What to set up before you land in Bali

1. Data, before anything else

This one comes first because the other two depend on it. Booking a car, paying by app, checking an address, telling your accommodation you have landed — all of it needs a connection, and the airport is the worst place to be arranging one.

You have three options and they are covered properly in how to get internet in Bali. The short version: install a travel eSIM before you fly and you walk out already connected; buy a local SIM at the airport and you are offline until you have queued for it; rely on WiFi and you are offline the moment you step outside.

Whichever you choose, do the thinking at home. Deciding while tired, in a queue, with a driver waiting, is how people end up on the most expensive option available.

2. A way to pay that does not depend on one card

Carry at least two ways to pay and keep them in different places. A card that works everywhere on Monday can be declined on Tuesday because a fraud system noticed you changed continent.

• Tell your bank you are travelling, or check the app has a travel setting. This is a two-minute job that prevents a very bad afternoon.
• Bring some cash for the first day. Not a lot — enough to get out of the airport and eat, in case a card decides to be difficult.
• Expect to need cash regularly. Cards work in hotels, malls and larger restaurants; many warungs, drivers and small shops prefer cash.
• Local e-wallets usually want a local phone number to register, so they are not something to rely on for day one.

3. How you are getting out of the airport

Decide this before you land, because the arrivals exit is not where you want to be negotiating. Broadly: a car booked by your accommodation, a pre-booked transfer, an official airport taxi, or a ride-hailing app.

Ride-hailing is the option most visitors default to and it is the one that needs data — you cannot book from the pavement without it. It also has pickup rules at the airport that change from time to time, so have a fallback in mind rather than assuming.

If your accommodation offers a pickup, taking it on the first night is often worth a small premium simply because someone is waiting with your name on a sign.

4. Paperwork — check it close to departure

Indonesia's arrival requirements have moved online over recent years, and the details change often enough that anything written here would age badly. Check the current rules on the official Indonesian government sources a week or so before you fly, and complete whatever can be done in advance.

The practical point for this guide: several of those steps are done on a phone, and some are easier to do before you are standing in a queue. Which is another reason to arrive already connected rather than hoping the terminal WiFi cooperates.

5. Ten minutes of offline insurance

Cheap to do, disproportionately useful when something goes wrong:

• Download an offline map of southern Bali.
• Screenshot your accommodation booking, including the address in full and the phone number.
• Screenshot your flight details and any confirmation numbers.
• Save your accommodation's location as a pin, not just an address — pins are how Bali actually works.
• Charge everything, and pack the cable somewhere you can reach it.

What can wait

Plenty. You do not need a scooter rental sorted, a full itinerary, restaurant bookings, or a local number before you arrive. Those are all easier to arrange once you are there and have talked to someone who lives there.

The pre-departure list is short on purpose: connectivity, payment, and the first journey. Get those three right and the rest of the trip is recoverable from.

See Bali eSIM plans →

Common questions