It's no secret that Canggu is my weakness. I am the poster child for getting stuck in the 'gu. I'm creating this budget guide to help those of you thinking of planning a trip to Bali but have no idea how much "so cheap!!!" or "cheap but expensive for SE Asia!" really is. Now that I've experieneced being in Bali for a month, I feel much better equipped to budget for my coming trip this summer. I hope this budgeting guide helps you when it comes time to plan your trip to Bali!
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1. Transportation costs (not including flight)
a) Car to and from the airport
b) Scooter rental
c) Taxi to move around the island, or nights out
d) Any boat costs (eg. to go to Gillis, or Nusa Penida)
e) Driver for a day for sightseeing
Compared to Canada, transport costs in Bali are extremely affordable. For a taxi ride from the airport to Canggu, for example, you likely won't pay more than $30 for the (nearly two hour) ride.
Scooter rental in Bali goes around $3-5/ day. You can rent them for as long as you want, and you can take them anywhere you want. You could navigate all of Bali by scooter if you wanted to (and if you packed light enough!)
I believe it costs about $50 for a roundticket boat trip to Gillis, or theres a much longer, slower boat you can take that is a bit cheaper. I believe that Nusa is cheaper than gillis by ferry, and closer.
It costs $50 to rent a private driver for a day in Bali, like, 9am-8pm. You can go wherever you'd like on the island, and they are usuallly locals and have great advice on things to check out.
2. Accomodation costs
This one is a category that can really change your budget depending on a few factors.
a) First of all, are you travelling alone?
b) Second of all, do you prefer hotels/ hostels? What about airbnbs? Or couchsurfing?
Accomodation in Bali, again, is cheap, but not cheap for SE Asia.
In Canadian Dollars, I was staying in airbnbs for about $30 a night, and hostels for about $15 a night. I travelled very frugally especially cocerning my accommodation- of course, if you have the money to spend and are wanting to stay somewhere a little more luxe, Bali is loaded with beautiul resorts and villas that are well worth the money as well. Also, if you're travllelling with a pal or lova', you get to split the accommodation costs making hotels and glitzy resorts much more accessible!
3. Food and beverage cost
$2 breakfast! Yes- rice for breakfast, get used to it if you plan on eating local!
Food and drinks will vary a ton depending on what kind of food you'd like to eat, where you eat in terms of resatuant and location, and if you plan on checking out the night life.
Eating in Bali is much much cheaper than Canada (and everywhere else, for that matter).
If you go out to a small warung for a plate of local food, it will cost you anywhere from $1.50 -4. If you go to a more westernized tourist restaurant, meals cost usually $5-9, and add in $3 or so for any beer, juice, or smoothies, and $1 for bottled water.
Alcohol in Bali is not remarkably cheap- sorry to you fun crazy party animal peeps! Cocktails cost anywhere from $5-15, but beer is much more affordable, around $2-2.50 per bottle- so I hope you like beer!
4. Shopping
This one doesn't really have to be a category- particualry if you're a long term traveller/ nomad and don't have the space to pick up extra baggage along the way.
To give you an idea, I got two very cute sundresses at a small stand on the main road in Canggu, for $25 Canadian. Again, not cheap, but definitely not western prices. If you do shop in the more western shops, especially those with name brands like Billabong, you can expect to be paying similar prices to home (if not more!)
5. Activities
Surfing, surf lessons, snorkelling, sunrise hikes, etc.
I didn't do much of these last time as I got so sick I was very weak for most of the trip. Next time however, I'm really excited to do a surfing lesson and take up surfing in the mornings. From what I gather from my friends, surf boards run around $4 for a couple of hours.
There's a really cool hike I want to do of Mt. Batur. The driver picks everyone up at 2am at their accommodation, in order to reach the top of the mountain. I believe this one is around $60.
My budget
Car to and from Denpasar $60
Driver/ taxis throughout the trip $100
Boat/ ferry costs $100
Accommodation $1080 (18*60)
Food $1200 (20*60)
Drinks $600 ($10*60)
Shopping $200
Scooter $200 (4*50)
Surfing $120 (4*30)
Sunrise hike $60
Other activities $200
Total cost of 60 day trip: $3920
Per day budget: $ 65.33 you won't spend this every day- some of this money will go to one time costs.
Per week budget: $ 490
I really hope that this helps you guys get a better idea about how much money you'll need to travel in Bali. Of course you can do it much cheaper or luxuriously, it just depends on the style of travel you'd prefer to go with!
Good luck with your own budgets and don't hesistate to comment any questions or tips of your own!
Until next time,
x Chels
@cc.sat2 Thank you so so much for your kind words. I am so glad that you are enjoying my blog. As a new blogger, feedback like this gives me so much confidence and inspiration to keep going. Please don't hesitate to contact me personally if you have any specific questions or need any advice. <3 Chels
OMG your blog is such a blessing! I'm planning to go to Bali this June for a few weeks, and not only it'll be my first oversea trip ever, but I'm also going solo so I'm slightly freaking out about lots of things. My head is all over the place trying to find information and answers to all my questions and sorta planning this amazing trip. As a fellow young Canadian female I find your blog extremely helpful and inspiring! Thank you so much for all your articles! <3