Pay the 150,000 rupiah tourist levy before you travel if you can. You can do it online. It saves you queuing at the arrivals desk while your bag is already going round.
I did four nights in Canggu to start. It's the right place to land first if it's your first time in Bali solo. There are enough other travellers around that you're never going to feel stranded, but it doesn't feel like a resort either.
Where I stayed
Nyaman Hostel. Mixed dorm was about £12 a night in September. Pool in the courtyard, breakfast cooked on-site every morning, clean beds, fast WiFi. It's not a party hostel, which I appreciated. People are sociable in the communal areas but nobody's making a thing of it at midnight.
Eating and drinking
Suka Espresso became my default for coffee and mornings. Good food, decent WiFi, the kind of place you accidentally spend three hours in. For actual meals I used warungs most evenings. Nasi goreng with egg is around 30,000 to 40,000 rupiah and consistently better than the tourist cafe version of the same dish.
La Brisa is the beach club everyone goes to and it's worth doing once. Bamboo structure, tables right in the sand. Cocktails are priced like cocktails back home, so go with that expectation. Tuesday afternoon it was half empty, which is when I'd recommend it.
What I did
Surf lesson at Batu Bolong Beach on day two. 350,000 rupiah for two hours with an instructor. I was not good at it. Still worth doing.
Getting around
I didn't rent a scooter. Canggu traffic is chaotic and I wasn't confident enough on two wheels to be comfortable in it. GoJek covered everything I needed. Download it before you land and set it up while you've still got data.
Safety
Fine. Keep your phone in your bag rather than your hand in busy areas. That's about it for Canggu.