Bali
A Hindu island in a Muslim archipelago, loved almost to death
Bali is a province of Indonesia, an island of some 4.3 million people and several million visitors a year, with a culture that puts an offering on every doorstep each morning. It is as beautiful as its reputation and, in the south, as crowded.
Bali has been Hindu for a thousand years and has stayed so while the islands around it turned to Islam. The Javanese empire of Majapahit conquered it in 1343, and when Majapahit itself collapsed around 1500 its priests, nobles and artists fled east across the strait, giving the island the courts, temples and caste system it still has. The Dutch took the north in the 1840s and the south only in 1906 and 1908, when the rajas of Badung and Klungkung walked with their households into the colonial guns rather than surrender — the puputan that Bali remembers. Western painters settled in Ubud in the 1930s; independence came with Indonesia's in 1945; and Bali became a province in its own right in 1958, the date on our masthead. Surfers found Kuta in the 1970s, and tourism has run the island since, surviving the bombings of 2002 and 2005 and the pandemic.
The island is about 150 kilometres across, with the volcanoes Agung and Batur along the north and the rice terraces falling south from them. Denpasar, the capital, is a working Indonesian city that tourists mostly drive through. The south is where they stop: Kuta, Legian and Seminyak in a strip up the west coast, Canggu and Pererenan beyond them where the digital nomads and villa builders have gone, Sanur's quiet beach on the east, and the limestone Bukit peninsula with Jimbaran's fish grills, Nusa Dua's enclave resorts and Uluwatu's cliffs and surf. Ubud, an hour inland in Gianyar, is the cultural and yoga capital among the paddies. The east — Padang Bai, Candidasa, Sidemen, Amed — and the north around Lovina and Munduk are slower and cheaper; West Bali National Park is nearly empty. Nusa Penida and Lembongan lie offshore to the south-east, a fast boat from Sanur.
Balinese Hinduism is not a backdrop but the daily texture: the canang sari offerings on every step, the temple ceremonies that close roads, Galungan's penjor bamboo poles, and Nyepi, the day of silence in March when the whole island, airport included, shuts down for twenty-four hours. Kecak and legong dance, gamelan and woodcarving are living arts, best seen in Ubud and the villages around it. Food is the warung's nasi campur, babi guling roast pork, bebek betutu duck and sate lilit, with a wave of serious restaurants in Ubud and Canggu. Surfing is the sport — Uluwatu, Padang Padang, Keramas, and beginners at Kuta — with diving off Nusa Penida and Amed, and Bali United's football in Gianyar for locals. The beach clubs of Seminyak and Canggu are the nightlife; the rice terraces at Jatiluwih and Tegallalang the postcard.
The hard parts are mostly the cost of the island's success. The south is gridlocked, rice fields are becoming villas at speed, the water table is falling, and plastic washes up on the west-coast beaches every wet season. Scooter accidents are the commonest way tourists get hurt, and the licence, helmet and insurance rules are enforced more often than they were; badly behaved foreigners have prompted deportations and a tourist levy. Rabies and dengue are present, tap water is not drinkable, and Indonesia's drug laws carry the death penalty. The rain runs November to March; Agung is an active volcano. What Bali offers is still extraordinary — a culture that works its faith into every morning, a landscape from cliffs to volcanoes, surf, food, warmth and a cost of living that lets a modest income go a long way, if you go beyond the strip.
Where People Live
Denpasar & Sanur
The provincial capital's markets, Bali Museum and Pasar Badung, and Sanur's calm reef-sheltered beach with its older resorts, the boardwalk and the fast-boat jetty to Nusa Penida. Where Balinese and long-term expats live.
Kuta, Legian & Seminyak
The original surf beach and its long strip: Kuta's cheap bars and beginner breaks, Legian's midrange hotels, and Seminyak's boutiques, beach clubs and villas. Sunset at the beach is still the daily event.
Canggu & Pererenan
The remote-worker capital — co-working spaces, smoothie bowls, surf at Batu Bolong and Echo Beach, villas eating the rice fields, and traffic that has become the island's running complaint. Pererenan is where it is moving next.
Jimbaran, Nusa Dua & Uluwatu
The Bukit peninsula: seafood grilled on Jimbaran beach, the gated five-star resorts of Nusa Dua, and Uluwatu's cliff temple, kecak at sunset and world-class surf at Padang Padang and Bingin.
Ubud
The hill town of temples, dance, yoga studios, the Monkey Forest, art museums and the Campuhan ridge walk, with rice terraces at Tegallalang and the craft villages of Mas and Celuk on the way in. Crowded in the centre, serene ten minutes out.
The east: Sidemen, Candidasa & Amed
Sidemen's valley under Agung, Besakih, the mother temple, on its slopes, Padang Bai's ferry port, Candidasa's quiet resorts and Amed's black-sand diving and freediving villages. Bali as it was.
The north: Lovina, Munduk & Kintamani
Over the mountains — the lake temple at Bedugul, Munduk's waterfalls and clove farms, the Batur caldera and its dawn hike, Singaraja's old Dutch capital and Lovina's dolphins. Cool, cheap and uncrowded.
Nusa Penida & Nusa Lembongan
The islands off the south-east coast: Penida's Kelingking cliff, manta rays and mola mola for divers, and Lembongan's mangroves, surf and a slower pace. Day-trippers from Sanur crowd Penida's viewpoints by mid-morning.
Must-see attractions
Where to stay
Wakatobi Dive Resort
Desa, Lamanggau, Tomia, Kabupaten Wakatobi, Sulawesi Tenggara, Indonesia
Restaurants & places to go
Pithecanthropus Bali
<p class="ProfileHeaderCard-bio u-dir" dir="ltr">REDISCOVER INDONESIAN CULTURE |Jl. monkey forest - Ubud | Jl. Legian 368 - Kuta | Jl. Pantai kuta 20 D - Kuta… · pithecanthropusbali.com
Monkee Bali
tees, clothing shopping fashion · <p class="ProfileHeaderCard-bio u-dir" dir="ltr">Monkee Bali started the business in early 2014 as a concept label brand to…
Airports
Adisoemarmo International Airport (SOC) 72 km to the centre
Surakarta, JT, ID — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather. ✈ 7 airlines (Garuda Indonesia, AirAsia, Illinois Airways, Lion Mentari Airlines…) · direct flights to 4 destinations incl. Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Pangkalan Bun (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 7 airlines, 4 direct destinations
- Garuda Indonesia GA (A319, A320, 737-800) · 2 routes: Jakarta, Singapore*
- AirAsia AK (A320) · 1 route: Kuala Lumpur
- Illinois Airways IL (ATR 72) · 1 route: Pangkalan Bun
- Lion Mentari Airlines JT (737-900) · 1 route: Jakarta
- SilkAir MI (A319, A320) · 1 route: Singapore
- Singapore Airlines Cargo SQ (A319, A320) · 1 route: Singapore*
- Sriwijaya Air SJ (737-300, 735) · 1 route: Jakarta
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) 63 km to the centre
Yogyakarta, YO, ID — You board from the indoor waiting area — no need to plan for the weather.
Adisutjipto International Airport (JOG) 60 km to the centre
Yogyakarta, YO, ID — Indoor waiting areas, but some gates board by bus or on foot across the apron — plan for the weather on the day. ✈ 11 airlines (Lion Mentari Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia AirAsia, Sriwijaya Air…) · direct flights to 13 destinations incl. Jakarta, Singapore, Balikpapan, Denpasar, Pekanbaru… (OpenFlights route data).
✈ Airlines & flight paths — 11 airlines, 13 direct destinations
- Lion Mentari Airlines JT (737-900, 737-800, ATR) · 10 routes: Balikpapan, Bandung*, Banjarmasin, Batam, Denpasar, Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Praya, Surabaya*, Ujung Pandang
- Garuda Indonesia GA (737-800, CRK, A319) · 5 routes: Balikpapan, Denpasar, Jakarta, Singapore, Ujung Pandang
- Indonesia AirAsia QZ (A320) · 3 routes: Denpasar, Jakarta, Singapore
- Sriwijaya Air SJ (737-300, 735) · 3 routes: Balikpapan, Jakarta, Surabaya
- Mandala Airlines RI (A320) · 2 routes: Palembang, Pekanbaru
- AirAsia AK (A320) · 1 route: Kuala Lumpur
- Citilink Indonesia QG (A320) · 1 route: Balikpapan
- Interlink Airlines ID (737-900) · 1 route: Jakarta
- SilkAir MI (A320) · 1 route: Singapore
- Singapore Airlines Cargo SQ (A320) · 1 route: Singapore*
- Tiger Airways TR (A320) · 1 route: Singapore
Routes and aircraft from OpenFlights (open data; a point-in-time snapshot). * = codeshare. Linked destinations open their own guidebook. Flight numbers are not in the open data — they come from the airline or a paid schedule feed.
Jenderal Besar Soedirman Airport (PWL) 80 km to the centre
Purwokerto-Java Island, JT, ID — Indoor waiting area, but you walk out to the aircraft to board — bring an umbrella or a coat if the forecast is poor.
Gading Wonosari Airport 80 km to the centre
Gunung Kidul, YO, ID
Private aviation
On-demand charter, jet cards and the semi-private scheduled carriers that serve this city.
Air Charter Service
Broker · Any aircraft via operators worldwide · Global charter broker with 30+ offices; private jets, group charters and cargo.
ExecuJet
FBO, charter, management · Managed fleet · FBO network and management across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Flexjet
Fractional, jet card · Embraer Praetor, Bombardier Challenger & Global, Gulfstream · Fractional ownership and jet cards in North America and Europe.
Global Jet
Charter, management · Large-cabin & VIP airliners · Geneva-based operator known for large-cabin and VIP airliner charters.
Jet Aviation
Charter, management, FBO, MRO · Managed fleet worldwide · General Dynamics company: charter, completions and FBOs in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.
Tours & experiences
Bali Adventure Day Trip
Adventure · Full day · from Rp1450000/pp
Nusa Penida Tour
Sightseeing · from Rp300000/pp
Living Here
Getting about
- There is no real public transport. The Trans Metro Dewata buses cover a few southern routes; everyone else uses a scooter, a hired car with driver, or Gojek and Grab, whose motorbike taxis are the quickest way through the traffic. Bluebird taxis are metered and honest.
- Riding a scooter requires an international driving permit with a motorcycle endorsement, a helmet and sobriety; the police check all three near the tourist areas, and travel insurers refuse claims without them. Rent from a reputable outfit and ride slowly.
- Ngurah Rai (DPS) sits between Kuta and Jimbaran, 20 minutes from Seminyak in good traffic and over an hour from Ubud. Fast boats run from Sanur to Nusa Penida and from Padang Bai to the Gilis and Lombok; the toll road across the bay links the airport to Nusa Dua.
- Distances are short and journeys long: Canggu to Ubud, 25 kilometres, can take ninety minutes. Plan one region a day.
Health
- Dial 112 for emergencies. BIMC in Kuta and Nusa Dua and Siloam in Denpasar are the private hospitals foreigners use; Prof. Ngoerah (formerly Sanglah) in Denpasar is the big public hospital. Serious cases are evacuated to Singapore or Australia.
- Rabies is present — do not touch the monkeys or the dogs — and dengue is common in the wet season. Do not drink the tap water; 'Bali belly' is usually avoidable with sensible food and hand hygiene, and pharmacies (Kimia Farma, Guardian) stock what you need.
- Travel insurance with medical evacuation and motorcycle cover is essential; the private hospitals ask for proof of payment before treatment, and an air ambulance to Singapore costs a fortune.
Work & study
- Udayana University in Denpasar and Jimbaran is the island's main university, with medicine, tourism and agriculture strong; ISI Denpasar is the arts institute where gamelan and dance are taught formally.
- Tourism is well over half the economy and drives the construction, villa, food and transport trades that go with it; agriculture (rice, coffee, cloves) and crafts (silver, wood, textiles) are the older livings, and coastal fishing persists in the east.
- Foreigners cannot work on a tourist visa. The remote-worker visa (E33G), the investor KITAS and the retirement visa are the legal routes, and the immigration office does deport people who ignore them; most nomads in Canggu are on visa runs to Singapore.
Money & manners
- Indonesian rupiah, in inconveniently large numbers. Cards work in resorts and restaurants, cash in warungs and markets; use ATMs attached to banks and licensed money changers, not the ones with the too-good rates. Hotels and restaurants add 'plus plus' — around 10% service and 11% tax. Tip 5–10% or round up. A tourist levy of 150,000 rupiah is payable on arrival.
- Wear a sarong and sash in temples (they are lent at the gate), never step on an offering, keep the left hand out of transactions and never touch a head. Women who are menstruating are asked not to enter temples. Cover up away from the beach, especially in villages and in Ubud.
- Nyepi, the Balinese new year in March, closes the airport, the roads and every business for a day and requires silence and darkness even in hotels; plan around it. The dry season is April to October, the wet November to March, with the crowds heaviest in July, August and at Christmas.
- Drug offences carry the death penalty and the police do sting tourists. Beach-club bravado, temple selfies in inappropriate places and scooter stunts have all got foreigners deported; the Balinese are extraordinarily tolerant and it is worth not testing it.