How to Travel Around Bali

By: VS.

Traveling to Bali? How will you get around? Walk? Drive? Bus? Taxi? This blog post explores different methods to travel around Bali.

My wife and I went on our honeymoon to Bali in November 2018. Bali is an amazing place with beautiful jungles, beaches, mountains, and scenery! There are so many activities to do, places to visit, and things to see. The type of trip you plan will depend on the experience that you want and the timeframe in which to experience this.

Ubud is about an hour northeast of the airport and is known to be more of the cultural part of Bali with art museums, rice terrace, various temples, and more! Seminyak, which is about 30 minutes north of the airport, has a lot of the tourist attractions as well as nice hotels, fancy restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Jimbaran Bay, which is about 10-15 minutes south of the airport, is what you would think of as a resort area with nice infinity pools and views of the beautiful sunset sitting on top of the ocean.

Since my wife wanted to experience a little bit of everything including the culture, nightlife, and resort areas of Bali, we strategically planned our route to start in Ubud to eventually make our way down to Jimbaran Bay. And to do this, we had to use different modes of transportation to get around.

Here, we will examine the different methods of transportation that we took and identify some pros and cons of each.

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(1) WE HIRED A DRIVER

In Ubud, we stayed at a hotel/resort called Bali Jungle Huts. We met a man named Kadek, who was hired as an independent contractor to provide driving services to guests at the resort. He offered to drive us around for cheaper than taxis or other ride sharing services. He presented us a packet with the different packages he offered.

We decided to hire him for one day to knock out as many tourist activities as possible. Kadek spent one entire day with us, driving us to 5 different locations. At the end of the day, he also took us to our next destination, Seminyak, for no extra charge. It was totally worth hiring him!

There are many people who do this for a living in Bali. They’ll charge you $30-50 USD per day and drive you around wherever you want. The drivers know the area better so getting around will be much more fluid and efficient. Sometimes, they have relationships with owners of different attractions, restaurants, and shops and may be able to get you good deals on your purchases. Best of all, you won’t have to worry about getting from A to B, especially if you have a laundry list of places to visit.

The challenge is finding the right driver. There may be shady drivers out there who are actually trying to scam you. I would recommend that you get referrals from those who’ve hired drivers before in Bali or from the hotel you’re staying at. Then, get bids from different drivers and try to negotiate a fair price that works for both you and your driver.

(2) WE RENTED A SCOOTER

We stayed in Ubud for a couple of days and headed to Seminyak afterwards. In Seminyak, we wanted to try renting a scooter. We were surprised at how easy it was to rent one out. Most hotels rent out scooters for relatively cheap. Our hotel only charged 60,000 Indonesian Rupiahs (~4-5 USD) a day! They simply took a copy of our passports, filled out some paperwork, examined the scooter for damages, and let us on our way. We had a blast riding the scooter everywhere around town from the local mart to the restaurants!

Whats nice about renting a scooter is that you have your own personal vehicle to get around. You also aren’t bound by a schedule like you are if you were to hire a driver.

However, be aware! If you damage (or lose) the vehicle, then it can be very costly. I have heard horror stories from friends who have rented a scooter, accidentally dented the scooter and eventually to pay a hefty fine amounting to more than the cost of the scooter itself. Also, many places don’t offer insurance or have an organized system or legitimate policy on damages and reimbursement. Your insurance back in the states probably won’t cover the vehicle either so you must use extreme caution!

With all this being said, we loved our scooter and absolutely had no problems with it!

(3) WE USED TAXI SERVICES

We used a taxi only once during our entire trip simply because we found that taxis typically costed more than other transportation services especially if you requested it from your hotel. The one time we used a taxi was at the airport right when we landed since we weren’t too familiar with the different types of transportation.

The price was very reasonable though. When we checked Grabcar, a ride sharing service in Bali, it was close to double what the airport was charging in that specific moment in time.

Please note: Right as you exit the airport, there will be a flock of “taxi drivers” prowling at the exit gate waiting to get your business. There will literally be close to fifty or sixty drivers who will surround you as soon as you step outside. This is NOT an exaggeration! It is very difficult to even walk out!

And out of those people, some will try to scam you and some won’t. It is very difficult to tell apart the scam artists from the legit drivers.  We have read on other blogs that, apparently, the only reputable taxi service in Bali is one called Blue Bird. However, many will pose as Blue Bird taxi drivers and first-time travelers should not try to distinguish between the fake and the real ones.

My advice is to contact your resort prior to your trip and arrange for a driver to pick you up at the airport. It will, most likely, be comparable to airport taxi services or even cheaper.

Or, follow the signs and go straight to the taxi booth where taxi services are offered by the airport. Quite honestly, I don’t remember the exact rate, but I do remember it was fairly cheap and reasonable compared to what typical drivers were charging.

(4) WE USED RIDE-SHARING APPS

As mentioned above, we mainly used an app called Grabcar, which is like the Uber of Bali, at various times throughout the trip. We used it once when we had to get from Seminyak to Jimbaran Bay which was about a 40-45 minute drive. It only costed us 105,000 Indonesian Rupiahs, which is about $7-8 USD. Super cheap!

The downside to using this app is that you need WiFi or Data. Luckily, we subscribed to a Data plan by Skyroam Solis and didn’t have many issues. But, we tried our best to use the app where we had access to WiFi like our hotel or at different restaurants and cafes. Also, the app is mostly in Indonesian so it is difficult to navigate through the app. And lastly, there is that dreaded surge period throughout the day when the cost becomes exponentially high.

(5) WE WALKED A LOT

When we were in Ubud, we wanted to explore the area for the first day while we were there. We walked from our hotel/resort to the Tegalalang Rice Terrace (a famous tourist attraction) which was about 2.3 miles long.

This didn’t seem too bad on paper. But the thing was, our resort was pretty big and to get from our room to the entrance of the resort was a significant walk (or actually more like a hike) to begin with. Our resort was on a mountain and the entrance to the resort was at the top of the mountain; our room was at the bottom. There was a definite uphill battle so we got good exercise from it. Then, when we got to the rice terrace, we realized that it was also on a mountain. So, in order for us to explore the area, we had go up and down the terrace and it took over an hour to explore everything.

Afterwards, we walked to a restaurant a few blocks away to eat dinner. And after dinner, we walked back to our resort.

At the end of the day, we had logged in over 20,000 steps! And, completely exhausted, we slept very well that night.

(6) ANOTHER OPTION: RENT A CAR

We didn’t do this ourselves, but another option would be to rent a car. I’m not entirely sure about details so please do your research beforehand. Of course, you would have apply for an international driver’s license.

But, please note, international driver’s licenses aren’t accepted in some countries.

And, keep in mind, it may be very costly due to insurance costs and all sorts of weird international fees.

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In conclusion, there are many ways to navigate throughout Bali. It’s important to plan your routes and decide which method would be the most cost efficient and effective way to get around.

I hope this post helps you explore your options and choose wisely your mode of transportation.

Want more travel tips to Bali? Please click here.

Let the traveling begin!

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