haha no need..that time when i rent from my hotel, they don't even check if i have a license..they just verbally ask me.

Malaysian licenses are recognized in Indonesia (and other ASEAN countries I believe) so you don't need an IDP.

first time to bali. 5d4n. I plan to ride scooter there too.. Is riding scooter very far if i stay in kuta to place of interest? I check google map like driving take 1.5 hrs to reach certain place of interst.. can mati not ride so long to one place?? first 2 night at Kuta. Should i continue staying in kuta or i should shift to another area? hmm.. is Bali Shark / Turtle conservation worth go to? Thank you.

which places of interest do you mean? if it's in the city then no problem..if you are going to further places like to Nusa Dua or Ubud, confirm far la. Well, if you are adventurous then shouldn't be an issue =)

I have seen some white people actually rent a scooter and ride all the way from Hanoi city to Halong Bay, which is like around 5 hours bus distance away

Sorry I'm not an experienced scooter rider, I just ride within 5km of Ubud center

I can say that when I take the minivan I can mati getting around. Bali is huge, most roads are single carriageway, and the traffic jam there is unreal. Hope you don't run into an upacara while you're on your journey

This post has been edited by wKkaY: Jun 22 2018, 01:39 AM

Im in the mist of collecting place of interests.. I rode in Phuket from patong beach to promthep cape, big buddaha, rang hill etc.. It was a smooth ride.

the first 2 night will be staying in Kuta. I plan to explore the south eg like uluwatu, nusa dua etc.. then the other 2 night to Ubud and explore the places there... But Im not sure I am able to ride like in phuket. If let say i find it quite hectic.. will the last minute tour ride be very expensive?

if u already experience ride a long distance then shouldn't be an issue for you..just that the traffic tend to be much busy in bali.

if you want a tour, better hire early la..if u read the previous pages, you can see there're contacts for driver..

I came back from Bali 2 months ago and learnt a lot reading this thread. Got lots of information from here. Thank you to all the contributors! It was a 6-day trip to attend the wedding of our friends, I decided to to arrive 4 days earlier before the wedding so that I can explore the place on my own first.

I stayed in a quiet villa in Seminyak called Uma Karan, small establishment with around 10 rooms plus a pool in the middle. Price was very affordable for such a place and service. I also engaged them to rent a scooter for me before my arrival, so the day when I arrived, I had the scooter ready for me to explore!

I am not an experienced rider, my first experience was in Saigon and traffic was crazy! However, by being extremely careful and riding defensively, I was able ride for 3 days without issues. I even rode up to Ubud and down in the same day for Babi Guling and the rice terraces. I'm not suggesting everyone to rent a bike if you are not confident, but if you are alone and can handle it, why not?

For seafood, I really enjoyed riding to Pasar Kedongangan in Jimbaran, this is situated further down from the usual tourist restaurants. Thanks to the postings here for giving me this idea. I love how I was able to go to the market, choose my lobster and a snapper, brought it to the warung at the side for barbecue, loved the smokey taste and the spiciness of the sambals, paired with a big bottle of Bintang and a peaceful atmosphere, it was pure heaven.

Now I want to share my experience regarding the driver I commissioned on my third day, I commissioned Ketut Galung to pick me and a few friends up from their accommodation in Ubud, pass by Seminyak and drop us at our villa in Jimbaran. A month before my trip I have Whatsapped Ketut Galung and he has confirmed and asked me to keep in touch. The day before my pick up, I contacted him and he assured me that his driver will be there. On the third day, he sent a driver to pick my friends up in Ubud first, the driver drove a Isuzu Elf which was a minibus and had luggages of other people inside, I specifically asked for a small MPV like an Avanza or APV. The driver had some attitude, he was not flexible in his trips. For example, on the way to Jimbaran, I asked if we can stop by the airport (since we were approaching the airport) to pick up a friend who just arrived, he told me he can't because the original plan was Ubud, Seminyak and Jimbaran. However, i booked him for 10 hours, i should be able to use his services right? It's not like I am asking him to go to the north, then to the south and back to the north again.

Upon reaching the villa, the driver asked me if I would go out again, I told him that we might go out for dinner but we wanted to check in and settle down first in the villa. Mind you we still had 5-6 hours left of service. We checked in, rested and wanted to walk around in Jimbaran, towards the evening, he texted me if I still wanted to go out or not, because if not, I should release him. However, my argument was that I still have almost 4 hours left of service and that I might need his services to take us for dinner and just in case buy some stuff. Why should I be paying full price and get half or 75% of the time I paid for right? In the end, I was not happy and just paid him so that he can leave.

Other than this bad experience, everything was superb! I love Bali and would definitely go back again. The Balinese people are super friendly, polite and accommodating. Can't wait to return again!

traffic in Bali, it's getting crazier, a lot more bikes & cars on the road compared to my last few visits years back, and the bikers are getting more crazier. Had a chance to try their Grabbike in Ubud to tapao dinner, that short 3km ride already almost gave me a heart attack as a pillion rider! somemore it's 9pm in Ubud! can't imagine if it's during peak hours in Kuta or more populated area.

If you have limited experience in riding a motorbike, and you're planning to rent a bike? please don't! I've personally witness a few motorbike accidents involving both locals & tourists. If you drop by local hospital's A&E, you'll see most of the patients are road accident victims.

And most motorbike rental, they don't care if you have your license with you or not, just don't pretend you're local Indonesian, you'll get rejected for rental if they thought you're Indonesian.

Just came back from a 6D5N trip to Bali.

Stayed at The Light Villas, Seminyak (3 nights) which was almost perfect in my opinion. Wife and i agreed this place will be our go to place when we visit Bali again.
The next villa, Sotis Villas Canggu (2 nights) cant compare to the first one. The location was a bit secluded but you get a very big villa.

Agree with another poster saying the traffic in Bali getting crazier. Its really not safe for those unexperienced moto riders to ride in Bali.

I took Galung's service for 2nd day trip to Pandawa, Ulu Watu, Jimbaran. He assigned me driver Gede and he was really good. Talkative, friendly and have good manners. Would recommend this driver!
For 3rd day we went to Nusa Penida by Galung's tour. Everything was all good especially the driver at Penida. This driver really knows how to take some good pictures and you dont need to tell him to take pictures, he would gladly do it.
Overall satisfied with Galung's services.

I went to bali like 2009 of 2010 and i still remember that when we want to go back to KL, the airport will tax us i think 200k rupiah each person to exit bali. I was told that that exit tax is no longer collected at the airport but is now paid via your airline ticket like AA. Is that true that now all tickets you buy exiting from Bali includes the so called airport exit tax?

This post has been edited by barney: Jun 26 2018, 03:21 PM

yes, now it's already included in your airfare

checking in at the new airport also a lot more easier & stress free compared to the old airport last time, lesser security checks now

This post has been edited by greyshadow: Jun 26 2018, 05:26 PM

What is the recommended number of days to visit Bali? 3-4 days good enough?

Have been following this thread for the past 2 weeks, mostly about the transportation service provided by Ketut Galung. Just wondering, is it really advisable to take up such van with driver service? Any other option apart from self-driving or renting a bike? Is the taxi cost as affordable as bangkok's?

TQ

last time yes..its called departure tax..but after 2015, they already include the 200k IDR tax in ur ticket. so no problem

nope, other than ketut galung. i think u shud be able to see a lot more good drivers recommended by others here..erm nope its not like bangkok where u can see hundreds of taxi in once..lol..instead, u can get uber and grab very easily..its economical as well..

as for the duration, 3-4 days definitely NOT ENOUGH, especially if this is your first time. don't forget to buffer in your fly in and fly out time too.. plan at least 5-6 FULL DAYS. For example you fly in on 1 July, and fly back at 7 July.

Number of days will depends on your area of interest, if you like the hustles & bustles of Kuta or the quiet & serenity of Ubud, and wanna just explore that one place, then 3 or 4 days is just enough.
But if you planning to visit a few places, put in a least a week to explore more. Bear in mind you already lost one day at the airport.

For transport, easiest way is to hire a driver, they aren't that expensive either, max around IDR500k per day, that's around RM150 per day according to the current exchange rate. But driver's quality aren't consistent, I used Ketut Galung's service before, I'm lucky to get a ok driver, while some others didn't. But I won't recommend Ketut Galung's service to anyone else, cause I'm suspecting he's exploiting his fleet of drivers.

If you're adventurous, rent a self drive car is another option, 7 seaters Daihatsu Xenia is about RM80 per day, and you don't need international license to rent one, just your malaysian license is good enough, but most renter won't bother also. But the traffic in Bali is very chaotic, it's getting worse each year, IMO might be worse than Bangkok, for many drivers traffic lights at small junctions are just for reference only, you can see many run the red light without bothering to stop, and you'll need to have the guts to make a U-turn at a super busy dual carriageway with 2 lanes. Renting a bike is not recommended, unless you're a very seasoned biker.

Public transport is another story here, if grabbing taxi, make sure it's Bluebird and Bluebird only, they are the only few that uses meter with reasonable fare, there are some fake bluebird taxis out there, bluebiro is one of it, looks the same, same color, similar logo as well, but they don't use meter and will slaughter you kau-kau. Grab is available, cheapest alternative to taxi, but not welcome by the local taxi driver there, they will harass any grab driver/passenger is they found one, there are few cases of assaults previously. If you wanna call Grab, just make sure you get the car far away from any Taxi stand, or without any taxi touts in sight. There are few places you can't get the service, or very hard to, Ubud is hard to get, and some drivers I've encountered are a real assholes compared to our local one, screen showing 10 minutes to arrive, they can take their own sweet sweet time to get to you, even a big detour to get to you, half an hour later still haven't arrive, I've cancelled many just for waited too long. But Grab have a cheap ride if you're travelling alone & light, call their Grabbike, cheaper & faster, but just ready your heart for a scary ride of your lifetime

inachigreyshadow

Thank you very much for the detailed replies and tips. I have a better idea now and will start researching on places that I want to go and then move to mode of transportation.

How does this van-driver service work actually? You contact them beforehand or can we just find one at the airport on arrival?

Tell them your itinerary for the day and they will bring you there and wait for you? Do we have to be really specific like 9-11am place A, 11am-2pm place B or it's free and easy? When we are walking around, will they just stay at their vehicle or walk with us like a guide? Sorry too many questions

of coz contact before hand better la..unless u wan go there only find, but what if cant find? and if u find at airport then your price prepare to kena mark up high high la..

u no need tell them the detailed itinerary, just the places you want to go and they will plan for you based on the route they comfortable with..yup, they will usually wait in car when u guys are visiting those places la..they wont kacau you..for eating same too, they will wait for you guys somewhere else while u guys eat..

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updat...90025e0da70688e

Please stay safe everyone

Thanks for the info! Normally how long volcano eruption will affect flight schedule? Within a week can normalize?

I will be going there mid of July. Hopefully everything will be OK by then. Fingers crossed.

it's unpredictable, no one can tell, could be cleared tomorrow, could be last for months

but Bali is still safe even you're on the island now, it's just the ash disrupting the air traffic, just stay away from the Mt Agung area and you should be fine

I was diving in Tulamben 3 weeks ago when Mt Agung "released steam" again, but that was for a day only and has no impact at all, but I doubt the area like Amed, Tulamben will be accessible since the warning has escalated to Orange.