. Come here after Batu Bolong, not instead of it.
The honest summary: if you have surfed fewer than about ten times, go to Batu Bolong on a rising tide in the morning and enjoy yourself. The other two will still be there next week.