Bali took in roughly 6.9 million international arrivals in 2025. They landed on an island of about 4.5 million people that still waters its rice through a temple-run irrigation network dating back to the ninth century. Since February 2024 every one of those foreign visitors has also paid a IDR 150,000 levy set aside for protecting Balinese culture and nature. That is the real backdrop to any "green" trip here: the island is not short of beauty, but it is short of water, landfill space and quiet.
The encouraging part is that travelling lightly in Bali rarely means giving anything up. It means picking a lodge that treats its own wastewater, walking a rice terrace instead of being driven past it, booking the snorkel boat that keeps off the coral, and refilling one bottle instead of buying fifteen. Below you will find the rules that matter in 2026, green hotels that deserve your money, low-impact tours, and the small daily habits that travellers flying in from Singapore can fit into even a three-night escape.
Why Bali needs lighter travellers in 2026
Balinese Hindus describe a good life through Tri Hita Karana, the idea that wellbeing comes from balanced relationships with the divine, with other people and with the natural world. You can see the philosophy built into the landscape. The subak system shares water between rice farmers through canals, weirs and water temples, and it has worked for more than a thousand years. In 2012 UNESCO listed around 19,500 hectares of it as a World Heritage cultural landscape spread across five areas, from the Catur Angga Batukaru terraces in Tabanan to Lake Batur and the royal temple of Taman Ayun. The supreme water temple, Pura Ulun Danu Batur, stands on the rim of the Batur caldera, and in Balinese belief every spring and river on the island traces back to it.
That system is under strain. The threats listed for the UNESCO site read like a summary of mass tourism: farmland converted into villas and hotels, polluted water, falling farm incomes, and an ageing generation of farmers whose children would rather work in a beach club. In the crowded south, wells and boreholes supply many hotels and private pools, and local environmental groups have warned for years that the water table is dropping. Every litre pumped for a lawn or an infinity pool is a litre that does not reach a paddy downstream.
Waste is the more visible problem. In 2017 officials declared a garbage emergency after a stretch of roughly six kilometres of the west coast disappeared under plastic, and each wet season the rivers still flush rubbish onto the beaches around Kuta and Jimbaran. In February 2026 Indonesia's president publicly criticised the state of Bali's rubbish, which set off a fresh round of clean-ups at Kuta and Kedonganan. Landfill space is tight, and a lot of what is not collected ends up burnt or in a river.
None of this is a reason to stay away. Tourism pays for a large share of Bali's economy, and many villages depend on it. It simply means the way you spend matters. A night in a lodge run by local people, a guide hired from the village you are walking through, lunch at a family warung and a refill station instead of a plastic bottle all push money towards the Bali people come for, while easing the pressure on its water and land.
Rules, fees and dates to know before you land
The IDR 150,000 tourist levy
Every foreign tourist entering Bali pays a one-off levy of IDR 150,000, which works out at around S$12 depending on the exchange rate. It began on 14 February 2024, and the provincial regulation behind it was amended in 2025. You pay once per trip, provided you do not leave Indonesia in between, and the money is earmarked for protecting Balinese customs, arts and the natural environment. The simplest way to pay is online through the official Love Bali website or app before you fly, by card, bank transfer or QRIS. A voucher with a QR code arrives by email and may be scanned when you land. Counters at the airport and seaports also accept payment, but queuing after a flight is nobody's idea of a good start.
Some visitors are exempt, including holders of KITAS or KITAP stay permits, diplomatic and official visa holders, transport crew, student and family-unification visa holders, and golden visa holders who apply for the exemption. The levy sits alongside any visa requirement rather than replacing it, so check our Indonesia visa guide for what your passport needs.
Plastic bag, straw and styrofoam bans
Bali banned single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and styrofoam under Governor Regulation 97 of 2018. The rule followed years of campaigning, including the Bye Bye Plastic Bags movement started in 2013 by two Bali schoolgirls, sisters Melati and Isabel Wijsen, who collected signatures at the airport and staged a hunger strike to get a meeting with the governor. Enforcement is strongest in supermarkets, chains and larger restaurants, so expect to be asked whether you brought a bag. In 2025 the provincial government added a clean-up drive aimed at small single-use plastic water bottles, and many hotels, cafés and minimarts now offer refills. Rules and enforcement shift often, so carry a foldable bag and a bottle and you are covered either way.
The do's and don'ts for visitors
After a run of headlines about tourists climbing sacred trees and riding motorbikes without licences, the provincial government published a list of rules for visitors in 2023. The main points are easy to follow: dress modestly and wear a sarong and sash at temples, stay out of a temple's inner courtyard unless you are there to pray, never climb sacred trees or step over offerings, pay in rupiah, ride only with a valid licence, use licensed guides, and keep plastic out of the environment. Serious breaches can lead to penalties and, in the worst cases, deportation. In practice the list is simply good manners on an island where religion is part of every day.
Nyepi, the Day of Silence
Once a year the whole island switches off. Nyepi, the Balinese new year, lasts 24 hours from 6am, during which the airport closes, roads empty, beaches are off limits and lights are kept low. Hotels look after their guests quietly, but nobody goes out. The night before, villages parade ogoh-ogoh, giant bamboo and papier-mâché demons, and then burn them. Nyepi 2026 fell on 19 March; in 2027 it falls on 9 March. For anyone interested in low-impact travel it is a remarkable thing to live through, because it shows what an island sounds like with no engines at all. Just make sure your flights avoid the date.
How to spot a genuinely green hotel in Bali
Bamboo is not a sustainability policy. Plenty of properties put up a thatched roof and the word "eco" while pumping groundwater for a lawn, cooling empty villas all day and sending every scrap of food waste to landfill. A better test is to ask a few direct questions before you book. A place that takes this seriously will answer happily, often with numbers.
- Water: where does it come from, and what happens to the wastewater? Look for rainwater harvesting, a proper treatment system, and drinking water from filters rather than plastic bottles.
- Waste: do they separate and compost? The best places run their own composting or work with a local waste bank, and can tell you roughly how much avoids landfill.
- Energy: solar panels, cross-ventilation and rooms designed to stay cool without air-conditioning all help. In the hills above Ubud or in the highlands the nights are cool enough that you will not miss it.
- People: how many staff come from the surrounding villages, and does the kitchen buy from local farmers and fishers?
- Pools: a natural or saltwater pool, or one shared pool, beats a chlorinated plunge pool for every single villa.
- Proof: certifications such as EarthCheck or Green Globe, or schemes recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, mean an outside auditor has checked the claims. Their absence is not damning, because many small family lodges cannot afford audits, but it shifts the weight onto the answers above.
Size matters too. A ten-room lodge run by a family in the hills usually has a smaller footprint per guest than a 400-room resort, simply because it uses less land, pumps less water and buys more of its food nearby. The trade-off is fewer facilities, patchier WiFi and steep, narrow access roads. For a wider view of what rooms cost across the island, our Bali budget travel guide breaks down prices by area.
| Stay type | Where to find it | Why it can be lower-impact | What to ask before booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bamboo boutique lodge | Ubud, Sayan, Sibang | Fast-growing building material, often natural pools and food gardens | Is the pool chemical-free? How is wastewater treated? |
| Mountain eco-lodge | Tabanan, Batukaru slopes, Munduk | Cool climate, little or no air-conditioning, produce from nearby farms | Who leads the walks? Are most staff from the area? |
| Village homestay | Penglipuran, Sidemen, Jatiluwih | Money goes straight to a family; tiny footprint | Is it part of the village tourism group (desa wisata)? |
| Certified resort | Nusa Dua, Uluwatu, Ubud | Audited systems for energy, water and waste at scale | Which certificate, and when was the last audit? |
| Private pool villa | Canggu, Seminyak, Uluwatu | Rarely lower-impact: heavy water and power use per guest | Is water from a borehole? Could you share a pool instead? |
Eco-stays and green bases around the island
Ubud and the Ayung valley
The river gorges around Ubud hold some of the island's most considered places to stay. Bambu Indah, the project of John and Cynthia Hardy (the family behind Green School), sits above the Ayung River with about two dozen houses, from bamboo structures to antique Javanese teak homes moved and rebuilt on the site. Guests swim in spring-fed natural pools rather than chlorinated tanks, the kitchen draws on permaculture gardens and its own rice paddies, and a flock of ducks does the weeding and fertilising in the fields. It is not cheap, but it is a working example of what a regenerative hotel can look like.
Elsewhere in the valley, smaller guesthouses in Penestanan, Sayan and Kedewatan offer the same jungle views at family-run prices. Ubud also makes a sensible low-impact base because so much of it is walkable. The palace, the market, the Campuhan ridge and the rice field lanes on the edge of town are all reachable on foot, so you can go several days without calling a car.
Sibang and the bamboo builders
Roughly 30 to 45 minutes south of Ubud, the village of Sibang Kaja is home to Green School, opened in 2008 on a jungle campus built almost entirely from bamboo. The school runs guided tours for the public, typically on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Wednesday mornings, with a different timetable in school holidays. Tours last around three hours, numbers are capped and booking ahead is essential, and the proceeds go to student environmental projects. Nearby, Green Village is a cluster of curving bamboo homes designed by the IBUKU studio, some of which are let to holidaymakers. Staying in one is the closest you will get to sleeping inside a piece of sustainable architecture.
Tabanan and the slopes of Batukaru
West of Ubud, Tabanan regency is Bali's rice bowl and the core of the UNESCO subak listing. The Catur Angga Batukaru area alone covers more than 17,000 hectares of terraces, forest and temples on the flanks of Mount Batukaru, the island's second-highest peak. This is classic eco-lodge country. Small places such as Sarinbuana Eco Lodge sit in the forest on the mountain's lower slopes, with guided walks, garden-to-table cooking and nights cool enough for a blanket. Around Jatiluwih, at about 700 metres, village homestays let you wake up in the middle of the terraces before the day-trippers arrive.
The highlands around Munduk
Further north, the hill village of Munduk sits among clove and coffee gardens above the twin lakes of Tamblingan and Buyan. Lodges here tend to be small, stepped into the hillside and run by local families or long-standing local partnerships, and the cool air means you rarely need air-conditioning. The forest trails around Lake Tamblingan, with small temples on the shore, are some of the quietest walks on the island and a welcome contrast to the traffic of the south.
East Bali villages: Sidemen, Penglipuran and Tenganan
East Bali sees far fewer visitors, which is half its appeal. Sidemen is a valley of rice terraces and weaving workshops beneath Mount Agung, with guesthouses that look straight across the paddies. Penglipuran, about five kilometres north of Bangli town, was named by the Dutch-based Green Destinations as one of the three cleanest villages in the world. Its car-free main street, matching family compounds and nearly 38 hectares of bamboo forest are maintained by the community, and a share of ticket income (about IDR 50,000 for foreign adults) goes into village projects. It can see thousands of visitors on busy festival days, so arrive at opening time. Tenganan Pegringsingan, near Candidasa, is a Bali Aga village whose families still weave geringsing, a double ikat cloth produced in only a handful of places on earth. Entry is by donation, and buying cloth directly from the weavers is the most useful thing you can do there.
Pemuteran and the edge of the national park
In the far north-west, Pemuteran is a small coastal village known for community-led coral restoration, and it is the natural base for West Bali National Park. The park covers about 190 square kilometres of savanna, monsoon forest and mangroves, plus the reefs around Menjangan Island, which hold more than 110 species of coral. Accommodation here is low-rise and spread along the shore, and many places run snorkelling trips with boatmen who know the park's rules. Park entry for foreigners has been quoted at around IDR 200,000 on weekdays and more at weekends, so check before you go.
Low-impact tours on land: terraces, trails and rivers
The greenest way to see Bali's interior is under your own steam, with a guide from the area you are passing through. Their fee stays in the village, they know which paths cross private fields and when a ceremony closes a route, and you notice things a minivan window never shows you: irrigation channels being opened by hand, a farmer's shrine at the corner of a paddy, kids racing home from school along the bunds.
Walking the Jatiluwih terraces
Jatiluwih spreads across around 600 hectares of terraced paddy below Mount Batukaru. Five colour-coded trails start near the main viewpoint, ranging from a gentle loop of about an hour to a four-hour, seven-kilometre circuit deep into the fields. Foreign adults pay roughly IDR 75,000 to 100,000 at the gate, and cash in rupiah is the safe bet. Villagers have also run e-bike tours of about an hour since 2017, a good option if time is tight. Arrive before 9am: the light is softer, the air is cooler and the coaches from the south have not yet turned up. July, August and the New Year holidays are the busiest periods.
Trekking Mount Batukaru
For a proper hike, the forested slopes of Batukaru are an uncrowded alternative to Batur. The mountain is sacred, with Pura Luhur Batukaru, one of Bali's important directional temples, at its foot, and the trails pass through some of the island's best remaining rainforest. A guided Mount Batukaru trek, from S$25.91, pairs you with a guide who knows the paths and the etiquette around the temple. Expect steep, muddy ground in the wet season. Good shoes are not optional, and a light rain jacket earns its place in your bag.
Cycling the villages around Ubud
Many Ubud cycling tours start high in the hills and roll mostly downhill through villages, family compounds and rice fields, which makes them manageable for casual riders. You pass farmers, schoolchildren and fresh offerings on the roadside, and stops at village homes or small plantations put money straight into local hands. Ubud Adventure Cycling starts from S$27.29 and fits neatly into a day that ends with a slow wander around town.
Rafting the Ayung River
The Ayung is Bali's longest river at about 68 kilometres, running from the Kintamani highlands down to the sea at Sanur. The rafting stretch near Ubud has roughly 30 grade II and III rapids, gentle enough for families, and the gorge walls are draped in jungle, rock carvings and small waterfalls. Choose an operator that keeps rubbish off the riverbanks and sticks to existing paths into the gorge. Rafting on the Ayung near Ubud is a long-running option. One practical warning: the climb back out of the gorge is usually a long flight of steps, so save some energy for the end.
Mount Batur at sunrise: walk it, or share a jeep
Mount Batur, 1,717 metres high and last active in 2000, rises inside a caldera roughly 10 by 13 kilometres across that joined UNESCO's Global Geoparks Network in 2012. The classic trip is a pre-dawn climb to watch the sun come up over Lake Batur and Mount Agung. Walking up with a local guide is the lowest-impact way to do it, and it supports the guides who live in the villages around the lake, such as Kedisan, Songan and Toya Bungkah.
If a steep scramble in the dark is not for you, jeep tours drive up to viewpoints and across the black lava fields left by past eruptions. They burn fuel, so make the most of each trip: fill every seat, skip the add-on quad bikes, and choose an operator that sticks to established tracks. Lake Batur itself struggles with sedimentation and invasive water hyacinth, so carry all your rubbish back down, breakfast wrappers included.
Cultural experiences that keep money in the village
Balinese culture is very much alive, and it stays that way when the people who practise it are paid fairly for sharing it. The most rewarding cultural experiences are small, hands-on and led by locals: learning to fold a canang sari offering from palm leaves, trying a gamelan rhythm, carving soft wood or painting in a traditional style. A hands-on cultural workshop is a good way to spend a hot afternoon, and the skills you pick up make the offerings you pass on every pavement suddenly readable.
Evening dance is another easy win. The Legong and Barong performances in Ubud are staged by local troupes, often in palace and temple courtyards, and the ticket money supports musicians and dancers who also perform for ceremonies. Food is the third. A night market and food tour in Ubud takes you to the stalls and warungs that feed local families, which keeps your spending in small businesses rather than imported-ingredient restaurants. Order what is in season, and you will eat better too.
If you are based in the south, Museum Pasifika in Nusa Dua is a calm, air-conditioned contrast to the beach, with a large collection of art from Indonesia and the wider Asia-Pacific region and activities that suit families. It also shows how much of Bali's modern art scene grew from exchanges between Balinese painters and foreign artists who settled on the island in the twentieth century.
When you shop, buy from the maker wherever you can. Weavers in Sidemen and Tenganan, silversmiths in Celuk and woodcarvers in Mas sell from their own workshops, and the price you pay there supports the craft directly. Leave behind anything made from coral, turtle shell or wild animal parts; it is illegal to export and damages the very places you came to see. For the history behind the temples and crafts you will meet, our Bali history and culture guide is a useful companion.
Reefs, mangroves and island days without the damage
The three Nusa islands off Bali's south-east coast are where many travellers have their best days in the water, and where a little care goes a long way. Speedboats from Sanur reach Nusa Lembongan in about 30 minutes, and Nusa Penida is a similar hop. A Sanur to Nusa Penida fast boat starts from S$9.02, and leaving from Sanur saves the long drive that departures elsewhere can involve. Try to stay a night or two rather than racing round on a day trip: you will spend more time on the island and less on the road, and more of your money will stay with island families.
The marine life is the draw. The reefs around Lembongan support at least 247 species of coral and more than 550 species of reef fish, and around 212 hectares of mangroves line the island's north-east coast. Paddling or drifting through the mangrove channels with a local boatman is quiet, cheap and one of the best ways to understand why these forests matter for fish nurseries and coastal protection. Seaweed farming, which almost died out as tourism grew, was revived during the pandemic, and you can still see the farm plots at low tide off Lembongan and Ceningan.
Snorkelling and diving the right way
Manta rays gather at cleaning stations off Nusa Penida, and seeing them is a highlight of any trip. Treat them with respect: keep a few metres away, never touch or chase them, and do not dive down on top of them. The same rules apply to turtles. On the reef, float rather than stand, keep your fins up off the coral, and choose operators who tie up to moorings rather than dropping anchor on the reef. A four-stop snorkelling safari with a briefing at the start is a good way to see several sites in one outing with guides who know the currents, which can be strong around Penida.
Sunscreen deserves a thought too. Mineral sunscreens based on zinc oxide are a gentler choice for coral, and a long-sleeved rash vest means you need far less of any cream. Apply it at least 20 minutes before you get in the water so less of it washes off.
Nusa Penida also matters on land. In 2006 every village on the island agreed to write bird protection into its customary law, turning the whole island into an informal sanctuary for the critically endangered Bali myna, a white starling with a blue mask around its eyes. Fewer than 50 adults were thought to remain in the wild in 2020, and illegal trapping for the pet trade is still the biggest threat. If you see one, enjoy it from a distance; if anyone offers you one in a cage, walk away.
Wildlife encounters: what to book and what to skip
Some of the most popular animal experiences in Bali are among the least kind. A simple rule helps: if you can ride it, hold it, feed it on cue or pose with it for a photo, think twice. Wild animals that have been trained to tolerate tourists have usually paid a price for it.
Ubud Monkey Forest, done well
The Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud is a 12.5-hectare temple forest with more than 1,000 long-tailed macaques, 186 species of trees and three Hindu temples. It is managed by the local village of Padangtegal and the macaques live free in a semi-wild setting, which is how such places should work. It opens from 9am to 6pm with last entry at 5pm, and the published adult ticket is IDR 130,000 (IDR 100,000 for children). Do not bring food, keep bags zipped, tuck away sunglasses and hats, and avoid direct eye contact, which macaques read as a challenge. A Monkey Forest ticket with transfer included saves arranging a driver if you are staying outside Ubud.
Experiences to leave off the list
- Elephant rides and shows: elephants are not native to Bali, and riding or performance programmes rely on training that is hard on the animals.
- Kopi luwak with caged civets: the "civet coffee" trade has moved from collecting wild droppings to keeping civets in small cages and force-feeding them coffee cherries. Investigations have documented stressed animals pacing and biting the bars, and even the coffee dealer who first popularised the drink in the West has campaigned against it.
- Photo props: slow lorises, owls, fruit bats and snakes held out for selfies are often poached from the wild and kept in poor conditions.
- Hands-on turtle pools: choose hatcheries that release hatchlings at the water's edge without handling, and that focus on education rather than photo opportunities.
- Dolphin chases: at Lovina on the north coast, many small boats can converge on a single pod at dawn. If you go, choose a boatman who keeps his distance, turns off the engine near the dolphins and does not race other boats.
| Instead of | Try | Why it is better |
|---|---|---|
| Elephant ride or show | Forest walk on Batukaru or in West Bali National Park with a local guide | No captive animals, and the fee stays with village guides |
| Kopi luwak tasting with caged civets | Coffee tasting at a farm that keeps no civets | Avoids funding the capture of wild animals |
| Quad-bike convoy through villages | Village cycling or the Jatiluwih e-bike tour | Less noise, fuel and erosion on rice field paths |
| Boat that chases dolphins or mantas | Small-group snorkel trip with a briefing and mooring buoys | Less disturbance to animals and less anchor damage to coral |
| Day trips by car from one beach villa | Two bases (coast plus Ubud or the hills) and more walking | Fewer hours in traffic and far less fuel |
Getting around Bali with a smaller footprint
For travellers from Singapore, the flight is the biggest single slice of a trip's carbon footprint, and there is no train alternative. You can still trim it: fly direct rather than via Jakarta (take-off and landing burn a large share of the fuel), pack light, and stay longer rather than making several short trips a year. Once you land, the choices you make on the ground matter more than most people expect, because Bali's roads are congested and a lot of holiday time is spent in cars going nowhere fast.
Choose two bases, not five
The most effective change is also the simplest. Rather than staying on the coast and driving to Ubud, Jatiluwih and the east on separate days, split your stay between two bases, for example Sanur or Nusa Dua for the sea, then Ubud or the hills for culture and walking. Group sights by area so one driver and one tank of fuel cover a whole day. Sanur is a particularly good coastal choice because its long beachfront path is easy to walk or cycle, and it is the main departure point for boats to the Nusa islands.
Buses, ride-hailing and drivers
Bali's public bus network, Trans Metro Dewata, runs six routes across Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan. Services were suspended from the last day of 2024 until April 2025 over funding issues, then restarted on 20 April 2025 with fewer buses than before. Fares are IDR 4,400 per trip, paid cashless through QRIS, and buses typically run from about 5am to 7pm every 15 to 20 minutes. It is slow and the routes are designed around commuters rather than beaches, but it is useful for Denpasar and some southern hops, and it costs a fraction of a Singapore bus fare.
For most trips, ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek are the practical choice, and booking a motorbike taxi for a solo journey uses far less fuel than a car. Be aware that some village areas, including parts of Ubud and Canggu, discourage app pickups in favour of local drivers. For day trips, hiring a local driver and filling the car with your group is efficient, and the driver's wages stay on the island. If you rent a scooter, carry the right licence, as the visitor rules require it, and some rental shops now offer electric models.
Further afield, fast boats from Padang Bai and Serangan run to the Gili Islands and Lombok. The Gilis have no motorised traffic at all: people walk or cycle, with horse-drawn carts as the only taxis. Hiring a bicycle is the kinder choice, since the cart horses work long days in the heat. Our Indonesia transportation guide covers ferries, flights and buses across the wider archipelago.
Plastic, water and waste: everyday habits that add up
Unlike in Singapore, Bali's tap water is not considered safe to drink straight from the tap, which is why so much bottled water gets sold. The fix is easy. Bring a good refillable bottle and top it up from your hotel's filtered water, the large 19-litre dispensers found in most guesthouses, or refill stations at cafés and shops. The Refill My Bottle map lists thousands of stations worldwide, and many Bali businesses have signed up, especially in Ubud, Canggu and Sanur. If you need to buy water, buy the biggest container you can use and decant it.
- Say no early: straws, plastic cutlery and extra bags are easiest to refuse before they are handed over. A cloth bag, a metal straw and a small lidded container cover most situations, including takeaway from warungs.
- Swap the toiletries: solid shampoo and soap bars avoid little bottles and are allowed in hand luggage without the liquids fuss.
- Go easy on water: shorter showers, reusing towels and skipping daily laundry make a real difference in the dry south, where hotels and villas compete with farmers for groundwater.
- Turn things off: switch off the air-conditioning when you leave the room, and choose a fan room in the hills where the nights are cool anyway.
- Take rubbish with you: on hikes, boat trips and beaches, pack out what you bring. Bins on remote beaches are often emptied irregularly or not at all.
During the wet season, from roughly November to March, monsoon winds and swollen rivers wash rubbish onto the west coast beaches around Kuta, Legian and Jimbaran. Hotels and community groups clean up most mornings, and you can help simply by picking up a handful of plastic each time you walk the sand. Groups such as Sungai Watch, which installs trash barriers across rivers to stop plastic before it reaches the sea, publish clean-up calendars if you want to give a morning of your trip.
Eating locally is the tastiest green habit of all. A plate of nasi campur from a family warung, with rice, vegetables, sambal and whatever the cook bought at the market that morning, has a fraction of the food miles of an imported steak, and it costs far less. Fresh fruit such as snake fruit, mangosteen and rambutan, depending on the month, beats anything flown in. Skip turtle meat, which is illegal to sell, and dishes that use shark. If you want to know what you are ordering, the budget guide lists typical warung prices.
When to go for a greener, calmer trip
Bali has two broad seasons. The dry season runs roughly from May to September, with sunny days and lower humidity. The wet season stretches from about October to April, with the heaviest rain usually from December to March, often as short, intense afternoon downpours rather than all-day grey. Temperatures stay around 30°C at the coast all year, much like Singapore, but the highlands around Munduk, Batukaru and Kintamani are noticeably cooler, especially at night.
From a sustainability point of view, timing is one of your strongest levers. Bali's busiest months are July and August, when Australian and European holidays overlap, plus Christmas and New Year; Australia alone sent about 1.6 million visitors in 2025. Travelling in the shoulder months, April to June and September to early October, spreads the load on water, roads and popular sites, and it usually means lower room rates and quieter trails. Singapore families tied to the June and year-end school holidays can still help by heading for less visited areas such as Sidemen, Munduk or Pemuteran rather than the southern beaches.
The wet season has its own rewards. The terraces are at their greenest, waterfalls are full and rates drop, but the west coast beaches are at their messiest. Plan beach time for the east and the Nusa islands, and keep the south for food and culture. For month-by-month detail across the archipelago, see our Indonesia weather by month guide. Finally, remember Nyepi: on 9 March 2027 the island will be silent, the airport closed and every guest asked to stay indoors for 24 hours. If you can be there for the ogoh-ogoh parades the evening before and the stillness that follows, it is one of the most memorable days you can spend anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay the Bali tourist levy, and how do I pay it?
Yes, if you are a foreign tourist. The levy is IDR 150,000 per person, paid once per trip as long as you do not leave Indonesia. Pay online before you fly through the official Love Bali website or app by card, bank transfer or QRIS, and you will receive a QR voucher by email. Counters at the airport and seaports also take payment. Holders of KITAS or KITAP permits and some visa categories are exempt.
Are plastic bags banned in Bali?
Yes. Governor Regulation 97 of 2018 bans single-use plastic bags, plastic straws and styrofoam containers. Supermarkets and larger shops follow it closely, although small stalls are less consistent. In 2025 the provincial government also moved against small single-use plastic water bottles. Carry a cloth bag and a refillable bottle and you will be ready wherever you shop or eat.
Is tap water safe to drink in Bali?
No, unlike in Singapore, tap water in Bali is not considered safe to drink untreated. Use it for showering and brushing teeth if you are comfortable, but drink filtered or boiled water. Most hotels and guesthouses provide filtered water or large refill dispensers, and many cafés offer refill stations, so a reusable bottle saves both money and dozens of plastic bottles over a week.
Is the Ubud Monkey Forest ethical to visit?
Generally yes. It is a temple forest managed by the local village, and the long-tailed macaques live free in a semi-wild setting rather than in cages or shows. Your ticket, IDR 130,000 for adults, funds the sanctuary and its staff. Help keep it healthy by not feeding the monkeys, leaving food and plastic bags outside, and keeping a respectful distance.
What is the most eco-friendly way to visit Nusa Penida?
Take a fast boat from Sanur, which avoids a long road transfer, and stay at least one night instead of rushing round on a day trip. On the island, share transport, use local drivers and guides, and choose snorkel operators that moor rather than anchor. Wear a rash vest and mineral sunscreen, and keep your distance from manta rays and turtles.
How can I tell if a Bali hotel is genuinely eco-friendly?
Ask specific questions before you book. Where does the water come from and how is wastewater treated? Do they compost and recycle? Is drinking water filtered rather than bottled? How many staff are from nearby villages, and does the kitchen buy local produce? Outside certifications such as EarthCheck or Green Globe help, but clear answers matter more than a bamboo lobby.
Can I visit Bali during Nyepi?
Yes, but plan around it. On Nyepi the airport closes for 24 hours from 6am, nobody may go outside, and hotels operate quietly for guests only. Arrive at least a day before and leave at least a day after. The evening before brings the ogoh-ogoh parades, which are worth seeing. Nyepi falls on 9 March 2027.