YAY! You’re headed to Bali and now you’re wondering – should you rent a car? A motorcycle? Are the scooters safe in Bali?
This is exactly what we did to get around in Bali and how I recommend you getting around.
Flights to Bali
First off – getting to Bali is MORE expensive then being in Bali. So if you haven’t bought a flight to Bali yet – I highly recommend checking out Kayak.com and using their price alert tool. Kayak.com will send you an alert when your flight is a good price & compares all the different airlines
If you’re on vacation and want to relax and not worry about car accidents, parking, getting around, google maps & all the chaos of driving in vacation. Hire a driver – thats it – and heres why!
Cars in Bali
Parking a car in Bali can be incredibly difficult. Finding parking, backing up into TINY parking spots & so much more. Finding a hotel that has ample parking and is also in a desirable area is also going to prove difficult. Why would you want to skip staying at a stellar hotel just to park a car there? I promise you that not having a car is going to make your life in Bali so easy. Most hotels have car service to places around the hotel, there are so many walkable areas in the main areas of Canggu, Ubud, & Semniyak too.
Scooters & Mopeds in Bali
Yes its VERY cheap to rent a scooter and parking is easier with them but honestly – they are SO dangerous. If you’re wanting the experience, rent it for a day and drive around Canggu or Ubud. Don’t rent one for your entire vacation. Another way to experience them without having to rent or drive one is to just order a gojek – its a local app in Bali you can use to get around. Think Uber but instead of just cars they also have
Finding a driver
Finding a driver in Bali is so easy! The Bali people are INCREDIBLY nice too so if you have any sort of fears of traveling overseas and not knowing the language – let those go right now. The people in Bali are so nice too. If you need help finding a company to drive you around I suggest you start on GetYourGuide.com or Viator.com – thats where we found our driver. There are private tours already laid out for you in Ubud that you can take & private transportation to any hotel. Then once you’ve met them and love them you’ve found your guy(s) for the rest of the week!
Driver Etiquette: Tipping your Driver
This is just my plug to be a good tourist. First off – its definitely recommended that if oyu stop for lunch or dinner that you cover your drivers lunch/dinner. This is just common courtesy as they’re having to spend money on food while out driving you.
Bali is incredibly cheap and they went through 2 very tough years with the Pandemic. If you have the budget i suggest throwing your driver a good tip. For us – that was 100k IDR per day minimum which is about $7 USD. When we had 4-5 people in the car we were all throwing in 50k IDR per person/day. For 8 hours of driving 50k ($3.50 USD) isn’t much. We were told we “overtipped” but in reality our drivers MADE our trip better. They took us to the best restaurants, waited on us, translated for us when we ran into stores that didn’t all speak english.
GoJek – AKA the Uber of Bali
Still not sold on Not driving in Bali? Then you should check out GoJek – its basically the Uber of Bali. You can get around for incredibly cheap amounts of money. We spent anywhere from 40-60k IDR per ride which is less then $5 USD. You won’t need to hop on the back of a motor bike to use GoJek either – there are plenty of GoJek vehicles
Morale of the story is you really want to enjoy your vacation in Bali so you should just skip the car, hire a driver, have a good time & infuse some money into the local Bali economy while doing so!
Happy Travels!
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