How long should you stay in paradise?
First time travelers to Bali commonly ask themselves for how long they should go there. If that is you, you have come to the right place. I've been to Bali multiple times and know the island very well. Let me answer this question for you here.
Minimum Stay Length
Since going to Bali involves flying in from abroad for most people, a minimum stay of at least 7 days is a good rule of thumb, unless you are coming in from Australia, in which case you can get away with a long weekend or from South East Asia, in which case a normal weekend in Bali is do-able.
Coming in for a shorter period of time does not make much sense and also does not leave much time to do things and explore Bali. And Bali has a lot to offer. So much so, that it is almost impossible to run out of things to do, given the natural constraints of live.
How long to spend in each part
Let's break down how long we can stay in each part of Bali to get an idea of how long our overall stay on the Island should be.
Ubud
Spending some time in the rice fields of Ubud is a must do for most Bali visitors. Ubud also has the Sacred Monkey Forrest and many amazing Spas and Restaurants. I would go so far as to say that Ubud can easily be the main destination of your Bali trip, especially for first timers.
On the low end, staying for 3 to 5 days is a good time to aim for. I would not go to Ubud for less than 3 days. You need enough time to explore the Sacred Monkey forest, the Tegalalang Rice Terraces and the nearby Temples of Goa Gajah, Pura Penataran Sasih, Pura Samuan Tiga and Pura Puseh Ubud. There's also the well known Bali Swing.
Uluwatu
The cliffs of Uluwatu mark the southern most area of Bali. Uluwatu is located to the south of the international airport. Many things can be explored here such as the beautiful Uluwatu temple and the various beaches at the end of the cliff face like Pedang Pedang Beach and Suluban Beach.
Suluban beach is also an amazing place for surfers and the village has amazing views for sunset. It is a great spot to do a sun downer and say goodbye to the day with a cold and inexpensive local beer in the hand. And that's only the west side of Uluwatu. Toward the south, there are many more amazing Beaches.
All in all, Uluwatu is good for another 2 to 4 days and could be explored more thoroughly for even longer.
Denpasar & Kuta
Denpasar and Kuta are both close to the airport. Technically, these are two different cities but in reality, they have fused together, which is why I mention them as one.
Kuta has a bunch of fun water activities to offer. The Waterbom, a massive water slide park is located there and a favorite with children and teenagers of all ages. If you want it more sporty, there's the Bali Wake Park for water ski and wake board sessions. Cable park beginners can have fun with knee boards.
If you're after some culture, the temple of Tanah Lot is a very scenic temple in the Kuta area and possible the one temple, that everybody should visit on Bali. If you come for sunset, you might get to see the location like this:
Seminyak has incredible restaurants and is just a great place to relax in a more suburban setting with the amenities of coffee stores and cocktail bars.
From Denpasar, some regional trips can be easily undertaken as well. On my last trip to Bali, I hired a driver to take me to Pura Penataran Agung Lempuyang Temple, which has the most amazing view of the volcano Mount Agnung. I also went to the nearby island of Nusa Penida for a day using the ferry from Sanur, which is only a short drive away from Denpasar or Kuta.
Depending on how much you want to do down here, plan for at least 2 to 5 days
Bratan Volcano
There are many things to be explored around the Bratan Volcano, which is located pretty much smack in the center of Bali. The famous and quite picturesque Ulun Danu Beratan Temple is located right here.
The lake at the temple offers activities such as boating and water skiing as well as kayaking. It has beautiful lake and volcano views with some spectacular hiking. Additionally, the Bali botanical gardens are located here.
There's a second lake on the north side of the volcano, known as Buyan lake (or Danau Buyan), which is surrounded by many different beautiful Hindu temples. Towards the west, there are many beautiful tropical waterfalls such as the golden valley waterfalls, to just name one of many.
Plan for 3 to 5 days to explore the area.
West Bali
If you are searching the calmest possible part of Bali, the very west is wroth considering. It is less populated than the more dense south and has a very laid back vibe. The West Bali National Park is a beautiful protected jungle forest area right next to the ocean. If you're lucky, you can spot the local Curik Bali bird here.
The National Park is home to deer too who can frequently be spotted at the beach. The deer are a local species commonly known as Javan rusa or Sunda sambar. What's more, Menjangan Island just off the coast offers some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving on the island.
Allow for 2 to 3 days.
North East and East Bali: Coral Reefs
The Tulamben Coral Gardens in the north of Bali is an incredible coral reef, located in the north eastern part of Bali. It is also home to a ship wreck, the USAT Liberty, which beached there in the second world war and has been covered by coral meanwhile. Both locations are excellent scuba and snorkeling spots
Padang Bai in the east is a similarly beautiful diving or snorkeling site and only a 1 hours and 40 minutes drive away from the Coral Gardens. Being only an hour away from the main city, this spot can also easily be reached on a day trip from Denpasar.
Like the other parts of Bali, the east is home to some beautiful temples too, like the previously mentioned Lempuyang temple and you can stay in this part of the island for a couple of days and not get bored.
Allow for 3 to 5 days to soak it all up.
Optimal Stay Length
An optimal stay length for first time Bali travelers is in the range of two to three weeks. More time gives you more chances to explore things on the island and go to different locations. If you want to fit in Ubud, Uluwatu, Kuta and the central part around Bratan, then 14 days only leave 3-4 days in each location. That can be done but could also be quite hectic. Three weeks offer much more time and leave some space to explore the north east and maybe the west of Bali as well. Each part of the island is awesome in its own way and there's never a shortage of things to do and fine food to eat.
Visa limitations
There is a lot of stuff to do in Bali and you likely won't run out of things to do there. I could live there and would never get bored. The only real life limitation for us foreigners are the visa requirements of Indonesia (Bali belongs to Indonesia). You can stay for 30 days visa (and hassle) free or for up to 60 days with a visa on arrival, which can be extended. For longer visas you've got to apply formally before traveling.
Up to 30 days: Free Tourist Visa Bali
If you plan to stay for 30 days or less, you do not need a visa. You can just come to Bali and get the free tourist visa upon arrival. You must then leave Indonesia again after no later than 30 days. If you overstay, the penalty is 1 million IDR per day, or about $70 USD. Extending your stay beyond 30 days is possible, but requires a Visa on Arrival, not the Free Tourist Visa.
Up to 60 days: Indonesian Visa on Arrival Bali
Stays between 30 and 60 days require you to purchase an Indonesian Visa on Arrival at the local airport, which costs 500,000 IDR (about $35 USD) and can be paid in IDR, USD, EUR and AUD. Citizens of a total of 68 countries are eligible for a Visa on arrival. These countries are:
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- China
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Latvia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- Malta
- Mexico
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Oman
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Seychelles
- Taiwan
- Timor-Leste
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
The visa is initially valid for 30 days and can be extended once for another 30 days. After that time, the visitor must leave Indonesia after no later than 60 days from arrival.
The jet lag
Let's also consider the jet lag. Bali is 6 hours ahead of Europe and 12 to 15 hours ahead of the continental United States. Flying in from either of these locations will cause a significant jet lag. We should keep that in mind for our Bali experience and make sure, that we come for a long enough time.
It is commonly said, that it takes about one day per time zone difference to get over a jet lag. For Bali, that means that flying in from Europe would take us about 6 days and flying in from the U.S. would take us about 9 to 12 days to fully shed the jet lag and be at our best. In these cases, we should stay at least as long to make the effort of travel and cost worthwhile.
Australians on the other hand can fly in for a long weekend, especially if they're from Perth. Flights take less than 4 hours and Bali is in the same time zone as Perth. From the Australian east coast cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, flights are about 6 and a half hours and the time zone difference is usually 2 hours. That's still fine for a long weekend in my opinion but a week long stay might be even better to make it worthwhile.
A similar situation is true for people who are based in South East Asia. If you come in from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and any other close-by country, short stays become much more feasible. I've met a scuba diver on a diving trip in Bali who flew in the previous day and out the next day at night from Singapore. These short trips are quite feasible for regional folk.
In Conclusion
Two weeks is the minimum time that most people should aim for, when traveling to Bali due to the distance of travel, the jet lag and the diversity of things to do on the island. Three weeks is much better to explore even more and do so much more calmly and relaxed. Luckily, visa constraints are no issues for most westerners when coming to Bali.