First Time Flying to Bali? The Complete Setup Guide

Top picks from this guide

#1

First decision Monthly deals beat nightly rates

1. A place to stay

Booking sites are for the first few nights. For a month or more, prices drop hard when you rent direct — often 40–60% below the nightly rate multiplied out.

#2

Do it day one Telkomsel or an eSIM

2. A working phone

A Telkomsel tourist SIM with plenty of data is about $10 for 30 days and has the best island-wide coverage. Buy in town, not at the airport kiosks.

#3

Scooter or driver Know the licence rules first

3. A way to get around

A scooter is $4–6.50 a day; a private driver for a full day is $35–55. Before you ride, read the licence section — it is where travelers get fined and lose insurance.

#4

Before and on arrival Levy, arrival card, licence

4. The paperwork

The tourist levy (IDR 150,000), the mandatory arrival card filed within 72 hours, and — if you plan to drive — an IDP from home with a motorcycle category.

🏡 How to rent a villa by the month (cheaply)

The single biggest money mistake first-timers make is booking a whole trip on nightly booking-site rates. Those sites are perfect for your first three or four nights — arrive with a guaranteed bed and no stress. For anything longer, they are the most expensive way to stay in Bali.

The moment you want a month or more, renting direct is dramatically cheaper — commonly 40–60% below the equivalent nightly rate. A room or small villa that costs $60 a night on a platform is often $500–900 a month direct. The trade is that you take on a little verification work yourself.

Facebook groups and Marketplace are where most of this happens. Search groups like "Bali Long Term Rentals", "Canggu Community" and area-specific villa groups, or Marketplace filtered to the area you want. Message a few listings, ask for a video walkthrough, and negotiate the monthly rate — the first price is rarely the real one.

• Never pay a full deposit before seeing the place — video call or, better, arrive first and view in person
• Pay the deposit only once you have seen it, ideally with a simple written agreement
• Be wary of listings far below market price, urgency ("another person is interested, pay now"), or a refusal to video call — these are the classic scam signals
• Prefer hosts with history — a real profile, reviews in the group, or a personal recommendation
• Check what is included: is it electricity, water, wifi, pool cleaning, staff? Power especially can add up
• Agents (a small finder's fee) are a reasonable middle ground if you would rather not deal direct

📶 Where and how to buy a SIM

Get connected on day one — a working phone makes everything else easier, from Grab rides to messaging villa hosts. Telkomsel has the best coverage across the island, including Nusa Penida and the north; XL and Indosat are cheaper and fine if you are staying in the south.

A 30-day tourist package with generous data runs about $10 in town. The catch: airport kiosks charge noticeably more than shops in Kuta, Seminyak, Ubud or Canggu, so unless you need it the moment you land, wait until you are in town. Bring an unlocked phone, and staff will set it up for you.

If your phone supports eSIM, buying one before you fly is the smoothest option — you land already connected and skip the shop entirely. A 30-day data eSIM runs roughly $14–23 depending on the allowance.

🛵 Renting a scooter — and the licence rules that matter

A scooter is how most people get around Bali, and it is cheap — $4–6.50 a day for a 110cc Scoopy, a little more for a 125–155cc. The problem is not the bike; it is the paperwork, because this is where travelers get fined and, far more expensively, lose their insurance cover.

Here is the rule, stated plainly. You legally need your home driving licence AND an International Driving Permit (IDP) — the IDP is only a translation of your licence, so you need both. Crucially, the IDP must carry a motorcycle category (A), which means you need a motorcycle entitlement at home. A car-only IDP does not cover a scooter — that is the single most common trap, because almost every Bali rental bike counts as a motorcycle under Indonesian law regardless of its small engine.

You must get the IDP in your home country before you travel. You cannot legitimately obtain one after arriving — the old 30-day tourist licence at the Denpasar police office was discontinued, and online "get your IDP in Bali" offers are not genuine documents. Only residents on a KITAS can apply for a local Indonesian licence.

• Rental shops usually rent on just a passport and deposit and do not check documents — this is not a legal defence and does not restore your insurance
• Never leave your passport as a deposit; a photocopy is enough, and being without your passport is itself an offence
• Helmets are mandatory for rider and passenger — the fine is about IDR 250,000 each
• Photograph the bike from every angle in daylight before riding off, to head off later "damage" claims
• Checkpoint fines for missing or wrong-category documents run roughly IDR 250,000–1,000,000

🌍 What licence do I need? By nationality

One myth to clear up first: you will read that "Indonesia follows the 1949 Geneva Convention, so you need a Geneva IDP." Indonesia has actually ratified neither the Geneva nor the Vienna convention — it recognises foreign IDPs through its own national law, and in practice Bali police and rental shops accept an IDP of either format. So the format debate is a distraction. What matters is that your country can issue you a real IDP at all, and that it carries the motorcycle category.

For almost every nationality the answer is the same and simple. China is the one genuine exception — and it is a big one.

• 🇺🇸 United States — get an IDP from AAA (or AATA) before you fly, plus a motorcycle endorsement on your state licence. Fine in Bali
• 🇫🇷 France — France issues the *permis international*; French licence plus IDP with an *A* category. No special issue
• 🇪🇸 Spain — the *permiso internacional de conducción* from the DGT, plus your licence. No special issue
• 🇷🇺 Russia — a Russian-issued IDP plus your domestic licence (category A for scooters) is accepted in practice. Carry the physical booklet, not a photo
• 🇨🇳 China (mainland) — the hard case. Mainland China belongs to neither convention, so Chinese licences are not internationally recognised and China does not issue a valid IDP. Any "international licence" sold online to a mainland holder is not genuine. The realistic options are a licence from another country you have lived in, or, if you hold a KITAS, an Indonesian licence — otherwise you cannot legally ride
• 🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇩🇪 UK, Australia, Canada, Germany — all can issue a recognised IDP (Post Office, auto clubs, or the German *Internationaler Führerschein*). Licence plus IDP, category A for scooters

💳 The paperwork you cannot skip

Two items are mandatory for every visitor, and both are easiest done before you land. The tourist levy is IDR 150,000 (about $10) per person, paid once through the official lovebali.baliprov.go.id site — ignore the lookalike sites that charge double. The All Indonesia arrival card replaced the old customs and health forms and must be filed at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id within 72 hours of arrival; the system rejects it if you try earlier.

Most travelers also need a visa on arrival (IDR 500,000 for 30 days, extendable once). Our separate visa guide covers the details, including the extension, which now needs an in-person office visit rather than being fully online.

✅ Your first 48 hours, in order

• Before you fly: pay the tourist levy, file the arrival card within 72 hours, and — if driving — get your IDP with a motorcycle category
• At the airport: use a fixed-price transfer counter or a pre-booked driver, not a tout
• Day one: buy a SIM in town, settle into your first booked nights, and do nothing ambitious
• Days two to three: view any monthly villa in person before paying a deposit; sort out a scooter or a regular driver
• Then: start booking the experiences — and read the 7-day itinerary so you group them by area instead of sitting in traffic

FAQ

Recommended Bali tours for this guide

Recommended tour All major Bali regions

Private Car with Driver

This is one of the most useful products in Bali because so many plans become easier once transport is flexible. It is perfect for custom sightseeing, shopping days, family pacing, and travelers who already know roughly where they want to go.

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Recommended tour Ngurah Rai Airport and Bali hotel areas

Airport Transfer

Airport transfers are not glamorous, but they have an outsized impact on how the trip starts. A clean pickup, clear driver coordination, and direct route to the hotel make a huge difference after a long flight.

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Recommended tour Kintamani, Ubud, and central Bali

Ubud Rice Terrace, Temple & Volcano Tour

This all-inclusive Ubud and Kintamani day tour is built for travelers who want Bali culture, scenery, and soft adventure without managing tickets, transport, or lunch separately. It works especially well for first-time visitors because the route moves from craft villages and temples to volcano views, rice terraces, and the Ubud center in one organized flow.

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