Indonesia 🇮🇩

With a Spanish, EU, UK or US passport, among some 90 nationalities, you enter on the visa on arrival (VOA): 500,000 IDR for 30 days, with a single extension of another 30. Apply before flying as an e-VOA on the official visa portal and you skip the counter queue when you land.

• If you’ll stay past 30 days, apply for the extension a week ahead: since June 2025 it requires an in-person visit to an immigration office (bali.com). In Bali there is the Ngurah Rai office in Jimbaran and the Denpasar office.
• ASEAN passports and a few others (Brazil, Colombia or Turkey, among them) enter visa-free for 30 days, with no extension possible.

Apply before travelling for the C1 visit visa (the successor to the old B211A): 60 days, extendable twice by another 60, up to 180 in total. Through an agency it costs about 2,700,000–4,350,000 IDR including the service (visas-indonesia.com), and each extension also means a visit to the immigration office.

A one-year residence permit (KITAS) for people working remotely for a company outside Indonesia, with no work for local clients allowed. It asks for proof of at least 60,000 USD a year in income and is filed on the same portal; through an agency it runs about 13,000,000–16,700,000 IDR. If you’ll spend more than 183 days in 12 months in the country, talk to a tax adviser first: that is Indonesia’s tax residency threshold.

• A passport valid for at least 6 months from arrival and an onward ticket (if your dates are open, a temporary onward ticket).
• Fill in the All Indonesia arrival card within the 72 hours before landing: it’s free and bundles customs and health into one QR code.
• If you’re going to Bali, also pay the 150,000 IDR tourist levy on Love Bali. It’s a separate payment, not included in the visa or in All Indonesia.

• Notes of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 IDR. Coins of 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 IDR.
• Count the zeros when you pay: the 10,000 and 100,000 IDR notes are easy to mix up.
• In September 2026, 1 USD was about 17,700 IDR; the day’s rate is on XE.

Cafés, coworkings, supermarkets and restaurants in tourist areas take Visa and Mastercard, sometimes with a 2–3% surcharge. Warungs (family eateries), markets, stalls, laundries and the scooter parking attendant, who charges 2,000–5,000 IDR, are cash. The QR payment at every counter (QRIS) only works with Indonesian banking apps or those of a few Asian countries. For a month, the practical setup is cash plus a card with no foreign exchange fees such as Revolut or Wise, which also pays for Grab in the app.

• Withdraw at ATMs inside bank branches, malls or guarded minimarts: card skimming happens.
• Decline the conversion the ATM offers and get charged in IDR. Each withdrawal gives between 1,000,000 and 3,000,000 IDR depending on the bank.
• Only change money at licensed changers showing the Bank Indonesia logo, as the UK travel advice recommends: small booths advertising “best rate” often miscount notes.

• Coffee in a café: 30,000–50,000 IDR
• A plate at a warung (nasi campur): 25,000–50,000 IDR
• A meal at a café or Western-style restaurant: 100,000–250,000 IDR
• A Bintang beer in a café: 35,000–50,000 IDR
• 1.5 litre water at a minimart: 5,000–8,000 IDR
• A short (3 km) app ride: 10,000–25,000 IDR by motorbike, 20,000–40,000 IDR by car
• Coworking: 200,000–300,000 IDR a day, 2,000,000–3,700,000 IDR a month
• A one-bedroom place for a month rented from a local: 5,500,000–14,000,000 IDR (much more on Airbnb)

References: Nomads.com, Destined for Bali and Nomads in Asia. In Yogyakarta or Lombok, local food and housing are clearly cheaper.

Not expected. Prices marked “++” add service and tax, roughly 15–21% more; elsewhere, rounding up or leaving 5–10% for good service is generous.

Install a data eSIM before flying and land connected, with no shop, no local number and no phone registration. Holafly has unlimited plans for Indonesia, for Asia and a global plan if you chain countries; Airalo sells per-gigabyte packs, cheaper if you use little data. In Indonesia almost everything happens on WhatsApp (hosts, drivers, rentals, restaurants), so your usual number works fine.

• Before booking, ask the host for a speed test screenshot: in the nomad areas the wifi usually handles video calls, but it varies a lot from one street to the next.
• If you plan to tether from your phone when the wifi fails, check that your eSIM plan allows hotspot use.
• Mobile coverage is good in cities and tourist areas, and weaker on back roads, in rice fields and in the islands’ interiors.
• Some websites are blocked in Indonesia; with a VPN you keep working as usual.

In the rainy season there are occasional one- or two-hour cuts, and the router goes down with them. A power bank and a nearby coworking as plan B save the afternoon. On Nyepi day in Bali, mobile data is switched off as well (The Bali Sun).

• Local SIM: Telkomsel has the best coverage outside the cities. Buy it at an official store with your passport; they register your phone’s IMEI there for up to 90 days of use. Beyond that, the phone must be registered with customs (Bea Cukai) or it loses mobile service.
• Home fiber: for long rentals, pick a place that already has a line installed (Biznet or IndiHome are the usual ones). A new installation can take weeks.

This is how almost everyone gets around, locals included. Grab and Gojek offer cars (GrabCar, GoCar) and motorbike taxis (GrabBike, GoRide) with the price fixed before you book: a motorbike to go fast on your own, a car for the airport, rain or luggage.

• In specific parts of Bali, local taxi cooperatives block app pickups and put up signs saying so: walk a few minutes away or negotiate with the local driver. The apps are legal across the island (The Bali Sun, February 2026).
• Metered taxis: the blue Bluebird cabs, also bookable in their app. There are copycats, so check the logo.
• Public transport is only useful in Jakarta (MRT metro, LRT light rail and TransJakarta buses); in Bali it doesn’t work for daily life.

Most people who live in Bali or Lombok ride a scooter, but it’s no place to learn. Legally you need an International Driving Permit (IDP) with the motorcycle category plus your home licence, and a helmet. Since November 2025 Bali police have stepped up checks and rental shops ask for the IDP (The Bali Sun). Photograph the scooter when you pick it up to avoid damage claims.

• Don’t rent a car to drive yourself: traffic drives on the left and it’s dense. A car with a driver, yes.

In the cities and in southern Bali, jams are a daily thing, especially from 16:00 to 19:00. If you have a call at a fixed time, allow double what the map says.

• Flights: the normal way to cross the archipelago, with Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, the Lion Air group and Indonesia AirAsia. Traveloka compares them all and takes foreign cards. Check the included baggage: cheap fares come with little.
• Trains on Java: comfortable between Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta and Surabaya; book on Traveloka, and Seat61 explains everything.
• Fast boats from Bali: to Nusa Penida, about 45 minutes from Sanur, from 250,000 IDR (GoBoat); to the Gili Islands and Lombok, from 700,000 IDR with operators such as Gili Getaway. In August 2025 a fast boat capsized off Sanur, killing three: choose established operators, check for life jackets and don’t cross in rough seas.

For one person, with a one-bedroom place, eating out most of the time, coworking and getting around by app or scooter:

• Bali’s nomad areas (Canggu, Uluwatu): 25,000,000–45,000,000 IDR; the top end is a pool villa booked on Airbnb.
• Ubud and Sanur: 18,000,000–35,000,000 IDR.
• Jakarta: 20,000,000–40,000,000 IDR, in tower apartments with a pool and gym.
• Yogyakarta or Lombok: 10,000,000–20,000,000 IDR.

The area-by-area breakdown is on the Bali page. For reference, Nomads.com, which uses Airbnb prices, puts it at about 2,000 USD a month in Ubud and 3,300 USD in Canggu.

• Book the first month on Airbnb with a monthly search: the monthly discount usually beats two separate fortnights, and you arrive with a roof sorted.
• Once there, if you like the area, negotiate a renewal directly with the landlord, or look in each area’s Facebook groups (for example “Canggu Community” or “Ubud Community”) and at “for rent” signs: it works out much cheaper.
• Outside Bali, the local format is the kos, a room rented by the month, sometimes with a private bathroom and air conditioning; search on Mamikos.
• Never pay upfront for a place you haven’t seen to someone from a Facebook group.

• In villas, wifi, weekly cleaning and pool maintenance are usually included.
• Electricity is often separate, on a prepaid meter topped up by buying “token listrik” at minimarts or in apps: with air conditioning, 800,000–1,500,000 IDR a month.
• Drinking water comes in 19-litre jugs (galon) delivered to the door.

Long rentals in Bali are paid upfront, often for several months or a whole year, with a one-month deposit. Get a written contract stating who pays electricity, internet, rubbish collection and the banjar fee, the Balinese neighbourhood association.

• Nasi campur: rice with several small sides you pick by pointing at the display.
• Nasi goreng and mie goreng: fried rice or fried noodles, often topped with a fried egg.
• Sate: grilled skewers; chicken sate comes with peanut sauce.
• Gado-gado: vegetables, tofu, tempeh and egg with peanut sauce.
• Rendang: beef slow-cooked for hours in coconut and spices, from Padang cuisine.
• Babi guling: spiced roast suckling pig, Bali’s signature dish.
• Bakso and soto ayam: meatball soup and turmeric chicken soup.
• Tempeh: a fermented soybean cake, the everyday protein and a vegetarian’s lifeline.

At a warung you point at what you want, they plate it and you pay cash; many have no menu. At Padang restaurants (Masakan Padang) they fill the table with small dishes and you pay only for the ones you touch.

Pasar malam (night markets) and kaki lima (street carts) are the cheapest option: sate, martabak (a thick pancake, sweet or savoury) and gorengan (assorted fritters). Pick the ones with a queue that cook to order.

Kopi means coffee; the traditional kopi tubruk comes unfiltered, with the grounds in the cup. Bali, Jakarta and Yogyakarta are full of specialty cafés with wifi and sockets.

In Jakarta and the big cities, malls have air-conditioned food courts. In any city, GoFood and GrabFood (in the Gojek and Grab apps) bring food to your door.

• Tap water isn’t drinkable anywhere: people drink from jugs or bottles, and established places use factory-made ice.
• Ask for “tidak pedas” (not spicy) if you don’t want surprises; sambal (chilli sauce) usually comes on the side.
• Outside Bali, food is halal by default (“babi” on a menu means pork), and during Ramadan many warungs close in daylight hours.
• For Bali belly (traveller’s diarrhoea), pack rehydration salts.

Get travel insurance with medical evacuation, such as Intermundial, Heymondo, IATI or SafetyWing. Private hospitals are good but ask for a deposit or an insurer’s guarantee before treating you, and a serious case far from Bali or Jakarta can end in a flight.

• In Bali, the usual choices for foreigners are BIMC, with 24-hour emergency care in Kuta, Nusa Dua and Ubud, and Siloam Hospitals Denpasar. Siloam has hospitals in the country’s main cities.
• A pharmacy is an “apotek”; the Kimia Farma, Guardian and Century chains are everywhere.

• Bali belly: traveller’s diarrhoea, the most common complaint. It usually clears in two or three days with rehydration salts; with a high fever or blood, see a doctor.
• Dengue: all year, more in the rainy season. Use repellent daily, especially at dawn and dusk; the Qdenga vaccine is available at clinics in Indonesia.
• Vaccines: the CDC recommends hepatitis A and typhoid, and suggests considering rabies and Japanese encephalitis for stays of a month or more. Jakarta, Bali’s tourist areas and the Gilis have no malaria risk.
• Sun and sea: the UV index is high all year. Bali’s surf beaches have strong currents: swim between the red and yellow flags.

• Methanol in counterfeit spirits, arak and cheap cocktails included: drink beer, wine or sealed bottles.
• Bag snatching from passing scooters: carry your bag on the wall side.

Drug laws are among the harshest in the world, with the death penalty for trafficking, and cannabis is illegal in any form, CBD and vapes included. Aceh applies Islamic law and bans alcohol. Indonesia is earthquake and volcano country: follow BMKG and MAGMA Indonesia alerts, and leave slack if a deadline depends on a flight.

112 for any emergency; also 110 (police), 118 or 119 (ambulance) and 113 (fire).

The best time to go. From June to September it barely rains (August averages about 2 rainy days) and nights cool down a little. July, August and Christmas are high season, with pricier rentals and more traffic, so April, May, June and September give the best balance of weather and price.

From December to February it rains every other day, with January the wettest month (about 390 mm). Expect heavy one- or two-hour downpours in the afternoon or evening rather than whole grey days. In practice: flooded streets in low-lying areas, short power cuts, rough seas for boats and more dengue. On the plus side, rents are more negotiable.

• Pack a rain shell or an umbrella if you get around by scooter or with a backpack, plus repellent.

Java and Lombok follow a similar pattern. Further east (Flores, Labuan Bajo) the climate is drier, while Sumatra and Borneo get rain spread more evenly through the year. Official forecasts are on BMKG.

• Canggu: the heart of the scene, with the most coworkings, cafés and events; surf and a social life, at the cost of traffic and construction.
• Ubud: jungle and rice fields, calmer, yoga and wellness; fewer spaces, but well established.
• Uluwatu and Bingin: cliffs and world-class surf; few coworkings, and you depend on a scooter.
• Sanur: quiet, flat and by the sea; popular with people staying several months.

Areas, prices and where to work in each are on the Bali page.

The most mentioned are Outpost, with coworking and coliving in Canggu and Ubud, Tropical Nomad and BWork in Canggu, and Livit Hub in Sanur (price comparison, July 2026). Dojo Bali, Canggu’s pioneer, closed in December 2022, and Hubud, Ubud’s classic, has closed too.

The coworkings’ own events (talks, dinners, group work sessions) are the fastest way to meet people. Each area also has its Facebook group, such as “Canggu Community” or “Ubud Community”, where rentals, scooters and meetups get posted.

• Lombok (Kuta Lombok): surf, few cafés to work from and weaker internet; a good getaway, less good for deadlines.
• Gili Islands: no cars or petrol scooters, lovely for a week or two, with patchy connections.
• Yogyakarta: a university city on Java, cheap, with cafés, small coworkings and a local creative crowd (Nomads.com).
• Jakarta: the business option, with fast fiber in apartment towers, big coworkings and the best flights, at the price of heat, traffic and little walking.

To stay a full year, the E33G remote worker visa is designed for this profile (details under Entry & visas).

230 V at 50 Hz with type C and F sockets, the same as in Spain: European chargers fit without an adapter. If you’re coming from another system, bring a travel adapter. In older houses sockets can be loose.

• Grab and Gojek: transport, food delivery and errands.
• WhatsApp: hosts, drivers, rentals and businesses all communicate there.
• Google Maps: works well; always ask your host for the exact pin, because many houses sit on unnumbered lanes.
• Traveloka: flights, trains and hotels with a foreign card.
• Google Translate: download Indonesian for offline use. Four words people appreciate: terima kasih (thank you), permisi (excuse me), berapa? (how much?) and tidak pedas (not spicy).

• At temples, wear a sarong and sash covering your knees (lent or rented at the entrance) and cover your shoulders.
• Give and receive with your right hand, take your shoes off in homes and mosques, and dress modestly away from the beach.
• Don’t step on the offerings on the ground (canang sari, small palm-leaf baskets with flowers) in front of houses and shops.
• Don’t climb sacred trees or structures or pose provocatively at temples: in Bali it has led to deportations, and the government keeps stressing it (The Bali Sun, May 2026).

• In Bali, processions close roads without warning for half an hour or more: wait or take another route, and build it into your schedule. At Galungan and Kuningan, held every 210 days (the next Galungan is on 13 January 2027), many businesses close for a few days.
• National holidays are set each year by decree. The biggest is Idul Fitri (Lebaran), at the end of Ramadan, expected around 9–10 March 2027: millions travel to their home towns, flights and trains sell out weeks ahead and many offices close for a week.

Laundry goes to a pay-by-the-kilo laundry (laundry kiloan): drop it off in the morning and it’s clean and folded the next day.