1. Do try to apply for the electronic visa before you come if you are from U.S. or any other countries that need the visa. It will save you some time as you will need to apply for it at a different line for the visa. In our case, the visa was sent to us by email instantly after we pay. Also, do fill out the electronic declaration form online before you leave so that you can get the QR code needed to enter Bali.
2. Taxis here only take cash, so if you have to take a taxi from the DPS airport to your hotel, then you need to change some money at the airport. The rate at the airport is a little worse than outside, so just change a little bit of cash and you can change more later.
3. When we were at DPS airport, there were more than 100 people outside the airport holding signs with names, so take your time and look at them carefully to find your name.
4. Try to keep some small change at hand because sometimes they ask for parking fees at certain tourist places or even some restaurants. Not sure if they charge the locals the parking fee but we were charged for parking at the restaurant while our driver waited for us at the parking lot.
5. Hotels at Bali usually offer a free photoshoot for you and you can buy their package if you like the pictures. It’s a great way to get some good family pictures with a professional photographer.
6. If you don’t like hassle, you can eat at your hotel as it’s still cheaper than U.S. prices even after 21% of tax and service charges but it’s much more expensive than restaurants outside the hotel. Also, you can book the tours in advance with Viator but you might find it cheaper to book with the locals. However, I preferred to book with Viator as they are reputable and you can avoid scams. We were asked to pay some extra fees after our driver dropped us off the hotel and I told him to get the money from Viator as I had already paid Viator and according to them, everything is included.
7. Highly recommend to try the ATV tour as it’s one of the best we had among the others that we had tried in other countries.
8. Try to stay for at least 10 days to 2 weeks if you want to explore more places in Bali as there is traffic everywhere and you can’t go too fast on the local roads. We booked a private tour for 12 hours and was only able to visit 4 places. I would also suggest splitting the stay between 2 areas. One near the beach and another in the forest area like Ubud so that you can experience different environments. The ATV, river rafting and some others activities are in Ubud, so it makes sense to stay there a few days to go for these activities. Otherwise, it would take about 4 hours of driving round trip just to do these activities.
9. If you want to save some cost, you can book their local villa or hotels as some only cost $15/day compared to the Ritz Carlton that charges more than $300/day.
10. Most of the tours, the tour guide will help to take photos for you and they have great ideas for photos as well. So don’t forget to have some changes with you so that you can tip the tour guide and driver at the end. Sometimes, the driver and tour guide are the same person.
11. You can buy the SIM card for Bali ahead of time and they can deliver to your hotel or pick up at the airport.
12. Please be careful of the offerings that are left on the ground and do not step on them. We see these offerings everywhere we go in Bali as Balinese are very religious Hindus who pray daily and place these offerings on the floor. The offerings are often palm leaves woven into a small box holding money, food and flower petals.
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