My rundown on how much to budget and what you can expect to spend on a month in Bali and Indonesia – including accommodation, transport, food and activities.
Having just visited Indonesia for the fourth time and having sampled a good variety of what this country has to offer – including surf charters, rice paddies, monkey filled temples, incredible wreck diving and island hoping – I thought it was about time to add this destination to my monthly budget series!
So heres a run down of my main costs during my time in Indonesia (mainly Bali admittedly!) to help you price up how much you might be spending during a month in this amazing part of South East Asia.
All prices were done on an exchange rate of just under 20,000IDR to £1GBP.
Contents
Accommodation In Bali
Unlike places like Thailand and Cambodia there’s not much in the way of traditional hostel setups in Indo(2019 update – since I first wrote this guide plenty of hostel have sprung up all over the place!), there are however a HEAP of guest houses and budget hotels to choose from.
Your best bet on this front is a good old fashioned Trip Advisor search or personal recommendation.
The following are based on where I’ve personally stayed in, the averages are what I’ve looked around for – but ultimately where you stay in Bali will determine your overall accommodation costs.
For example Cangguwill set you back a lot more than the likes of Kuta.
- Cheapest Bed– Bali Reef Divers, Tulamben – £2.50 per person per night (4 share dorm)
- Average Bed – Ayu Beach Inn, Kuta – £7.50 per person per night (double room)
- Most Expensive Bed– Grand Sunti Hotel, Ubud – £30 per night (double room)
- Average nights accommodation(double/twin room) £5-7
Estimated monthly accommodation costs
£250
Food and Drink
When it comes to food and drink Indo is haps cheap and there’s such a variety to be found – whether you want traditional Indonesian dishes, other Asian dishes or simply want homely western food you’re totally covered and it won’t break your wallet either…
- Favourite local dish– Gado Gado (tofu, potato and veggies in a peanut sauce)
- Cheapest meal– Indonesian buffet at Warung Indonesia (in Kuta, Bali) – £1
- Average Indonesia meal– around £1
- Average western meal– around £2
- Meal in a more established restaurant/chain (inc drink) – around £3-5
- Most guesthouses also have a free breakfast too which is always a budget saver!
- Average cost of beer(large Bintang, Circle K) – £1.50
- Average cost of beer(large Bintang , restaurant) – £1.75
- Favourite place to eat– Warung Indonesia, an absolutely amazing Indonesian Buffett place in between Poppies 1 and 2 in Kuta, Bali and you can have a solid feed and a drink for under £1.50!
- Other Top Tip – you can party pretty damn cheap in Kuta (literally spending less than £5!) in places like the Skygarden BBQ (which includes an hour of free beer and 3 hours of unlimited buffet for £2.50!) check out my Kuta post for more info!
Estimated food cost per month (40 Indonesian dishes and 20 western dishes)
£80
Transport Costs In Bali
I’ll be honest here, when I’m in Indonesia I tend to base myself in Bali and surf, taking the odd day trip here and there – so my experiences are limited to minibuses and shared taxis, except for a few trips further afield!
- Airport – Kuta – £5
- Kuta – Uluwatu/Padang/Uluwatu Temple– £5 (return)
- Kuta- Ubud (inc Monkey Forest) –£ (day trip return)
- Kuta – Ubud – £4 (one way, shared shuttle)
- Ubud – Tulamben – £22.50 (private car)
- Tulamben – Kuta – £25 (private car)
- Kuta – Gili T –£25 return (mini bus & ferry combo)
- Bali – Nusa Lembongan –£20 return (mini bus and ferry combo)
- Bali – Komodo (flight) – approx £35 (one way)
Also if you’re looking for a reliable and reasonable driver my driver (and good friend!) Budah has put together a list of all his prices for you.
Simply drop him a Whats App on +62 819-9785-1578 and he’ll help you out – including discounts if you book a few trips!
- Canggu > Airport = 250k (£12.50)
- Canggu > Kuta = 200k (£10)
- Canggu > Semiyak = 150k (£7.50)
- Canggu > Ubud = 300k (£15)
- Canggu > Nusa Dua = 300k (15)
- Canggu > Uluwatu = 450k (£22.50)
- Airport > Ubud = 400k (£20)
- Airport > Nusa Dua = 250k (12.50)
- Airport > Kuta = 200k (£10)
- Ubud > Uluwatu 450k (£22.50)
- Nusa dua > Uluwatu = 250k (£12.50)
Also keep in mind that the airport departure tax is now 200,000IDR (roughly £10) – this has now been stopped
Depending on what you want to do in Bali the travel costs are going to be what set you back a good chuck of your budget. You can rent a moped pretty cheap here for shorter days trips for around £2.50 per day, or much less if you rent for the month, which will set you back around £40.
Over a month though an average kind of trip would be Airport – Kuta – Ubud – Gili T – Kuta – Uluwatu Temple – Kuta and a flight back from Komodo (if you’re doing a trip there)
Estimated transport costs
£89
Activities
There’s actually heaps of things to do in Bali and Indonesia – all depending on what floats your boat and how much cash you have to splash and of course how much time you have in your Bali itinerary!
Here are some of my favourites;
- PADI Open Water– 3 days, Gili T – £235
- Uluwatu Day trip (from Kuta)– £8
- Surfboard hire– 1 day, £2.50
- Surf lessons(1 day) – £15
- Freedive course on Gili T (3 days) – £175
- Trip to Gili T (5 days from Bali incaccommodation, day bike hire and return transfers) –roughly £70
- (including entry fee and return shuttle) – £9
- Full body Massage – £5
- KomodoNational Park Overnight Trip– £110
- Island Hopping Surf Camp (6 days)– £495
- Surf Charter Boat (1 Week) –£680
- Diving in Tulamben (3 night, 5 dive package) – £75
- Waterbomb Waterpark – £20
- Uluwatu Temple Kecak Dance – £6.5
If I had to pull out what the average backpacker would do over a month I’d say you’d be looking at a day trip down to Uluwatu to surf or see the temple, at least a day trip to Ubud (if not longer) a stay on Gili T, trip to Komodo National Park, a surf lesson on Kuta Beach and a couple of massages.
Estimated Activity Costs
£198
Also if you’re looking to get internet on your phone whilst you’re out there for Whats App, Skype, Facebook etc you can grab an iPhone SIM from Telkomsel with 2GB of data for around 150,000IDR – or about £7.50
An Average Months Budget In Bali
So, based on my personal experience and estimates, a month in Indonesia will set you back
Around £547
or roughly £17.60 per day
This would includeaccommodation, meals, transport and some of the key activities.
One of the key exclusions in this estimate it ALCOHOL though, so if you’re intending on partying expect this overall cost to rise! But in all honesty drinking in Indonesia is pretty cheap though with a small beer being less than £1 in a corner shop or around £1-2 in a restaurant.
As always though I’d like to point out that this is merely a base point for your spending in Indonesia and it’s always best to over budget for travelling to allow for personal changes in spending habits! For example my last trip to Indonesia cost me nearly £800 for the month I was there!
There are also a range of group tours in Balifor those travelling solo or who want to kick back and enjoy their trip without worrying about how to get around and booking activities too! My pick of those would be the epic 18 day Bali and Komodo Adventure Tour which covers Canggu, Ubud, Gili T, Lombok and Komodo National Park!
And of course if 30 days simply isn’t enough for your adventure in Bali and Indonesia you can also extend your visa to 60 days! Check out my post on Bali Visa on Arrival and Bali Visa Extension for more info on how to sort it
Want morebudgetingtips? Then check out the following;
- How Much To Budget For A Month In Thailand
- How Much To Budget For A Month In Australia
- How Much To Budget For A Month In New Zealand
- How Much To Budget For A Month In Cambodia
- How To Travel The Maldives On A Budget
- Backpack South Africa – How Much To Budget
- My Monthly Summary, Stats And Budget Series
- My 2013 Yearly Budget Round Up
- My 2014 Yearly Budget Round Up
**PLEASE NOTE; This is to be used as a guide only – currency and cost fluctuate depending on season and exchange rates. Information was correct at the time of writing**
