On our first morning back in Ubud, we nearly walked straight over a small woven basket of flowers, rice, and incense sitting on the sidewalk outside a shopfront. A local shopkeeper gently stepped in before we did — that little basket, a canang sari, is a daily offering, and stepping on one is considered disrespectful. It’s the kind of thing no packing list warns you about, and it’s exactly why a guide to Bali’s do’s and don’ts matters more than a generic “top 10 tips” post.
Bali welcomes millions of first-time visitors every year, and most of its rules aren’t really rules in the punitive sense — they’re cultural courtesies that happen to also be backed by actual regulation. Some of that regulation is genuinely new: the Governor’s tourist code of conduct has been reissued and re-emphasized heading into, alongside a foreign tourist levy that didn’t exist a few years ago. What used to be tribal knowledge passed between backpackers is now, in part, written into provincial law — which makes it worth understanding properly rather than half-remembering it from a group chat.
This guide breaks down exactly what to do, what to avoid, and what can genuinely get you fined or sent home, based on the island’s official tourist code of conduct and on-the-ground experience. We’ve organized it by category — cultural, practical, and legal — rather than as one long undifferentiated list, because the stakes for each are very different: forgetting to remove your shoes at a temple gets you a polite reminder; overstaying a visa does not.
If you’re planning your first trip, our complete Bali Travel Guide covers visas, transportation, costs, accommodation, and everything you need before arriving.
| Do | Don’t |
|---|---|
| Dress modestly at temples (sarong + sash) | Step over or touch canang sari offerings |
| Pay the Bali tourist levy via Love Bali before arrival | Use unlicensed money changers |
| Wear a helmet and carry an International Driving Permit on a scooter | Ride without a license or insurance |
| Stay inside during Nyepi (Day of Silence) | Overstay your visa, even by a day |
| Use licensed tour guides at major attractions | Possess or use illegal drugs — Indonesia’s laws here are severe |
Cultural Do's and Don'ts
What to Do
- Dress modestly at temples. A sarong (wrapped skirt) and sash are typically required, covering the knees at minimum. Many temples, including Tirta Empul, rent sarongs on-site for a small fee or donation — when we visited, it cost us [PRICE] IDR, but it’s worth confirming ahead of time since not every site offers rentals.
- Ask before joining a ceremony. Balinese Hindu ceremonies happen constantly, and locals are often happy to have respectful observers — but ask first, and never treat a ceremony as a photo backdrop.
- Remove your shoes where signage or locals indicate it, particularly at inner temple courtyards.
What to Avoid
- Never step over a canang sari offering placed on the ground, in doorways, or on scooter seats — walk around it.
- Don’t touch someone’s head, including children’s. In Balinese belief, the head is the most sacred part of the body.
- Don’t point with your foot or place your feet toward people, temples, or offerings — the feet are considered the lowest, least sacred part of the body.
- Don’t climb on statues, shrines, or sacred structures for photos. This has led to real incidents of tourists being fined or deported in recent years.
A Note on Menstruation and Temple Access
At some Balinese Hindu temples, women who are menstruating are traditionally asked not to enter the inner sanctum, based on local beliefs around ritual purity. This isn’t universally enforced and varies by temple, but it’s worth knowing about in advance rather than being caught off guard by a sign or a polite request at the entrance. If in doubt, ask a guide or temple staff before you go in.
Photography Etiquette
Bali is enormously photogenic, and it shows in how tourists behave around it — but a few specific habits cause real friction. Don’t use drones near temples or ceremonies without checking local restrictions first; several sites have banned them outright after incidents involving disruptive tourists. And during an active ceremony, treat your camera the way you would at a funeral or a wedding you weren’t personally invited to: quietly, from a respectful distance, and never blocking the procession.
Practical Do's and Don'ts
Money and Payments
Only exchange currency at licensed money changers authorized by Bank Indonesia — unlicensed street changers are a well-documented scam target, often using sleight-of-hand to shortchange tourists. Look for the official authorization sticker or stick to hotel/bank counters.
Every international visitor is also required to pay Bali’s foreign tourist levy — IDR 150,000, roughly $10 USD — through the official Love Bali portal, ideally before you land. Save the QR voucher as both an email and a screenshot; don’t rely on inbox access alone once you’re on the ground.
Transport
Scooters are the easiest way to get around, but helmets are legally required for both driver and passenger, and an International Driving Permit is technically required to ride legally — rental shops in places like Canggu and Seminyak often won’t ask for one, but checkpoints do.
Traffic in areas like Canggu, Seminyak, and central Denpasar has become noticeably heavier in recent years, and Balinese road etiquette doesn’t always match what visitors are used to at home — expect scooters weaving between lanes, minimal use of indicators, and narrow gaps that locals navigate comfortably but tourists often misjudge. If you’re not confident on two wheels, hiring a driver for the day is inexpensive and removes most of the risk; it’s a reasonable trade-off for travelers who’d rather spend their energy on temples and beaches than on traffic.
Environment
Bring a reusable water bottle and bag where you can — many areas of Bali are actively restricting single-use plastic, and littering, especially on beaches or in the ocean, is treated as both a cultural and legal issue.
Legal Do's and Don'ts
This is the section worth reading twice. Most cultural missteps in Bali are forgiven with a smile and a quick correction. These aren’t:
- Don’t overstay your visa. Visa overstays are the single most common cause of tourist trouble in Bali, and Indonesian immigration enforces a per-day fine that escalates the longer you stay past your permitted date, with detention or deportation possible for longer overstays.
- Don’t work on a tourist visa. This includes freelance or remote work performed for local clients — Indonesia has specific visa categories for this, and enforcement has increased in recent years.
- Don’t use or possess illegal drugs, under any circumstance. Indonesia’s drug laws are among the strictest in the world, with penalties that can include lengthy imprisonment. This is not a rule to test the limits of.
- Don’t assume “everyone does it” is a legal defense. Bali’s tourist volume means minor infractions often go unnoticed, but enforcement has visibly tightened in recent years, particularly around behavior that goes viral — disrespecting sacred sites, disorderly conduct, and traffic violations have all led to publicized deportation cases.
None of this is meant to be alarming. The overwhelming majority of visitors have zero interaction with Indonesian law enforcement beyond a routine passport check. But Bali’s legal system doesn’t operate on the same assumptions as many Western tourists’ home countries, and it’s worth traveling with that awareness rather than finding out the hard way.
Before you travel, make sure you understand the latest new tourist rules in Bali, including the tourist levy, arrival requirements, and updated visitor regulations.
Cost Guide: What Following the Rules Costs You
| Item | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Bali tourist levy (Love Bali) | IDR 150,000 (~$10 USD), one-time |
| Temple sarong rental | Often free with small donation, or [PRICE] IDR |
| Visa overstay fine | Per-day charge, escalating — confirm current rate via official immigration source before travel |
| Scooter fine (no helmet/license) | Varies by checkpoint and offense; can run into hundreds of thousands of IDR |
Put simply: staying compliant costs well under $15 USD total. Ignoring the rules can cost you your trip.
Best Time to Visit Bali
Bali’s dry season runs roughly April through October and is the most popular window to visit; the rainy season (November–March) brings more afternoon showers but thinner crowds. One date matters more than any weather pattern, though: Nyepi, the Day of Silence, usually falling in March. For 24 hours, the entire island shuts down — no flights in or out, no lights, no leaving your hotel grounds, and this applies to tourists exactly as it applies to locals. Check the date for your travel dates and plan around it rather than being caught off guard.
Pros & Cons: Is Bali's Rule Culture a Dealbreaker?
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Rules are clearly published and consistent island-wide | Enforcement can feel inconsistent between tourist areas and rural regions |
| The tourist levy directly funds conservation and cultural preservation | It’s one more step to handle before you travel |
| A respect-based culture tends to make travel warmer, not stricter | Visa and drug laws carry genuinely severe, non-negotiable consequences |
None of this makes Bali harder to visit than anywhere else — it just rewards a little preparation.
Common Mistakes First-Time Visitors Make in Bali
- Treating Bali as “just a beach destination” and skipping any cultural preparation
- Not saving the tourist levy QR voucher offline, then scrambling for it at the airport
- Wearing shorts or tank tops into major temples without checking sarong availability first
- Renting a scooter without confirming insurance coverage or license requirements
- Assuming every unlicensed money changer offering a better rate is legitimate
- Booking accommodation or tours through unlicensed operators to save a small amount, without realizing licensed providers exist for a reason — accountability if something goes wrong
- Underestimating how quickly Bali’s weather and traffic can derail a tightly packed itinerary, then rushing through cultural sites in a way that reads as disrespectful even when it isn’t intended that way
Pro Travel Tips
- Screenshot your Love Bali levy voucher the moment you receive it — don’t rely on email access alone once you’re moving between hotels and spotty wifi.
- Carry small rupiah denominations; temple donations and sarong rentals are rarely card-friendly.
- Learn a handful of basic Indonesian greetings — “terima kasih” (thank you) goes a long way, and it genuinely changes how you’re treated.
- Keep a printed or offline copy of your accommodation address and passport photo page — spotty signal outside major towns can make pulling up digital copies harder than expected.
- Build slack into your itinerary. Ceremonies can close roads or temples with little notice, and treating a delay as part of the experience rather than an inconvenience will serve you better than a rigid schedule.
Who Should Worry About What
- First-time visitors: Prioritize temple etiquette and paying the tourist levy before arrival.
- Digital nomads and longer stays: Visa compliance is your single biggest risk — don’t cut it close.
- Nightlife travelers: Drug laws and public conduct rules matter more to you than temple etiquette does.
- Families: Focus on scooter/transport safety and know that children are held to the same offering-and-temple etiquette as adults.
